Page 35 of The Art of Falling in Love with Your Enemy
An alarm on her phone goes off, and Etta starts walking away. She turns around, waving her hand for me to follow her. “Come on. It’s time to flip the chicken.”
I watch as she trots ahead of me, back to the kitchen. This conundrum of a woman is opening up to me, a tiny crack at a time, and it’s nothing short of amazing.
And I’m realizing I would follow her anywhere.
FIFTEEN
Etta
Dinner was delightfully smooth, even with Lucy making sure she squeezed in so she could sit justthistightandnextto Zac.
For real.
Honestly, it was like watching someone try to stuff a sausage. Zac was sitting next to one of his colleagues, and Lucy had literally pushed the two of them apart and wrenched her way in there.
After excusing myself, I tended to the firepit, getting it going so we could do s’mores as requested and then go to bed. Standing here now, I’m pretty impressed with myself: the fire is raging in a good way, and I’ve set up the picnic table nearby with all of the s’mores goodies one could want.
“Ohhhh, a fire!” Lucy squeals as she walks out of the kitchen door, wrapping a jacket around her. “Do we have s’mores, too?”
Lucy’s voice is beginning to sound like chalk screeching across a chalkboard in my mind. Gritting my teeth, I try to smile. This day needs to be over.
“There’s a pile of food on that table over there.” Zac appears beside me, pointing to the picnic table.
Lucy slithers to the table, clicking her tongue as she looks at the selection. She spins around and looks my way with narrowed eyes. “No gluten-free graham crackers nor any dark chocolate?”
Mitch the grocer’s words reverberate in my ears. “Ohh, I’m sorry, we weren’t able to get gluten-free graham crackers.”
“Nor any dark chocolate?” Lucy’s got a hand on her hip now, and she’s looking annoyed. Someone give this woman some sugar, and fast, please.
I shake my head, tossing a quick glance Zac’s way, hoping he sees my plea for help.
“Sorry, Lucy, but I see cheesecake bites over there and those are gluten free for sure.” Zac points to the table again as he stokes the fire. “It’s not a big deal, right?”
Lucy bats her eyelashes and winks at Zac. I’m not sure if she’s simply shameless or if it’s an act. She walks over and stands beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. “It’s no big deal, Zac. I’ve brought some snacks with me, which I’ll whip out when we go to bed tonight.”
Somewhere in the pit of my stomach, a bomb goes off. I had forgotten that Lucy and Zac were sharing a cabin together. Granted, there’s a few other people in there, but still.
Also, why am I worried about where Zac sleeps anyway?
“So how are things going, team?”
Spinning around, we’re all surprised to see Sergeant Lane walking our way.
“Hey, man,” Zac says as he steps forward, holding his hand out to shake Lane’s. “Didn’t think you’d be here until tomorrow.”
“I was over helping Brett with his fence.” Lane looks my way and winks. “So I thought I’d cut through the woods and surprise you guys.” He holds up a gym bag. “Got room for one more?”
I look around and spot my clipboard with the sleeping arrangements on it sitting on the table. I walk toward it, but Zac beats me to it. He’s got the file folder open and is flipping through the pages, scanning names.
He looks at Lane. “It’s a pretty tight squeeze. Amelia closed the bunk house and we’re all sharing the cabins.”
Lane peers over his shoulder and indicates a spot on a piece of paper. “I can stay in that cabin with you, Wright. I’ll just stay on the floor. No big deal.”
“Oh, boy, this is going to be a fun sleepover,” Lucy purrs. I’ve never seen a cat in heat until this very moment, and kids…it ain’t pretty.
“No way my superior is going to sleep on the floor.” Zac slams the folder shut. “You can have my bed.”
“Really? Thanks, Zac. You don’t have to do that.” He indicates with his head to the folder in Zac’s hand. “Will you have a place to sleep?”
