The Merriest Magnolia (Magnolia Sisters #2) - Michelle Major Page 0,115
mother happy, and that makes me happy.”
Chloe yowled and galloped after a squirrel running into the forest.
“That dog makes me happy,” Lily said with a laugh.
The animal barked and lifted her paws onto the trunk of the tree where the squirrel had retreated. The small woodland creature squawked from a branch, making Chloe bark even more frantically. “Not exactly the world’s greatest hunter,” Garrett observed.
Lily laughed harder and the sound flowed over him like warm honey.
“Here we are,” he murmured as they moved into the canopy of elm trees. The temperature had dropped a few degrees, making it a perfect late summer evening.
“It’s a fort.” Lily let go of his hand and moved toward the structure that had meant so much to him through most of his childhood.
“I wasn’t sure it would still be here. Max Campbell and I built it the summer between fourth and fifth grade. We hooked up wagons to the backs of our bikes so we could transport the lumber.”
“Did you have a club name or secret handshake?”
He shook his head as he opened the door and peered in at the dusty interior. As a kid, the woods and this clubhouse had been his sanctuary. It was empty of the books and trinkets that had filled it back then, but he remembered every detail of the hours he’d spent there. Revisiting it now was an unexpected gift, especially with Lily at his side. “No, but I have an idea for a new series built around a clubhouse in the woods. Think Stranger Things meets WarGames.”
“I like that mash-up.”
“I’d like it if I could meet a deadline, even if it’s self-imposed at this point.”
“You can do it.”
“How is that those four words sound so convincing coming from you?”
She looked up at him through her long lashes. “Because I believe in you.”
Emotion rippled through him, a seismic shift that seemed to make the walls he’d built around his heart crumble. He cupped her face and touched his lips to hers. She tasted like sugar and felt like heaven.
When he would have pulled back, trying to rein in his desire, she wound her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Their tongues met and melded, and he drew her closer until their bodies pressed together.
Suddenly he was knocked off balance as Chloe ran headlong into his legs. The dog barked and circled, rearing up on her back paws like they were playing some game that she wanted in on.
Lily lifted two fingers to her mouth, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened between them. Garrett’s brain scrambled for purchase as he tried to stave off the rising tide of feelings rolling through him. He wasn’t great with emotion and had no idea how to handle himself in this moment.
Two days from now, he’d drop Lily in her small North Carolina town and head back to his hollow, lonely life in California. Getting involved now would only complicate things. Part of his recovery and subsequent sobriety hinged on keeping his world simple and straightforward.
The woman standing before him was neither of those things.
“Sorry,” he said automatically. “That was a mistake.”
Her mouth formed a small O as hurt flickered in her eyes. She lowered a hand to scratch Chloe’s ears, and Garrett tried not to notice the way her fingers trembled.
Then she gave him a flippant grin that was so different from one of her real smiles. “Don’t let it happen again, buddy,” she said with a tinkling laugh. Even that sounded phony, but he didn’t call her on it.
Let them both pretend the kiss hadn’t meant anything. It would make saying goodbye easier. At least that’s what he told himself.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A STRANGE MIX of excitement and panic filled Lily’s heart as they drove down the familiar streets of Magnolia two days later.
Her body ached after so many hours in the car and her heart hadn’t been the same since the kiss she’d shared with Garrett in the woods.
It would be easy to blame her feelings for him on the situation. She was nervous about starting over in her hometown, and a quick embrace shouldn’t be a big deal. They were two adults, after all. It didn’t have to mean anything.
But she couldn’t deny that it did.
Obviously he felt the change in her. The past two days in the car together had been awkward at best, with neither of them speaking about the kiss or anything beyond casual observations about the scenery or comments on Chloe’s silly behavior.