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Four days, maybe five.
“You’re checking your schedule, aren’t you?”
He ignored the satisfaction in Rissa’s voice and opened an airline app. Several options appeared, including a Friday morning flight that would get him to Los Angeles early enough to surprise Amanda that afternoon.
The possibility sent a rush of anticipation through him. After weeks of only hearing her voice and seeing her on a screen, he could finally touch her, kiss her, and hold her again. More importantly, he could have the conversation they'd both avoided before she left.
He selected the flight before he could overthink it, entered his information, and completed the purchase.
A few seconds later, the confirmation appeared.
Rissa leaned over to see the screen. “Are you going to tell her you’re coming?”
“No.”
“You’re going to surprise her? Awesome.”
“She told me last night she didn’t have much scheduled this weekend for once, so yeah.”
The idea made him smile. Amanda had surprised the hell out of him more than once since the day she’d blown through Antelope Rock in that blue Corvette.
It was about damn time he returned the favor.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Grady turned onto Amanda’s street and slowed as the navigation announced he’d reached his destination. The neighborhood sat just outside Los Angeles, far enough removed from the city that the tree-lined street felt almost peaceful after the traffic he’d fought to get there. Large homes occupied generous lots, set back from the road behind landscaped yards that offered more privacy than he’d expected this close to the city.
Her house was a two-story Tudor with steep rooflines, dark timber accents, and stone around the lower portion. A fence enclosed the property, but the driveway gate stood open. Grady turned in and followed the drive toward the house, taking in another small piece of the life she’d built for herself.
A car he didn’t recognize was parked outside the garage. Amanda’s blue Corvette was nowhere in sight, but he assumed she kept it inside. He parked the rental beside the other vehicle, grabbed his bag, and headed up the walk.
By the time he reached the front door, his nerves had kicked up another notch, and he wondered when knocking on a door had become more nerve-racking than serving a warrant. He’d spent most of the flight to Los Angeles going over what he wanted to say. By the time the plane landed, he’d discarded every version.
He loved her.
He missed her.
And he was tired of pretending a phone call at the end of the day was enough when what he wanted was her sitting across from him at dinner, riding beside him on a trail, or showing up at his office and distracting him from work.
He didn’t know how any of that fit into the life she’d built for herself. He wasn’t asking her to give it up. He only wanted them to stop avoiding the conversation because neither of them knew what came next.
The drive from the airport in his rental car gave him a whole new appreciation for Antelope Rock rush hour, which meant getting stuck behind a tractor for five miles. It had also given him too much time to imagine Amanda’s reaction when she opened the door.
Surprise, definitely. Hopefully the good kind.
After he knocked, footsteps approached from inside, and his anticipation grew with each one. After five weeks of phone calls and video chats, he was seconds away from seeing her again. Actually seeing her. The thought had carried him through the flight, the airport, and the god-awful traffic.
The door opened, and his smile disappeared.
Fen stood on the other side, wearing white pants, a hot-pink shirt patterned with tiny flamingos, and sunglasses perched on top of his head. Somehow, he looked perfectly put together despite being dressed like a tropical cocktail.
His eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Not exactly the greeting Grady had expected. “Good to see you too.”
“No, no.” A finger came up, pointing at him and circling as if Grady were the one behaving irrationally. “You are not supposed to be standing on this doorstep.”
“Why not? I came to see Amanda.”
