Page 50 of To Bring You Back
When Adeline emerged with the clothes on, the thick material wasn’t formfitting, but she looked ready for adventure. Though he’d rather stretch it into a cross-country road trip, even the prospect of the half an hour ride back to Lakeshore with her lifted a grin to his face.
She extended her arms to the side. “How am I supposed to know if this fits right?”
“You look great.”
She’d been looking down at herself, but at the slip, her focus rose to his face.
“I mean the fit looks right.” He fought against letting his gaze skim back over her. “It’s supposed to be snug, but you should be able to move. Bend like you’re on the bike to make sure the knee pads hit in the right place.”
She made a face, but she tried the idea and straightened again. “I guess we have winners. I’ll wear it out of the store?”
He nodded, and she pulled the tags off and handed them over as they made their way to the front. As the sleepy cashier scanned the barcodes, Gannon glanced at Adeline. “Have you been to Fox Valley recently?”
“I go a couple of times a year. Holidays, mostly.”
“How’s the family?”
“Good. My sister took a job in Chicago.” Her eyes widened when the cashier scanned the helmet, and she slanted a look of protest at Gannon.
“Precious cargo.” He tapped the side of her head. The gesture was meant to be light and teasing, but the silk of her hair under his fingertip almost stole his ability to withdraw. He clenched a fist as he returned his hand to his side. “And your parents?”
She frowned, apparently too miffed about the price of the helmet to have thought anything of the touch. “My parents are more and more excited about retirement the closer it gets. There’s talk of an RV. Your mom?”
“She had a bout with breast cancer a few years ago.”
“I didn’t know.”
Gannon paid for the purchase. “I came home a few times, but people didn’t care about Awestruck so much then, so word didn’t really get out. She’s been cancer-free for five years now.” He took the helmet and the receipt, and they started for the exit. “She came out in December, tagged along to watch us play for one of the late-night shows, made more Christmas cookies than LA has ever seen, and delivered them to all the neighbors like it was the most normal thing in the world.”
Adeline laughed, and she didn’t even know one of his neighbors was a hulking pro wrestler. He’d tell her, but this was such a normal conversation. Why derail their connection by pointing out how different their lives were?
He handed her the new helmet and zipped his jacket as they stepped back into the parking lot, that much closer to returning to Lakeshore. He didn’t want to go. Didn’t want this to end. “Her expression would be priceless if she woke up in the morning and saw me on the couch.”
Adeline lit up her phone, probably checking the time as they walked toward the motorcycle, and his hopes soared. She hadn’t immediately dismissed the idea.
He had already done the math. “We’d get to Fox Valley a little after eleven. Your parents would still be up. Unless they’re early birds now?”
She shook her head. “Up until midnight, at least. You think breaking into your mom’s house while she’s sleeping is a good idea?”
“I have a key. Besides, the worst she’d do is scream.”
“Or call the police.”
“I’m willing to risk it. Surprising Mom usually takes more than a two-hour trip, and I don’t know when I’ll be back up this way.”
She gazed at the helmet as if the answer of what she should do would surface in the visor. “I’m supposed to be at the church in the morning, but I could call Drew. I’d need to be back for the food truck in the afternoon.”
Drew. The name John had mentioned. “Who’s Drew?”
“The pastor. He’d understand. I never call in, and there’s not a lot going on anyway.”
So the man who’d been helping her with her house was also the pastor who’d planted the seed that Gannon wasn’t a Christian. And the church job didn’t sound reliable, if she wasn’t busy. No wonder she had been doing her own work on her house.
“You got my message?” she asked.
“I did.”
Her voice in that recording had been the sweetest sound he’d heard in a long, long time.
