Chapter 7 #3
“Aside from all the tents and porta potties, you’d also need somewhere for people to park. Then the space for the fete itself… I don’t know that the estate is big enough,” Josh muses.
“It’s not,” I say bluntly. “We’ve told Kieran to think smaller, but he says the event needs to be big to make the effort worthwhile. He’s still trying to think of a way to make it work.”
“It would be a grand affair, if there’s a way to make it happen.” Carter sighs wistfully, reminding us that he hasn’t seen a fair or festival for a hundred and fifty years.
Josh pats his hand sympathetically before asking, “Does the campground need to be here? What if the estate rents a field from one of the farms nearby, or the school football field? Then shuttle people to and fro so they don’t need to bring cars to the estate at all.”
Daniel and I exchange glances. “That might work,” I concede. “It’s definitely worth mentioning, in any case.”
Josh’s smile lights up the room.
“It would be a better option than having people wreck the lawn and fields with car tracks,” he says.
“Speaking of wrecking things with car tracks, how do you feel about a driving lesson?”
“What’s this?” Carter asks, smiling delightedly, eyes wide. “I would love to learn to drive!”
“No,” all three of us say. He pouts.
“Now?” Josh asks. “Aren’t you tired?”
“It won’t take long. It’s still mostly light out, so let’s see what you still remember. Maybe do a very slow lap around the dorms. There aren’t going to be any ghosts to startle you.” I give Carter a hard look. “Are there?”
He has the nerve to be indignant. “We would never!”
“Carter’s going to stay with me,” Daniel interjects. “We’ll watch from the front porch, and if any of the other ghosts come this way, we’ll stop them from interrupting.”
“We will?” Carter asks.
“Exorcism,” I tell him, and he nods at Josh.
“We certainly will.”
“Well, you remember where everything is and what it all does,” I say ten minutes later, after making sure Josh is familiar with being in the driver seat. “Start the engine, and let’s see how you go.”
He does, grinning nervously. “It’s dumb that I’m this excited and scared, right?”
“Nope. Now pull out slowly and follow the driveway along to the end of the house.” I backed the car in under the portico when I parked last night, so all he has to do is drive forward and turn. And it’s an automatic transmission, so it should be a piece of cake.
Swallowing, he puts the car in Drive and eases down on the gas pedal. At first it’s not enough, then he gets worried and presses too hard, so the car jerks forward before he panics and slams on the brakes.
“You’re doing fine,” I assure him. “Did you get a feel for how much pressure you need now?”
He nods. “I think so. Just so you know, I’m really grateful for this.”
“How grateful?” I ask, then realize how that must sound. “I mean—”
But he’s laughing. “Grateful enough to cook you dinner. How’s Wednesday?” With some of his attention on me, he puts his foot back on the gas and smoothly pulls the car out of its parking spot, turning into the driveway. I can’t hold back my grin.
“Wednesday sounds good,” I confirm as we draw even with the front of the cottage.
The driveway curves again here, leading up toward the main house, but this first time, I’d rather we didn’t get too close to anywhere there might be guests.
“Okay, let’s go off road. See the dorms?
” I point, but he’d need to have his eyes closed to miss them. “One lap.”
“Got it.” His confidence is back, and he doesn’t need any further guidance from me, taking the car at a steady speed around the dorms and then back to our starting point.
“Wanna try parking?” I ask, my eyes on his happy expression.
He pulls a face. “Reverse in? I don’t think I can.”
“What about pulling in forward? That’s just a turn. You don’t have to if you’re not comfortable,” I add when he bites his lip.
“No, I want to. I’ve done that before, and the space isn’t too tight.” A small furrow of concentration appears between his brows, and I take a deep breath, restraining the urge to kiss him. Friends. We’re friends.
He turns a fraction too late and ends up needing to reverse slightly to adjust the car’s position. I keep my mouth shut and let him do it. He’ll ask for help if he needs it, but he doesn’t. When he finally turns off the engine, the car is dead straight and perfectly centered in the space.
“How’d that feel?”
The wide grin on his face when he turns to me is all the answer I need, but he lunges forward and smacks a kiss dead on my mouth.
Then pulls back, eyes wide with horror. “I’m so sorry! I just wanted to thank you and… I guess I got carried away. I didn’t mean to cross any lines.”
I muster up a smile and try to ignore the way my lips are tingling. “It’s fine. This is an exciting moment. No lines crossed. I promise.”
He eyes me in a way that makes me think he can tell it’s a lie, but then his smile comes back. “Thank you. Dinner Wednesday? Maybe we can make it a trade—a meal for a lesson.”
“Sounds good,” I manage, pretending I’m not tingling all over from the memory of his lips on mine and the thought of more time with him.