Page 52 of Reviving Kendall

Doing a once over on the sheets of paper in front of me, and verifying the account number, I sign my name at the bottom.

In less than five minutes after that, I’m walking out with another envelope and Lucas at my side.

“Everything go ok?” he asks as we’re getting into the truck.

I buckle up before, still in shock, I say, “Better than ok. Gramps apparently had been spending all of his checks on a life insurance policy, and they’ve paid everything for the funeral and everything.” The weight of admitting the words out loud rips a sob from my chest. It’s been sitting there for more time than I can even remember and it’s such a relief to know that I won’t have to struggle like we did with Nana.

Thankfully, Lucas hasn’t pulled away from the curb yet as he reaches over and pulls me into the best hug my seatbelt will allow. He wipes the tears off my face and kisses me once on the lips, “Want to go somewhere with me?”

When I nod, the smile that breaks out over his face scares me. How could I possibly ever say no to that? We spend the next hour in the local grocery store with Lucas picking out stuff and putting in it one of those reusable shopping bags. I try to keep up with what’s going in there, but I’m so lost in my head that I’m lucky to even know where we are right now. It’s not until we’re in the truck and heading out of town that I ask, “Where are we going anyways?”

He looks over and throws me a sideways grin, “Technically, my house, but not really.”

My palms get sweaty at the thought of meeting anyone today. I dressed nice to see Mr. Bishop, but after the emotions that came from that, I really don’t think I can handle any more people today.

“Can we just go to my house?” I ask him.

It doesn’t take him long to catch on, “We’re not going to my actual house. I don’t want my brothers scaring you away, so we are most definitely not going there.”

That peaks my curiosity, “How many brothers do you have?”

His smile when he talks about his family shows how much he loves them and it makes me smile right along with him, “I’ve got four older brothers. All but two of them are living on the farm right now. We probably owe them some big thanks. I’d say that my sharing comes easily because of them.”

Yeah, because that doesn’t open a new can of worms, “Ok, for one, holy hell. Your mom must be Wonder Woman raising that many boys. Is she still sane?”

He laughs, and I feel it like tingles under my skin, “She survived. Mom wears the pants in the family. It’s dad that’s the pushover.”

“Wow,” I say still in shock.

“And two?” he reminds me.

“You live on a farm?” I ask.

He nods, “Right on the outskirts here. We don’t actually do any farming. Dad and two of my brothers run a car shop, but Mom loves the space. I guess we kind of needed it too. Five boys and all. Growing up, we had plenty of space for four wheeling and dirt bikes and everything else you can think of.”

The five boys thing is still surprising to me, but I can’t seem to stop the image of Lucas on a dirt bike from popping into my head, “Do you still ride?”

Shrugging, he says, “Sometimes. Not as much anymore, because I just don’t have the time.”

“Would you show me some day?” I ask.

That blinding smile comes back over his face, and he cuts his eyes over to me, “If it makes you happy, of course I will. I’ll even teach you to drive it too. Lincoln and I spent most of last summer restoring a couple old motorcycles. We sold one, but I could take you for a ride on the other, if you want.”

I take a minute to ponder his words. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to drive one, but riding with Lucas would be sexy as hell. Just the thought puts those tingles underneath my skin again, “Maybe.”

He chuckles and reaches out to take my hand. We turn onto a dirt road that leads back off into the woods. I want to ask where we’re going again, but I trust him enough not to. The woods break into a clearing. With it still being winter, sunset happens way before it’s supposed to. It’s so dark that it’s hard to make out what’s around us, but I can see where the tree line stops.

Lucas throws the truck into park and turns it off. He jumps out then turns around, “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

I’m skeptical, but I nod. When he shuts the door, it throws everything into complete darkness. I’d feel bad for anyone who has a fear of the dark. It’s completely pitch black and silent out here. I’ve just counted to fifty-six in my head when the little clearing is lit up. I know Lucas said to wait, but it’s so beautiful that I hop out of the truck and walk over. I look up to hundreds of twinkle lights above me. Someone has built little posts to keep them strung up and the soft glow lights up all of the space around the little area.

“What do you think?” Lucas asks stepping out of the trees.

I look at him like he’s lost his mind, “It’s absolutely fucking amazing! Did you do this?”

“As much as I would love to have been the one to put that wonder on your face, I have to say no,” he admits. “Logan built this out here and used to have parties back when he was in high school. I used to sneak out here, but he’d always send me sulking back home saying I was too young.” He’s standing in front of me by this point and looking up to his face, the lights make the best backdrop behind him. Lucas couldn’t possibly be any more wonderful if he tried.

My heart thumps wildly in my chest as he smiles down to me. “Hold that thought,” he whispers and disappears back into the truck.

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