Page 112 of Could Have Been Us
“You get that from me, then.”
Silence falls around the table, and Jessica breaks the tension. “Kinsley, have you gotten to do anything fun since you got to Willow Creek Valley?”
“No, not much.”
“We haven’t really gone out because we wanted Kinsley to settle in first,” Stella explains.
“Well, you guys should go out to Melia Lake tomorrow. It’s supposed to be nice, and I’m sure there’s stuff you guys can do. The boat is there, at least.”
Kinsley looks to us. “Is that where you’re building the resort?”
I nod. “Yup. Would you like to go?”
“Yeah, I would love to. Can we fish there?”
“Of course.”
Grayson cuts in. “I will say, I’ve yet to catch a thing in that lake. I’ve tried, but nothing bites.”
“Grayson sucks at fishing,” I tell her under my breath.
“I heard that.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide it,” I toss back.
Kinsley laughs softly. “I fish a lot with my dad.”
I see Grayson stiffen just a bit, and I speak quickly. “Hopefully your dad taught you better than Grayson’s did. None of the Parkerson boys are very good at outdoor stuff.”
Jessica snorts. “He’s got you there, babe. You really aren’t.”
“You’re not, Daddy,” Amelia offers, her cute face twisting with apology. “You stink, but Uncle Jack can teach you to be better.”
“Gee, both my girls threw me under the bus.”
We all laugh, and then Jennie appears with our meals. The rest of the lunch settles in, and I breathe a sigh of relief that Kinsley’s introduction to the most difficult Parkerson to win over went well.
* * *
The three of us drive down the dirt roadway and park up by the old house that will soon be taken down to its studs.
We show her around, and Stella explains what she’s hoping to build here. She meets with another contractor next week to see designs. Since their meeting with their father, they’ve started the ball rolling. Regardless of whether he buys them out or someone else does, no one wants to waste time.
“Where will you work?” Kinsley asks.
“I’m hoping to have an office away from the main property. I’m sort of an add-on to what the resort offers, so it’s a separate business.”
“And you’re going to offer wilderness adventures?”
“It’s not that bad.”
Stella scoffs. “It’s awful. Let me tell you, I spent a night in the woods with him a few weeks ago, and it was hell.”
I roll my eyes. “Hell?”
“Well, it wasn’t fun. I almost died.”
“You did not almost die!” This woman is so damn dramatic sometimes.
