Page 46 of Like the Season
“No.” They hadn’t talked much about his family. He didn’t want to burden her with that.
“You’re not close to them, are you?”
“I wish I was. I doubt I’m ever going to be close to them with their current mindset.”
She reached back to pat his hand. “At least you gained a daughter.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“You want to have some fun?”
“How?”
She looked back at him with an evil grin identical to her father’s. “I’ll make sure to call you ‘Dad’ in front of people and watch their reactions.”
He burst out laughing. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
* * * *
As their plane descended into Tampa, Caleb didn’t mind when Ella grabbed his hand and held on tight as they passed through a little turbulence.
“Sorry,” she muttered, her eyes tightly closed. “I don’t like flying, even though I did a lot of it the past several months when I was looking for Dad.”
“It’s okay.”
They’d been seated at the front of the plane due to her injured leg, and the airline had a wheelchair waiting for her in the jetway. After helping her into it, he grabbed their carryons and her crutches and followed the airline employee who pushed the wheelchair for her.
It was nearly forty-five minutes later by the time they had her luggage claimed and he’d brought Boyd’s car around to the curbside at arrivals to help her in. For tonight and tomorrow, she could get by without a wheelchair at home as long as she was using the crutches and mostly staying off her feet. Still, he wanted to look into either renting or buying an inexpensive one for her so she wouldn’t be completely housebound for the next several weeks.
His text to Boyd that they were in the car was almost immediately met with a phone call.
“You’d better not be driving,” Caleb said by way of greeting.
“That’s five, boy. And I’m not. I’m stopped for gas and snacks.”
Caleb grinned, biting back his comment that he’d gladly take five strokes for his snark. Ella might be in the lifestyle and know about them, but it didn’t mean he wanted to rub her face in it. “I’ll text you when we’re home.”
“Excellent. Drive safe.”
“Says the man in the truck.”
* * * *
Boyd stared out at the landscape. He’d made it into Idaho and while he wished Caleb—or Ella—was with him, he was enjoying the drive.
“Want to go for ten, or would that be rewarding bratty behavior?”
Caleb chuckled. “Five’s fine, Sir. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Boyd hoped if he pushed hard he could make it back to Florida by Thursday morning. He didn’t mind taking naps in the truck instead of getting a room, and was hoping he could make it as far as Kansas City before he had to pull over and get some real sleep.
It still felt surreal that Ella was moving in with them.
The good kind of surreal.
As he drove, he tried not to plan things in his mind, not wanting to get ahead of himself. They didn’t even know the gender of her baby yet, but he was glomming onto her hunch it was a girl and daydreaming about buying her frilly dresses and princess outfits, while at the same time thinking about teaching her how to take care of her car and fix things so she could be independent.
