Phoebe smiled sweetly. “We could take my van.”
He shuddered theatrically. “Leo Cavallo has a reputation to uphold. No, thank you.”
* * *
While Phoebe went through the cabin turning off lights and putting out fresh sheets and towels, Leo studied the phone he had ordered. No point in taking it with him. He would only need it if he came back. If. Where had that thought come from? His reservation was fixed until the middle of January with a possible two-week extension.
Simply because he and Phoebe were going to make an appearance at the Christmas party didn’t mean that his doctor and Luc were going to let him off the hook. He was painfully aware that he still hadn’t told Phoebe the truth. And the reasons were murky.
But one thing stood out. Vanity. He didn’t want her to see him as weak or broken. It was a hell of a thing to admit. But would she think of him differently once she knew?
* * *
By the time the car was loaded and they had dropped off the keys at Buford’s house, Leo was starving. In blissful disregard of the calendar date, Phoebe had packed a picnic. To eat in the car, she insisted.
Instead of the way he had come in before, Phoebe suggested another route. “If you want to, we can take the scenic route, up over the mountains to Cherokee, North Carolina, and then we’ll drop south to Atlanta from there. The road was closed by a landslide for a long time, but they’ve reopened it.”
“I’m game,” he said. “At least this time it will be daylight.”
Phoebe giggled, tucking her legs into the car and waiting for him to shut the door. “You were so grumpy that night.”
“I thought I was never going to get here. The rain and the fog and the dark. I was lucky I didn’t end up nose deep in the creek.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
He shook his head, refusing to argue the point. Today’s drive, though, was the complete opposite of his introduction to Phoebe’s home turf. Sun shone down on them, warming the temperatures nicely. The winding two-lane highway cut through the quaint town of Gatlinburg and then climbed the mountain at a gentle grade. The vistas were incredible. He’d visited here once as a child, but it had been so long ago he had forgotten how peaceful the Smokies were…and how beautiful.
The trip flew by. Part of the time they talked. At other moments, they listened to music, comparing favorite artists and arguing over the merits of country versus pop. If driving to Tennessee had initially seemed like a punishment, today was entirely the opposite. He felt unreasonably lucky and blessed to be alive.
As they neared the city, he felt his pulse pick up. This was where he belonged. He and Luc had built something here, something good. But what if the life he knew and loved wasn’t right for Phoebe?
Was it too soon to wonder such a thing?
All day he had been hyperaware of her…the quick flash of her smile, her light flowery scent, the way she moved her hands when she wanted to make a point. He remained in a state of constant semi-arousal. Now that they were almost at their destination, he found himself subject to a surprising agitation.
What if Phoebe didn’t like his home?
She was silent as they pulled into the parking garage beneath his downtown high-rise building and slowed to a halt beside the kiosk. “Hey, Jerome,” he said, greeting the stoop-shouldered, balding man inside the booth with a smile. “This is where we get out, Phoebe.” He turned back to Jerome. “Do you mind asking one of the boys to unload the car and bring up our bags?”