Chapter Ten #2
I held in the laugh.
Barely.
Hamish nearly bounced in his seat. Still, he met my gaze as I was stopped at the red light. Waiting to turn north on Boundary Road. “Do you have a preference?”
“Nope.” I grinned. “I haven’t heard any of those—so this is between the two of you.”
I got a left-turn arrow and executed the move as quickly as I could.
A discussion ensued between the two men, and by the time I hit the Canada Way intersection, they had settled on something.
Music came through the speakers—much quieter than before.
“Hey, Donovan?” I glanced quickly into the rearview mirror.
“Yep?”
“Can you see how bad the Number One is to the exit to the Number Seven? Does it make more sense to get on the Number Seven now?”
He tapped a few times and grinned. “The congestion eases past Deer Lake Parkway. So the freeway appears to be the better bet.”
“All right.” I made the right turn onto the on-ramp. And had barely accelerated before hitting the sea of red lights.
Donovan squeezed my shoulder. “Maps has never led me wrong.”
I flashed to all the stories of people winding up in lakes because they followed their GPS. Still, I decided I’d trust it for traffic gridlock.
Plus…we weren’t really in a hurry.
“Where are we stopping for clothes? In Mission City?”
“Nope. There’s a store in Maple Ridge. We take a turnoff before we get to Mission City downtown. The cabin is in the hills north of town.”
I was completely unfamiliar with Mission City, so this all went right over my head. But I was familiar with Maple Ridge. Trusting Donovan to provide me with directions, I waded into the Friday night traffic of all the sane people leaving Vancouver.
Or insane, to be stuck in this gridlock.
We did eventually accelerate, and the rest of the drive went smoothly. We did not, however, speak.
That surprised me.
Donovan was never quiet. Never still—unless he was exhausted and on medication.
He was just one of those guys who seemed to be in perpetual motion.
Several times I glanced back to see if he was asleep.
He wasn’t. Each time he met my gaze in the mirror and offered a grin.
Wasn’t quite a shy smile—but some of the cockiness was gone.
Like he might’ve been uncertain about his decision to railroad us into this adventure.
Shopping went quicker than I’d thought. He’d chosen a store that catered to men of unique sizes. In other words, Hamish and I got jeans of the perfect length.
Donovan reveled in picking sweatshirts, Henleys, and sweaters for Hamish.
I did not let him select things for me. Even though his taste was clearly better and he picked the perfect things for Doc. The Henley matched his eyes perfectly, and the navy-blue cable knit sweater would be warm but didn’t overwhelm him.
See, Hamish…you can look good in things other than cardigans. He had flawless skin and a youthful appearance that many at his age might covet. Does he wear the cardigans to appear older? Something to consider.
We were back on the road quickly but hit construction between Maple Ridge and Haney.
“Do we need to get food?” I tapped the steering wheel.
“Nope. The person who’s renting the cabin stocked it with everything we might need. Including plenty of vegetarian options.” Donovan squeezed Hamish’s shoulder. “I’ll always take care of you.”
Another damn blush. So adorable.
Hamish cleared his throat. “I am capable of eating meat. Fish…even beef. I just prefer not to. Environmental concerns. My sister has three children—including a set of twins. I’m concerned about the world I want to leave them. So I do my part.”
“You’re a good man.” Donovan leaned back. “I suppose I could cut down on my consumption. But no way am I giving up bacon.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah. No. Me either.” Traffic picked up speed again once we were beyond the construction. “How far?”
“Not much. I’ll give you plenty of notice, but stay in the left lane.”
“Okay.” We crossed a small bridge, and soon he gave me the signal to turn left at the intersection.
“The road’s windy, so you’ll want to take it a bit slower.”
“Sure.” Night was upon us, and I appreciated the heads-up. Eventually, I pulled into a driveway. I passed a line of trees that blocked the cabin from being seen from the road, and pulled up to the cabin.
I snorted.
Donovan chuckled. “Yeah, I thought you might feel that way. It is a wood cabin, though. Those are real, uh, logs.”
Even Hamish laughed. “It’s the biggest cabin I’ve ever seen.”
“Three bedrooms, four bathrooms, including a jet tub and a shower that fits four.” Donovan grinned as he unbuckled his seat belt.
“Are we expecting a fourth?” My tone was as dry as the Sahara.
“Nope. Just three. Can you guys grab the bags? I have to get the key from the lockbox.”
“Coded?” I unbuckled my seat belt as well. “And yeah, Hamish and I can grab the bags.”
“Yes to the lockbox and thanks for the assist.” He exited the SUV and headed toward the porch.
The lights burned bright in the dark.
Hamish turned to me. “Are we crazy?”
“I don’t know.” I let out a long sigh. “I just don’t know.”
With that, I headed into unchartered territory.