Chapter 56
Less than twenty minutes later, Nate and McKenna were parked back at the B&B, the sound of katydids chirping nearby. The security light at the back of the house filtered through the windows enough for Nate to see McKenna in the passenger seat without any trouble.
Before she could climb out, he dropped a hand on her knee. “Let’s run away.”
She snorted and unclasped her seat belt. “Afraid it’s a little too late for that.”
“No, I mean it.” He’d been thinking about it the entire drive back.
They needed a break. Things were only going to get crazier, and who knew what would happen after next week?
What if Bobbi said no? What if she said yes, and McKenna decided to apply for the job in LA?
What if they couldn’t make a long-distance relationship work? What if he never saw her again?
He reached for her hand. “We’ll be back by tomorrow night. Gus can handle things for one day.”
“You’re serious.”
He nodded. Her hand started to relax inside his. “Where would we go?”
“Wherever you want.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.
“I just want some time with you. Time where we can get to know each other better without worrying about checking things off a to-do list or taking minutes for a silly meeting or worrying about how to make everything perfect for some celebrity with a guitar.”
“A guitar?” She tugged her hand free and flapped it against his shoulder. “You still don’t know who Harry is, do you? Didn’t you ever see the movie Hope Floats?” She immediately shook her head. “Never mind. Of course you didn’t. What about Independence Day? You had to have seen that one.”
“Was he one of the aliens?”
“He’s going to knock your socks off, just you wait and see.”
“I’ll be sure to put on more than one pair when I meet him. So what do you say?” He caught her hand again, more concerned about McKenna than Harry. “Can we get out of here? I’ll drive you wherever you want to go.”
“We are talking a two-bedroom situation here, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then . . .” She bit her bottom lip the way she did when she was trying not to smile. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.” She couldn’t hide her smile any longer. “Let’s do it. Let’s be wild. Let’s be reckless. Let’s run away from all our worries and cares—so long as you promise we will be back to resume all those worries and cares by the end of tomorrow.”
“I promise.”
“Then, yeah. Okay. Let’s go. Just give me ten minutes to pack.”
He dropped a kiss to the back of her hand. “Thank you.”
“Ooh, I know,” she said as they both climbed out of the car. “We should go to Franklin. How amazing would it be to visit the site of one of the most active and thriving PTAs in all of middle Tennessee, including Nashville?”
“You want to go to Franklin, we’ll go to Franklin. Tonight I’ll go anywhere for you,” he said, trailing her into the house. “I’ll do anything.”
“We should bring Lottie along.” She grinned over her shoulder.
“I’m not doing that.”