Test Drive - Samantha Chase Page 0,59

wished they lived closer together.

Both sets of his grandparents had always lived close by. He never had to travel farther than the next town to see them. It was hard to imagine what life would have been like without them being so close.

If his grandfather had lived anywhere else and owned a pub, he had to wonder if he still would have followed the path he was currently on.

Wow…this is some deep shit. I need to lighten things up.

“Does she ever come back up to New York?” he asked, trying to get back to the topic at hand.

“No, not anymore. She loves to travel and so much of our family is scattered around now that I’m the only one left up there. It’s easier to go to her. Usually I don’t mind it. This was just a more stressful trip because…well…you know.”

“For what it’s worth, I think it all went perfectly. No one questioned our relationship and I don’t think you’re going to be getting any grief from your parents any time soon.” He glanced over at her and winked. “At least, I hope you won’t.”

Her soft laugh made him hopeful that maybe they were lightening the mood. “I honestly can’t say yes or no to that. No one’s ever put my father in his place the way you did. This should be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

“I have to admit, I’m kind of curious about it myself,” he teased. “Just basing things on what I observed and not on the stories you shared with me, I’m thinking it’s going to be interesting. How often do you talk to them?”

“I get a call from my mother once a week,” she replied. “It’s a perfunctory sort of thing; like I don’t think she’s genuinely interested or concerned with what I’m doing, but she calls to see if I’m going to fall in line with what they want me to do.”

“Okay, so let’s be optimistic,” he said, doing his best to sound positive. “Let’s say they are now officially off your back. How does that make you feel?”

“Honestly?” she asked with a nervous laugh. “I don’t know yet. It’s all too new and too foreign of a concept yet.”

“Oh, come on…don’t you feel like you can take on the world? Just a little bit? Last night you said it felt like a ginormous weight had been lifted off your shoulders. You should be thinking about hitting the ground running when we get home and being free to explore all kinds of opportunities!”

Tilting her head, Willow blinked at him like he was crazy.

“What? I’m being serious here! I think all their negative comments and energy were holding you back. You’re free now.”

“Okay, that sounds a little dramatic…”

“Me? Dramatic?” He blinked at her innocently. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about being dramatic. I leave that to my sisters, thank you very much.”

“Sounds like something a brother would say.”

And now he saw the impish grin peeking out that he was used to.

From there, they talked all about the things her brother used to do while they were growing up, and Levi realized for as crazy as her parents were, she had a fairly normal childhood. He felt a connection to her brother even though they had never met, mainly because they were both the only boys in their families. It wasn’t often he met someone with the same family makeup as his and now he almost wished they could all get together sometime.

So not going to happen…

Just the thought of his mild-mannered, fun-loving parents hanging out with Willow’s insane and uptight ones was enough to make him laugh.

And he did.

“What’s so funny?”

Levi explained what he was just thinking, and luckily she laughed with him.

“I can’t even imagine,” she said, still laughing. “Although, to be fair, I haven’t met your parents so I’ll have to take your word for it. But based on your description, it would be incredibly awkward.”

After that, the conversation flowed and Levi was confident that whatever funk she was feeling earlier had finally lifted. They stopped for lunch in Savannah, and Levi had been tempted to call his sister and see if she could join them. But after some discussion, he came to the conclusion that if they were going to stick to some semblance of a schedule and get in the most hours of driving for the day, they needed to keep their breaks short.

Once they were back in the car, Willow pulled out her phone and