Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Bennett
“What are we doing?” Lexi asks as I lead her toward the deck. Her hand in mine, she climbs along the piles of dirt from the build until we reach a clearing.
Pointing ahead to the boat mounted at the side she wrinkles her brows. “Fishing?”
“Yeah,” I tell her, grabbing her wasit and moving her off the pile and closer. Her body now only inches away from mine I push back the hair from her face.
“What about working on the house?”
“We took the day off.” Shrugging I lean in, kiss the tip of her nose and she scrunches it up playfully. “Rather spend the day with you,” I confess, linking my fingers with hers, and continuing on toward the already stocked boat.
Recruiting Sutton to help stock gather everything we may have needed, I’ve got shit in there I never would have thought to bring on a fishing trip. Hand sanitizer, baby wipes, sunscreen, hair clips, mosquito repellant. I thought it was excessive, but who am I to question it.
I asked my mom to pack a cooler. I even found a way to mount a damn umbrella if Lexi needs some shade.
“Did you forget anything?” she asks with a smile looking around at everything.
“Nope. I have everything I need.” Offering her a wink, her cheeks redden as I take a seat and push off the dock. Using the oars I get us to the deeper parts and then throw in the anchor.
I watch her, seeing how comfortable she is in this setting. Relaxing back in the seat, her feet kick out. Baiting a hook, tossing the line and looking around watching and waiting for the tug on the other end, she is in her element.
More focused on her than actually fishing I am mesmerized by the smile on her lips.
“My grandpa used to take me fishing,” Lexi shares, reeling in her line just a little bit.
“We’d spend hours in the boat going up and down the lake.
My grandma hollering from the bank, telling us it was time to call it a night.
He’d have the lake stocked, just to ensure I’d always have luck.
Being the only grandchild, he didn’t get to share it with anyone else. ”
I say nothing, only letting her tell her story. I already know he passed last summer and I don’t want to bring up anything that might upset her.
“I told my dad about Camryn last night,” she switches up and I hold off on casting out my own line, invested in where this conversation is about to go.
“I thought for sure he’d tell me I should be young and not tie myself up, but he surprised me.”
“Your dad isn’t going to question you Lex, hell that man is one hundred and ten percent in your corner. No matter what it is, I think he’s on your side. You could tell him you were shaving your head and choosing to live in a cave off the grid and he’d weave you a blanket.”
“I doubt that, but I know what you’re saying.”
“Let me guess, he asked when he gets to meet her?”
“Yeah.” She smiles. “He told me that I remind him of my mother. Because she always put the needs of others first and wore her heart on her sleeve.” I notice the glossy look in her eyes.
“How are things going with Camryn anyway?”
“I have a few more hours of my mandatory requirements, then we move on to the next phase.”
“What phase is that?”
“Home inspections, living requirements, indoor and outdoor.” She seems nervous as she bites her lip. “Adley seems okay with it, but we put in for a three bedroom apartment a few buildings down.”
I nod.
“I’ve been told it might be a little rougher to get approval living with a roommate but the fact that she is going through nursing school, holds down a good job, and doesn’t have a record should help.”
“Unless Rory keeps pushing her buttons,” I say with a laugh. “Then that could all change.”
“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath. “Somehow I think the state of Alabama will frown upon placing Camryn in the home of a murderer.”