Page 313 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
But at the end of the day, I was starting to realize just how difficult it was for me to stay away from him. Starting to realize that each new day when I didn’t see him around the resort was like a knife to the gut.
I still had Ian’s words echoing through my brain. He thought I deserved someone better. But the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that I didn’t want anything different, better or otherwise. Adam was passionate about his job, and about Ethan. He was hardworking almost to a fault, and even though he wasn’t always as communicative as I would have liked, I could tell that he was opening up to me, slowly but surely. I didn’t want to quit on that.
My worries vanished as I pulled up towards the house and saw Ethan on the front porch, waving happily at me. “Hey, Ethan,” I said when I got out of my car.
“Hi!” he said excitedly, still waving.
Adam came out onto the porch as well, grinning at me. “Hey, Bailey. Hope the drive was okay?”
I nodded at him. “Honestly, I think the plow trucks do a better job out here than they do around town,” I joked.
“We shoveled the driveway all by ourselves,” Ethan told me proudly.
“Well, you did a very nice job,” I told him approvingly. “I didn’t slip at all.”
Ethan giggled, and Adam grinned. “So do you want the full tour of the place?” he asked me.
“Sure,” I said easily, letting him lead me around the house, both inside and out.
“Gosh, the view out here is beautiful,” I said as we paused in the kitchen, looking out over the whole valley. I swear, you could see everything from there at the sink. I had never seen anything like it before.
Of course, you got a pretty amazing view from some of the places in Vegas. Either down the entire strip, or out towards the desert. But it was nothing like this. The mountains were beautiful, but that was just part of it. Not a skyscraper in sight, just rolling mountains and houses and strips of white that must have been ski resorts. And as the day faded towards sunset, twinkling Christmas lights started to dot the valley below us, lending a merry air to everything down there.
Adam smiled at my clear appreciation of the place. “It takes a certain type of person to be comfortable living out here,” he said. “We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere.”
“Kind of?” I teased. “There’s only, what, the one other house on this road?”
“Yup,” Adam agreed.
“And that’s Gramps’ place!” Ethan piped up excitedly.
I laughed and shook my head. “Of course it is,” I said. Adam looked defensive at first, so I hurried to explain. “I think it’s great that family is so important to you,” I said quietly. “And there’s a kind of beauty to the fact that you’re so disconnected to the rest of the world. It’s just you guys, and no one else. I like that.”
Adam stared at me for a moment and then glanced away, shrugging. “I don’t want just anyone knowing where I am or what I’m up to,” he said.
“I can understand that,” I sighed, looking out the window. I was thinking about Ian just showing up there in Park City like he had.
What might have happened this week if he hadn’t shown up like that, unexpectedly, walking in in the middle of Adam’s and my first kiss? If I was out in the middle of nowhere like this, not accountable to anyone except myself?
It would be lonely, that was the first thought to come to my mind. Except that as I looked over at Adam, I wondered if it would. Of course, if I was on my own, I would be lonely. But there were other kinds of family than the bond that I had with my brother.
Not that I was thinking that far ahead, as far as Adam and I were concerned. I knew we weren’t at that point just yet. No matter how comfortable it was, being here with Adam and Ethan, getting to see where and how they lived.
“Do you want to go grab some dinner together?” Adam asked suddenly, to my surprise.
“I want mac ‘n cheese,” Ethan piped up, and Adam laughed as he knelt down next to his son.
“You know Gramps makes the best mac ‘n cheese,” he reminded his son. He paused. “Maybe he could make you mac ‘n cheese while Bailey and I go out to dinner. What do you think of that idea?”
“We don’t have to,” I started to protest, but Ethan interrupted.
“Yeah!” he said, sounding totally on board with the idea. “But can we play on the PowerBox afterwards?”
“Sure thing, buddy,” Adam said easily, smiling up at me, a question in his eyes.
I grinned shyly back at him and shrugged. “I guess so,” I said. “Let’s go get dinner.”
CHAPTER 30
