Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Kari spent the next twenty-four hours being happier than she could ever remember.
Real people were such fun, and the incredible and irresistible Gavin Strong was so much more than fun.
She loved being around Gavin’s family; they made her feel comfortable and included.
All her fears of being socially awkward disappeared faster than Mama’s hot rolls coming out of the oven.
They’d all had dinner together Thursday night, then stayed up late playing games and chatting.
Gavin had given her a gentle kiss when he dropped her off at her gorgeous two-story suite on the sixth floor of his lodge, but he hadn’t said much besides thanking her for coming back.
It seemed like he was making a concerted effort to say sweet things to her.
She liked it. Sometimes it didn’t quite fit his personality, which made it even more endearing that he was trying so hard.
On Friday, they spent the morning on the slopes and the afternoon and evening working with the lodge employees, and a professional decorating company, to decorate everything from the restaurant, conference rooms, and open areas of the main two floors of the lodge.
“How many people are you planning on?” Kari asked Mama at one point.
She smiled sweetly. “About a thousand.”
“What?” All this wedding prep and talk had her fantasizing about marrying Gavin, but she’d be more comfortable with about fifty guests.
Mama nodded. “Lots of family, everyone from town, and all the employees and guests of the lodge are invited.”
Heath, Hazel, and Nick each drove a sport utility to Vail to pick up Hazel’s family, for whom Heath had chartered a jet from London. Jed and Cassie drove to Denver to pick up his surrogate parents and a couple of friends from Park City.
Kari and Cassie had had some time earlier this afternoon to chat while they assembled a small bag of thank-you gifts for each of Cassie and Hazel’s wedding guests, and Cassie told her about how she and Jed met, how she’d changed her plans from doing humanitarian missions full time to running a progressive shelter out of Denver, and how she hoped to adopt two children after their honeymoon: a twelve-year-old boy from Park City who was currently in foster care, and a four-year-old girl from Cozumel who lived in an orphanage there.
Kari thought Cassie was absolutely incredible.
Kari donated part of her earnings each month to an organization that helped homeless people become self-reliant through work skills and education, but to meet somebody who actually lived the life of a Good Samaritan was inspiring, and of course it gave her a few book ideas.
Now she was helping Ella tie huge ribbons in bows around the chairs at the lodge, and Ella was filling her in on how she’d loved the extreme sports expert Trey Nelson from the time she was a preteen.
When he’d returned home for a visit last fall, he’d been smacked upside the head by how incredible she was.
She said this with a teasing lilt to her voice and a wink.
“I love this story!” Kari exclaimed. “Tell me more.”
Ella laughed. “Will you write about us?”
Kari smiled. “I would love to, but that’s not quite how it works for me.”
Ella tilted her head and her brow furrowed. “What do you mean, how does it work?”
“I get ideas, inspiration, and sometimes even dialogue from real life, but for the most part, my friends in my head reveal their stories to me as I type it out. I try to direct the story sometimes, but I can ruin everything if I get too heavy-handed with them.”
Ella’s dark eyes were full of questions. “So you honestly have people talking to you?”
Kari shrugged, afraid to admit it and have Ella think she was insane.
“Sometimes when I’m out running, I’ll have full-on conversations with them, but mostly it’s just as I write their story they’re on my mind all the time, and their characterization, story, and theme are revealed to me piece by piece as I type it out.
” She warmed up to her subject as she tied another bow and moved to the next chair.
“It’s so incredible. Sometimes I’ll just be typing along and include a detail that I don’t really think is significant, but it came out of my fingertips, so I keep it.
Later on, it’ll be a piece to a character’s personality, or the theme or plot, that I hadn’t even realized would be crucial. ”
Ella nodded. “So you’re discovering the story just like a reader would?”
“Most of the time. Like I said, I try to guide my characters and I’ll insert stuff into the dialogue or their heads during later rounds of edits, but the first draft is all pretty authentic to whatever story I see playing out in my head.
” Her hands froze on a bow, and the worries surfaced as she knew she’d said too much.
Her mom was very supportive, but she also cautioned her that people just wanted a quick answer when they asked about her writing. “You probably think I’m nuts.”
Ella shook her head and tied another bow. “No, I think it’s really great. My mind is business and math-oriented, so I love hearing about how your creative process works.”
“Thanks.” Kari kept her head down and her fingers busy to hide how relieved she was.
She didn’t want Gavin’s family thinking she was a schizophrenic head case and warning him about red flags to their relationship.
Not that they really had a relationship yet, but she certainly hoped they were progressing that direction.
Gavin came out of his office across the wide open main floor, and Kari straightened, her heart immediately picking up its beat.
He gave her a warm half smile and strode their direction.
He didn’t pull her in tight when he reached her, but his smile grew close to full and his gaze ran appreciatively over her face. “You two about done?” he asked.
“Yes. Do you need my co-worker?” Ella grinned at Kari.
“Yes, please,” Gavin said in a husky voice that did funny things to Kari’s insides. He was focused on Kari. “Trey and Ella offered to entertain Austin at my house.” He paused to nod his thanks to his sister. “Would you be interested in going to dinner with me?”
“Yes!” She probably sounded far too eager, but she didn’t care. She wanted Gavin to know that she was interested—more than interested, invested. She loved having Austin around, but being alone with Gavin sounded like heaven.
“Would you prefer dressing up or going casual?” Gavin asked.
“Ooh, let’s dress up.” She’d seen him in a shirt and tie for church, and it had been a splendid sight. Plus, she loved the idea of an intimate dinner.
“Sounds good. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
Before he could turn away, Kari impulsively threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you! This will be amazing.”
He chuckled and said, “Anything with you is amazing.” Then he wrapped her up tight, bent low, and gave her a lingering kiss that had her tingling from head to foot.
“I’m still here,” Ella sang out.
Gavin pulled back slightly, still focused on Kari. “I’ve watched her and Trey kiss more times than Trey has risked his life. I think she’ll survive.”
“Good,” Kari murmured, “because I didn’t quite get enough.”
Gavin’s half smile appeared, and he bent close again. “Neither did I.”
Kari laughed happily. He cut it off by pressing his lips to hers.
Gavin sat next to Kari at a small table at the exclusive Terra Bistro in Vail.
They’d chatted mostly about the family, the weddings, and the funny things Austin said as they drove to Vail and ate a fabulous meal.
A few weeks ago, he couldn’t have imagined he’d be so comfortable with a model-gorgeous, impetuous, and smart woman; now, he hated the thought of her leaving again on Monday.
He was definitely getting more comfortable with physical touch.
If he wanted to admit the truth, he craved being close to and touching Kari.
He didn’t even care if his family saw how smitten he was with her, and surprisingly, the teasing had been minimal.
They all seemed happy and relieved that he’d finally fallen, and had each told him how impressed they were with Kari.
He was also getting more comfortable saying sweet things to Kari, phrases that he was sure his siblings and their significant others said to each other but would’ve made him cringe and squirm a few weeks ago.
He ate his last bite of the green beef curry.
It was delicious, and the honey BBQ salmon Kari had offered him a bite of was every bit as good.
The price tag on this restaurant was insane, but it was well worth it for the food and atmosphere.
He’d eaten lunch here for a few business dinners but had never pictured himself bringing an incredible woman here for a dinner date.
She sat back and pushed her plate away, looking beautiful in a floor-length floral dress that had a blue band around the middle to emphasize her waist and a V-neck that flattered her incredible shape. “That was delicious. Thank you, Gavin.”
“Sure.”
“I was able to hear pretty much everybody’s story today, except for Nick’s.”
Gavin’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you want to know about Nick?”