Page 100 of Lee

“Yep. They both like you a lot. And they wanted to have a picnic.”

“Don’t they already have a picnic almost every Sunday?”

“Yep. Pretty much all summer,” Lee said. “Unless it’s raining. Then it’s cancelled.”

Rori hoped that didn’t happen anytime soon because she enjoyed spending time with the group.

“If it does get cancelled, we can still hang out,” Lee said, as if realizing what rain would mean for them. “If you want.”

That would work too. It might actually be better if it was just the two of them. “I would like that.”

“In that case…” he mused as he took a strawberry from the container. “Maybe I should pray for rain.”

“But that would disappoint your nieces,” Rori reminded him. “And I do like spending time with your family.”

“And they like spending time with you, too. Almost as much as I do.”

Rori had a hard time believing his words. But she wasn’t going to tell him that she thought he was, at the very least, exaggerating, or, at the worst, outright lying. And yet she knew, in her heart of hearts, that Lee wouldn’t lie to her.

As good as everything was—or maybe because everything was so good—it felt horribly unbalanced. Lee and his family were doing so much for her, and she had nothing to offer in return.

Even the picnic. She might have felt less indebted to him if they’d just gone out to eat. But, instead, he’d put so much effort into their date. How could she ever reciprocate?

“Why don’t you take some pictures?” Lee suggested when they’d finished their dessert.

“You don’t mind?” Rori asked.

“Of course not.” His smile lit up his eyes. “That was one of the reasons I chose this spot.”

“Thank you.” Picking up her camera, Rori left the blanket and headed over to the creek that flowed nearby.

She definitely wanted to document that afternoon. It was just unfortunate that none of the photos she captured would include her and Lee. That was the picture she really wanted to have as a reminder of this day.

After she’d taken a bunch of shots, Rori turned to glance over at the blanket, expecting to see Lee on his phone. Instead, he was leaning back on his hands, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle as he watched her.

When their gazes met, Lee smiled at her, and before Rori even thought about it, she lifted the camera to take several pictures of him. They probably weren’t the best shots she’d ever taken, given her lack of time to focus properly. However, they were going to be pictures she cherished.

“Is turnabout fair play?” Lee called over to her.

Rori lowered her camera. “What do you mean?”

“Do I get to take a picture of you?”

“You want to take a picture of me?”

Rori was never on the other side of the camera. Never.

The most pictures she had of herself were the school pictures she’d had taken each year. And even those, once her grandmother had died, she’d had to pay for herself if she wanted any. Which she hadn’t. Because why would she want a picture of herself?

“Of course I want a picture of you.”

Rori was uncertain what to do with herself. She wasn’t sure how to pose. Or how to smile. So instead, she stood frozen, clutching her camera in her hands.

“How about we do a selfie together?” Lee suggested as he shifted his body to pull his phone from his pocket.

Rori only just stopped herself from questioning why he wanted a picture of them together. It was what she wanted too, after all.

Joining him on the blanket once again, Rori set her camera to the side. When Lee held his arm out to her, Rori’s heart threatened to beat through her chest. She’d held his arm when they’d walked, but this was him wanting her to sit right beside him.

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