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He backed down the pitted road. “Don’t you think she deserves to know?”
“I’m going to tell her, but I wanted to do it face-to-face. It’s not exactly an over-the-phone kind of conversation.”
“Didn’t you do that with your friend?”
She turned in the seat. “Bells is different. It doesn’t affect her life. She just has to be there for me.”
He frowned. Wasn’t that a parent’s job? How many times had he gone to his father to help him figure out problems over the years? From what he could tell, Kendall acted more like a mother than a daughter. She was a grown woman and independent as hell, but something felt off there.
He pulled out onto the main road. The park was full of cars and families. Trees lined the road, and blue skies burned off the pearly gray of the morning. The sun glowed behind the mountains, and it felt more like early October instead of the middle of November. She sat forward. “Oh, wow. It’s gorgeous.”
The drive was familiar. It had been a good fifteen years since he’d been here, but memories overlapped. His mother’s wide smiles and shining dark eyes. Camping and hiking had filled their summers until his mother got too sick to travel.
Kendall opened the window and unclicked her seat belt before leaning out. He reached over and grabbed one of the belt loops from her jeans. “What the hell are you doing?”
She had her phone in her hands. “When am I going to see a view like this again? I need a picture.”
“I’m driving, Kendall.”
Instead of getting back inside, she grabbed on to the handle by the door and sat on the window frame. “You’re driving slow enough.”
“Jesus.” He slowed to a crawl. “Get back in the truck.”
She wriggled back inside and sat down. “Spoilsport.”
“Put your damn seat belt on.”
She slid across the bench seat and held her phone up. “Smile.”
He jammed his molars together.
“There we go. Perfect picture. I wouldn’t want you to smile. It would make the picture look fake. Such a growly bear.” She waggled her eyebrows and got back on her side of the truck. “I can’t believe how amazing this park is. No wonder there’s so many families here.”
Once upon a time he thought he’d bring his own family here. He gripped the steering wheel until his heart rate finally returned to normal. He focused on following the winding road out of the park. “Does Winchester Falls look like this?”
“Not all that different. The mountains aren’t quite as impressive, of course, but we’re close to the Adirondacks. So it’s really just a matter of perspective.”
“How big is the Heron?”
She turned in her seat, a stance he was getting used to. She seemed to need to face him when she talked. “You know just how big it is. I read the will, same as you did.”
Spatially, he had a good idea. He’d been in the business long enough, but a feel for the converted house was different from what was in pictures and the not-so-impressive brochure he’d found online. It showed the square footage and the room rates, but it didn’t give him jack shit about what the Heron was all about.
He glanced at her. “What’s your favorite part?”
She smiled, and her eyes sparkled. “The dock. There’s a path that leads out to where we keep a few kayaks and things, but at the end of the dock, there’s a platform that I love to sit on. It’s got a lot of space for Adirondack chairs and loungers.”
“Sounds nice.”
“I want to restain it and seal it this spring. I’m hoping to make it a little oasis for families to hang out by the lake.”
“And there’s a good amount of people that come to stay?”
Her gaze slid out to the rows of evergreens that lined the road and dotted their way up the cliffs that layered in front of Yosemite Mountain. “We get plenty of business.” The pleasure faded from her voice.
“That’s a good thing, right? Turning a profit is the point of running a business.”
“Of course.” Her voice was cool. “Wouldn’t want to get in the way of that profit margin.”
