She looked at him and made yet another impulsive decision. “Yes.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “I thought you were due home.”
She looked at him over the Blazer’s hood, weighing the consequences of postponing her return for a few more days. With the presentation delivered, there was no reason for her not to pack her car and leave as planned, giving her the weekend to unpack. If she went to San Diego, she’d jump right back into foundation work, not to mention wedding planning. Freddie wouldn’t like it.
But this was a once-in-a-lifetime event for Adam and Marissa.
Her mother wouldn’t like it, either.
Too bad.
“I am,” she said. “They’ll just have to get along without me for another few days. Come with me. It’ll be fun.”
He turned to look over his shoulder, and she was sure he would say no, that he was needed here, that their understanding was that this was over and they should keep it that way.
She gripped her iPhone too tightly to pretend this was casual, but couldn’t make her fingers relax. Definitely entangled, she thought. And the knots are getting tighter and tighter.
“You know, I haven’t taken a vacation since I was hired,” he said conversationally.
His gaze met hers, and she breathed again. “Okay. Good. I’m glad. I’m really . . . I’ll coordinate with Marissa.”
“Great.”
“See you at home.”
He shot her an odd look. “See you there.”
10
ALANA HAD JUST finished brushing her teeth when two sharp raps came at the kitchen door. She hurried into the hallway and peered around the door frame. Lucas stood in the open door.
“We’re due at the Huron airfield in an hour. You almost ready to go?”
She nodded. Duke trotted across the linoleum and nosed at Alana’s legs.
“Who’s watching Duke?”
“Tanya,” he said.
Alana looked up from scratching behind Duke’s ears. “Is she . . . ?”
“Capable of looking after him? She heard somehow I was taking a couple of days off and offered to keep an eye on him. She’s always had a soft spot for him. She’ll let me down, but she’d never let him down. I thought I’d give her a chance. He’s pretty easy to look after. I’ve got to run to the station, then I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“Do you mind if Adam’s mother rides along?”
Lucas looked at his watch. “Sure. Just call her and let her know we’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
She nodded again. Lucas clicked for Duke, who obediently turned and trotted back outside. Alana hastily applied a little mascara and lip gloss, then went into the bedroom to check her luggage one last time. She wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and a fitted brown leather jacket. She wore boots for the flight and had packed a pair of sandals for San Diego’s warmer climate. Her dress for the wedding was folded into the suitcase. She’d get it quickly pressed before Saturday evening. A couple of changes of underwear, her laptop, toiletries. Snugged into the middle of the soft clothes was her wedding present to Marissa. She’d purchased a platter composed of fired glass with encased prairie crocuses Marissa loved; it had been made by a fused-glass artist working outside Walkers Ford. It would be a pretty thing to have on the boat and remind her of home, useful to serve bread or cheese and crackers when they hosted little parties in various anchorages. Alana had called the artisan after she got home and rushed out to her studio to pick it up before she went to bed.
Alana zipped the bag closed and carried it down the hallway to wait by the door. She looked around the kitchen. She was leaving so much unfinished in Walkers Ford. The kitchen wasn’t done. The proposal for the library renovations was complete, but the renovations themselves and any adjustments that should be made would wait for the incoming permanent hire. And there was Cody, the very definition of an unfinished project. She’d say her good-byes when she got back from San Diego, but somehow it didn’t sit right with her, to leave people and work she’d grown to care for.
She tucked her hair behind her ear. How did Freddie do this every few months, commit to a location, to a group of people, learn about their histories and needs, their dreams and ambitions thoroughly enough to make effective recommendations, then move on?