“I do.” I touch his chest. “I like that about you.”
A slow smile spreads across his lips and I can’t help but focus on them. I want to kiss him too. I want to feel the kick in my gut, the sparks that burst between us. It’s all I think about when I’m not working, and then even some of the time while I am working.
“I like everything about you,” he says genuinely. God he’s adorable.
From there he doesn’t hesitate, kissing me eagerly. His nose bumps into mine and I can hear a hum in his throat. That I do remember from the waterfall, that hum. That neediness. I feel the same bubbling in my chest.
“You’re so freaking pretty,” he says in a rush as he pulls away and kisses my fingers. “So awesome. So cool.”
“That’s a lot of compliments.”
“You deserve all the compliments, all the everythings.”
I touch his cheek. “Are you one of the everythings?”
“If you’ll let me.”
His hands are on my face and he’s pulling me close again. I let him. I want him. I want his energy, his enthusiasm, his desire. In the back of the storage room, away from prying eyes, George gives it to me, one amazing kiss at a time.
“Starlee, can you check the closet in your room? I think there’s a box in there labeled Fourth Festival.”
“Sure,” I say, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. We’d finally set up most of Lee Vines for the festival tomorrow. Just in time to pass out for the night. I walk over the closet and slide the door to the side.
“Down on the floor. Under all your mother’s clothes.”
I push aside the fabric. “Why did you keep all these things?”
“I don’t know. I guess I thought one day she’d come back and get them.” I look back and notice how tired she looks. “You can go through them if you want. Then maybe we can take the rest down to the Goodwill in June Lake.”
“Okay,” I say, locating the box. I lug it out. “After the festival. You don’t need anything else on your plate.” I place the box on the bed and sit next to it. “Did you miss Mom? When she left?”
She chuckles and pulls out the chair to the small desk that still held a few trinkets from my mother’s life. “That’s a tough one. Yes and no. She was miserable here and made me and her father miserable as a result. Lee Vines was too small for her. She wanted to see the world and as much as it hurt for her to leave like that, and as scared as I was for her, I wanted her to be happy.”
I look at my hands. “I’m not sure my happiness has ever been a concern to my mother.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I didn’t realize it until I got here but living the way we did—I did—was stifling. I had no friends. No solid education. She isolated herself, too.” I study the room. “I don’t know how she got from being this wild, free spirit to what we became later on.”
“I think your mother did the best she could under the circumstances, Starlee. You scared her. Badly.”
My memories of that time are such a fog. “I know, but did she really have to take away my freedom?”
“At the time, I think she did. Why she continued for so long?” Her hands twist in the lap. “I’m not sure I agree with that decision either, but one day you’ll realize that as mothers, we make mistakes. Lots of them.”
“She’d be angry if she knew how much freedom I have here, don’t you think?”
She thinks on it. “Maybe, but she was aware of my parenting style when she sent you here. I think it’s possible she realized it was time for you to spread your wings and she sent you to the only place she knew she could trust.”
I can’t hide my skepticism. “I think if she knew, she’d yank me out of here so fast my head would spin. Which is why I haven’t told her anything going on.”
Leelee’s eyebrow raises. “You mean with those boys next door?”
I know she can see the red in my cheeks, but only I feel the twist in my stomach at the mention of them. “Yes.”
“They’re good boys.”
“Mom taught me to be so afraid of boys, but they’re sweet and kind. Sure, they have some baggage, but who am I to judge?”