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“No. I’m fine – honestly. You go to the gym.” Tori smiled. “I appreciate the offer, and even a week ago I would have wanted you to stay with me while I talked to her. But everything’s different now.”
He held his arm out to her, and she slid across the bench seat toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he hugged her to him.
“I’m glad that things have changed so much between you and your mom. I know you’re happy about that, but are you sure that you want everything else to change, too?”
She knew what he meant. “I’ve never been this sure about anything, Xander. I know that when we first arrived here, I couldn’t wait to get back on the road to find our place where we could settle. But now…”
She looked out the truck window. They were parked in Russ’s driveway next to his lovely house with its beautiful backdrop of the lake and mountains.
“… Now I really believe that we’ve found it.” Her smile faded. “Do you? Are you sure?”
He rested his forehead against hers and smiled as he looked into her eyes. “I am. I know I’ve kept saying that I’d be happy with anything as long as you’re happy. And that’s the truth. I think part of that was because I wasn’t expecting to find anything for myself… What I mean is having lived the life I have, having my whole career behind me, I guess I was looking at the rest of my life as just kind of… filling time. I didn’t want to push my luck. I mean, I got you. I hit the jackpot. You’re all I want – it wouldn’t seem right to ask for anything more.”
“Aww!”
He chuckled. “I mean it, Tori. But now, all of this has landed in my lap, too. Not only do I get you, but we get to live in this cool little town, surrounded by a bunch of great people, and we get to run our own bar. I’m more than sure. Things are turning out way better than I ever would have expected.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Me too.” She glanced up at the house. “I’d better get in there and talk to her. I’m not even worried. I know she’ll be thrilled that we want to stay.” She checked her watch. “Do we want to set a time for anything?”
“I don’t. I’m good. I’ll go to the gym, get my workout, and then come back to collect you. Then, we can drive out to the dealerships and see what kind of car we’re going to get. Does that work for you?”
“It does.” Tori couldn’t help smiling. “And it makes me happy. Not so long ago I would have wanted you to tell me what time you’d be back, and I would have been counting down the minutes.” She looked up at the house again. “Now, I’m happy to spend as much time with her as we can get.”
“I’m happy for you, sprite.”
She squeezed him as tightly as she could. “I’m sorry.”
He gave her a puzzled look.
“I’ve been such a brat about my mom, haven’t I? I was so caught up in my whining about how she doesn’t understand me, that I didn’t stop to think. She’s still here.”
Xander nodded. She didn’t want to come out and say the words, but she felt bad for him. His parents had been dead for over ten years. She promised herself that in the future, she wouldn’t take hers for granted.
He smiled. “It’s okay. I know what you mean. But go on, you should get in there and see her, and I should get to the gym. We’ll want to leave ourselves plenty of time for car shopping this afternoon.”
“I don’t mind buying, but I think you should decide.” She reached out and patted the dashboard of the truck. “I haven’t had a car for years. I’ve kind of grown attached to this old thing. We should get whatever you want first, and then at some point when we’re settled, we can get a second car for me to tootle around in.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. And the thought of you tootling around…” He chuckled. “That describes it perfectly. We should take some time figuring out what’ll work best for you.”
She pressed a kiss to his lips before sliding back across the seat to get out. “I’ll see you later, then.”
“A couple of hours? Does that sound about right?”
She nodded. “Sounds perfect.”
“I love you, sprite.”
She got out of the truck and walked around to the driver’s side. He let the window down, and she leaned in to kiss him. “I love you.”
~ ~ ~
“Hey, it’s good to see you,” said Russ when Xander walked into the gym. “How are things going?” He looked out through the windows. “I see you’re still driving the truck; have you done anything about getting yourselves another ride?”
“We’re going out to look around the dealerships this afternoon.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“No, thanks. Tori’s hanging out with Ria this morning, then we’ll head out there this afternoon. Hopefully we’ll find something we’re happy with and one of us can drive it back while the other drives the truck.”
