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Hunt pointed at Brad. “What he said.”
“Whatever, guys. I need to get on the road; can one of you finish up here so I can say goodbye to Roxy?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Hunt replied and slapped me on the back. “Drive safe, let me know you made it back.”
“Yes, Dad,” I said in jest before leaving to find Roxy.
I stood next to her chair, my hand on her shoulder, and wondered if my brothers were right. Was I already in love with her? She put her hand over mine and smiled up at me, her green eyes bright and happy. I suddenly realized that my brothers were correct.
“I have to get going,” I told her.
“I’ll walk you out.” Roxy got up and collected our jackets while I said goodbye to everyone else.
We stood next to my truck for a moment, and then I leaned back against it, my feet wide so I could draw her into me. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I miss you already.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “If you haven’t already noticed, I’m kind of crazy about you, Lee.”
I stared at her, the light from the barn reflecting off her eyes. “I might be a little more than crazy about you, Roxanne.”
She leaned forward, kissing me slowly and deeply as she wrapped her arms around my neck. We kissed for a while and then drew back.
“Does that bother you?” I asked her.
“What, that you like me a lot, a lot?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that.”
“It doesn’t bother me, Lee. I’m glad you feel that way, because the more I’m with you, the more I feel for you, too.”
“So, you admit you are falling in love with me, too?”
She cocked her head. “You’re in love with yourself?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You are something else, Rox. No, I’m not in love with myself,” I paused, “but I am falling for you.”
She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against mine. “I’m right there with you, Lee.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Roxanne
Iwasn’t afraid to admit that I was falling for him. I lived in a world where love was front and center, and helping people celebrate those feelings was one of the reasons I did what I did. I’d always wanted to feel that way about someone, like we were destined to be together, that our worlds revolved around one another, and that no matter what, we would live till death do us part.
While I had always wanted it, I’d never been in a place where I could actually see myself doing it—not until now. With Lee, I saw a future. I saw that proverbial little house with the white picket fence, two-point-five kids, and a dog—the American dream.
I watched Lee pull out of the driveway and forced the sadness deep inside of me. I would see him again on Monday; it would only be a few days until I could hold him and kiss him again. In the meantime, I had a lot to get done.
Back inside, I said a quick goodnight to everyone and carried all my work materials upstairs to get unpacked and to start going through the binders. I heard doors closing, cars leaving, and then soft footsteps in the hallway before the house settled down into a peaceful silence. I read for hours, making notes on what I was going over. I wanted to be prepared when I sat down with Carol to go over things, and I had a lot of questions and suggestions.
It was almost midnight when I turned the light off and curled on my side, staring at the pillow that Lee had used the last time we were in this bed together. I touched the soft pillowcase and sighed as I thought of him.
He had called when he had gotten home and told me he was safe, and we talked for a few minutes before he said he was going to shower and get to bed. Before he hung up, he said he missed me, and I told him the same. There was a pregnant pause after that where I could so easily have said I love you, but neither of us said those words, and a moment later, we were off the phone.
I began to drift off, thinking back over my short time with him and fantasizing of what the future might bring us.
