Chapter 9 #4
“I went to Iceland, you know,” he ventured, moving one of the logs down a bit as it burned, eyes on the fire the entire time, but his attention was on her. “It’s only a five-hour flight out of Boston.”
“You’re kidding! I went, too!”
“Really? When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Three, for me. Did you go to Reykjavik?” he asked with a smile.
“I was only there on a layover on the way to London. Spent about sixteen hours there. I did fit in a trip to the Blue Lagoon, though, and I drank some good coffee, and got lectured at a yarn shop for knitting wrong.”
“Knitting wrong? How do you knit wrong?”
“American style.”
“You knit? I didn’t know that.”
“I knit about as well as I fix radiator hoses.”
A loud chuckle came out of him, followed by a mirth-filled look that made his eyes shine like the old Kell.
“Please tell me you didn’t superglue yourself to some old Icelandic lady’s needles.”
“Ha! No. What did you see there?”
“As much as I could. I stayed for a month.”
“A month!”
“Yeah. I rented a car. Camped as much as I could. The natural beauty there is so extraordinary. And Iceland and Maine have a unique direct trade relationship–Icelandic companies use the Portland port. University of Southern Maine does exchange programs there, too. There’s a lot going on between their country and our state. ”
“I had no idea. You went on business?”
“No. Pure pleasure.”
“Did you go with a girlfriend?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
He gave her a sharp look.
“No. I went alone.”
“Oh.”
“How about you?”
“I was alone, too.”
“Did you go to Herdísarvík?”
“Of course I did. I don’t know how a film crew managed there, but the bleakness is so beautiful on screen.”
“Did you ever finish the show we started together?”
Rachel froze. She’d taken a small risk when she said she missed talking to him about Nordic noir. Now he was directly bringing up the past.
Specifically, that night at his apartment, when they were watching The Valhalla Stalker. His ex-girlfriend, Alissa, had barged in on them to return Kell’s belongings, and also to throw printed emails in Kell’s face that made it look like Rachel had joined her in betraying him.
“I did. Took me a while, but I did.”
“Good. It’s my favorite series, and I’d hate to think you missed out on it because of…”
She expected him to say what happened.
But instead he just said, “Me.”
“I would never let anything get in the way of a really good show like that.”
He let out a laugh through his nose.
“How could you watch so much Nordic noir and not like cold weather? Snow is practically a character on the shows,” Kell asked her in a teasing tone, as if changing the subject were the best approach to easing tension.
“I like cold weather in small doses. Like Tahoe. A weekend of skiing, not cold weather that freezes your toes off for weeks and months. My feet are constantly freezing here. Does it ever get better?”
“Sometime in mid-April, we get to feel all our extremities again.”
“You’re really selling Maine, Kell.”
“You really don’t like this town, do you?” he asked suddenly, cutting through Rachel’s joking words.
“What?”
“Love You, Maine. You’ve made fun of it since back in D.C. It’s just a joke to you.”
“It’s… a lot. Reminds me of Niagara Falls. The part with Ripley’s Believe It or Not and all the cheesy arcades and sightseeing. It’s just… trappings. There’s no ‘there’ there.”
“And L.A. has a lot of ‘there’?”
“Ha. Not much ‘there’ in L.A., but it’s different.”
“How’s it different?”
“For one thing, you can feel your toes in L.A.”
“Bet they have to be perfect, though. Pedicured, and the exact right proportion, or you see a plastic surgeon to fix them.”
A memory of her mother moaning about her hammertoes made Kell’s comment hit the mark a little too precisely.
“You might be right.”
“If you can handle L.A. fakery, why can’t you handle Love You fakery?”
“That is a good question.”
“I have an idea. How about you let me show you the real Luview, Maine? Not the one spelled L-O-V-E Y-O-U. The one I’m named for. The real people behind it all.”
“I have a lot of work,” she said reluctantly, loving that he would offer to spend more time with her, but wondering why.
Was it because of that almost kiss? Or was something else going on?
Normally, she’d be direct and ask, but the waters were murky between them. She didn’t want to ruin this fragile détente. Plus, she plain old wanted more time with him. It felt greedy.
It was greedy.
“Let’s go.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. Now. Let me show you Love You, Maine, from the perspective of an actual Luview.”
“I’m not dressed for it.”
“That’s the beauty of my town: It accepts people as they are.”
“Your town is devoted to the opposite of authenticity, Kell.”
“Ah ah ah.” He wagged a finger. “You can’t say that until you let me do my tour. A private, docent-led tour of the secrets of Love You.”
“Please tell me it doesn’t involve a blacklight.” She shivered. “In retrospect, maybe it’s just as well Dani couldn’t get me that honeymoon suite. With all those drive-thru weddings I’ve heard about, they must use disinfectant like water.”
“Shhh.” His hand covered her mouth, the sudden touch making her jump. “Get dressed. No more talking. We’re going into town.” He glared at the mug of coffee. “If for no other reason than to get you a good cup of joe.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that? I’m in.” Moving toward the trailer, she called back, “Just need to change and brush my hair.”
“I’ll put out the fire,” she heard him say as she closed the door and pawed through her luggage, wondering what to wear.
The temperature was exactly what Dani had printed on her itinerary sheet, but Rachel had never experienced what those numbers on a weather report actually felt like.
Her two layers of pants and three layers of socks weren’t enough.
How was she supposed to survive walking around town?
As she brushed her hair and pulled it into a low ponytail, she realized that the jeans she’d brought were just fine. This wasn’t L.A. She didn’t need to be perfect, she just needed to be warm. And if she got too cold, she’d just stay in the nice, warm truck.
As she bundled up, pulling her ski jacket on, grabbing a cute red tocque, and slipping her hands into gloves, she ignored the pull of her laptop.
Five years ago, Kell wouldn’t talk to her. Wouldn’t let her try. Wouldn’t believe her.
And now, some piece of the past that weighed her down was lifting.
Work could wait.
She closed the door and went down the steps with a little bounce. Kell was standing by his truck, looking at his phone. He groaned.
“Another heart in a tree.”
“Another what?”
“The sky divers. They practice this time of year, especially on nice days like today with no wind. I’m going to have to offer you a raincheck on taking you around town. Gotta help my dad cut a heart out of a tree.”
“A heart?”
“Guys do this all the time. Dress up in a heart costume, sky dive, don’t know how to steer, and land in a tree.”
“I thought that was a joke when your mom mentioned it.”
“My mom mentioned it? When?”
“Yesterday. When I saw her before the presentation.”
“Yeah. Today’s a repeat. We cut about five a year out of trees.”
“All in heart costumes?”
“No. Some in tuxes. Cupid costumes. You name it. Cut down Elvis a few years ago.”
“I would pay to see that.”
He gave her a grin and a contemplative look. “How about you get to watch it for free.” He patted her hand. “Come with me.”
“With you?”
“Sure. Change of plans. Come meet my dad and watch some stranger make a fool of himself. Think of it as local flavor.”
“Love You Chocolate and Love You Coffee are more my kind of local flavor,” she replied, but saw something in his face change. Was he disappointed she didn’t immediately say yes?
“Okay.”
“That’s not a no, Kell. I’d love to come. Any chance we could grab coffees from the shop in town, first?”
“I like how you think. It’s on the way, but we have to go right now.”
The wall of unfinished business pressed hard on her, suffocating as she imagined her inbox, her texts, her incomplete documentation. It all was there, breathing hard down her neck, chanting We will not be ignored over and over.
Until she did.
Ignore it, that is.
She just decided to ignore it.
“I’ll grab my bag.”
As Rachel ran back into the trailer, her open laptop judged her.
Judged her so bad.
You have a job! You’re failing! You need to pay attention to me!
Closing it firmly, she turned her back, picked up her purse, shut the door, and walked toward Kell.
They might not be together. They might not trust each other. They might have a lot of unfinished business between them.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t choose joy.
And waaaaay better coffee.