“They’ve got stubborn streaks, that’s for sure,” Mary Rose said. “But I was happy they protected both you girls from boys who wanted only one thing.”
Nova swept a piece of light brown hair off her forehead. “I wanted to give one of those boys that thing!”
“But aren’t you glad you didn’t?” Mary Rose asked, even though it really wasn’t a question.
A sudden sadness burned Kennedy’s eyes. She’d missed out on a strong mother-daughter bond, and the comfort and ease with which she stood in this kitchen made her wish for a split second that Mary Rose and Nova were her family.
“Do you have a boyfriend now?” Kennedy asked, blinking away her emotions. She had Ava. And Andrew. Hugo and Maria.
“No.” Nova sighed, reaching for a white rose. “It’s hard in a small town, you know?”
She didn’t know but nodded anyway. “If you ever want to come visit me in L.A., I’d love to have you.”
“But rumor has it you’re moving to Boston,” Nova said.
Lost in thoughts of family, Kennedy had momentarily forgotten about the job back east. “That’s true. So Boston, then. You can visit me in whatever city I’m in.”
“Thanks. I’d like that.”
“We could do a mother-daughter trip,” Mary Rose piped in. “I’ve never been to Boston and I’d like to see you again, too, Kennedy. And,” she added just as Nova’s mouth opened to say something, “I promise to let you two have a few nights out without me. How’s that?”
Sounded wonderful to Kennedy.
Before she or Nova could respond, a noise from over their shoulders drew the attention of all three of them. There, caught with her hand in the proverbial—and nearly literal—cookie jar, stood Jenna. In this instance she was frozen, cookie mid-swipe off the plate on the kitchen counter, her nose scrunched up and eyes squeezed shut.
“We can see you, Jenna Wenna,” Nova said.
Jenna kept the cookie but dropped her arm. “Drat,” she said in the most adorable voice ever. She had on her yellow rain boots again, which was also cute.
Mary Rose chuckled. “Get your bottom over here and give me a hug and we’ll call it even.”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Thanks, Nana!” Jenna skipped over to embrace her grandma. On the release, she smiled up at Kennedy. “Hi, Dr. Martin.”
“Hi, Jenna.”
“Hey, where’s my hug?” Nova asked.
Jenna hugged her aunt and then, catching Kennedy by surprise, the little girl stepped to the side and wrapped her arms around Kennedy, too. “My daddy said Uncle Mav likes you. Do you like him back?”
Kennedy put her hands on her thighs and bent over to look Jenna in the eye. “I do, but don’t tell him I said so, okay?”
“It’s a secret?” Jenna took a bite of her cookie, eyebrows raised.
“Yes, well, maybe. I don’t know for sure, but can we keep it between us girls anyway?”
Jenna nodded, but Kennedy had the sinking feeling Jenna was about to run back outside and head straight for her uncle to tell him what had just been said.
“One for the road?” Jenna asked Mary Rose, a hopeful expression on her adorable little face.
“Okay.” Mary Rose ruffled Jenna’s dark wavy hair.
“Thanks, Nana. Love you!” she called out, snagging another cookie. “Love you all!” She disappeared through the kitchen door and into the shards of sunlight bisecting the doorway.
Kennedy turned back to flower arranging, a warm sensation in her chest. She reached for another rose but paused when she noticed Nova and her mom weren’t moving. They weren’t moving because they were regarding Kennedy with raised eyebrows in obvious curiosity.
“Let’s forget I said anything,” she told them sweetly. It didn’t matter if she and Mav liked each other like that because in less than seventy-two hours, Kennedy would be on her way back home. Then on a plane to Boston. Then working on the opposite side of the country, living her dream.
“A word about the Owens family,” Nova offered. “We don’t forget anything, but we do know how to give someone their space.”
“And in my case, bite her tongue,” Mary Rose said as they resumed their tasks.
“How’s Jenna at keeping a secret?” Kennedy asked.
Mary Rose and Nova laughed in unison. “She’s actually a steel vault,” Mary Rose said. “No worries there. Unless you tickle her, then she caves.”
“Don’t we all?” Kennedy said, thinking about her ticklish places.
Conversation turned to everyday things after that, the afternoon passing by in happy unity. Kennedy almost didn’t want their time together to end.
But she had a date with a handsome cowboy and a starry night, and nothing could keep her away from that.
…
She dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, tennis shoes, and the cardigan she’d smartly packed in case the evenings in Windsong were chilly. She hoped the lightweight sweater was enough to keep her warm before her mind wandered to the best way to ward off the chill: pressed against another person’s body.
Did they make two-person sleeping bags? Did she want to cuddle up next to Maverick all night long? Did he have any designs on them sleeping inside the same bag? Would he remember to bring the blow-up mattress? Why did he always smell so good?
Smell was the oldest sense, and arguably the most important, because the nose was capable of driving a person to romantic distraction. True story. It did it by sensing complex mechanisms like sexual compatibility even when the conscious mind was unaware of it.
“You’re pretty deep in thought there,” Maverick said, breaking into her runaway train of thoughts.
She jumped up off the front steps of the inn, ready for him to whisk her away. He looked ruggedly handsome in faded, well-worn jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved ribbed shirt. Clean-shaven jaw. Hair neatly styled.
“Nope. Not thinking about anything.” But you.
“You ready to go?”
“Yes.” She walked beside him to the barn, where he saddled up Magnolia.
“We’re riding to the campsite?”
“We are. I’ve got it set up already, and it’s only about a five-minute ride. Is that sweater all you have?” At her nod, he pulled a denim jacket off a hook and handed it to her. “Bring this just in case.”
Wanting her hands free when she rode with him on Magnolia, she slipped the jacket on. It was super soft and…she couldn’t help but sniff it. I’m doomed. Now I’m wearing Maverick’s smell, too.