So she finished packing just in the nick of time, as Dawson rang the doorbell just as she leaned heavily into her bag to get it to zip closed.
“Come in!” she called, though Belle was home and could surely answer the door. She somehow knew the front door had opened, and she hefted her bag off her bed and started to wheel it down the hall to the living room.
She paused when she heard Belle laugh in a way Caroline hadn’t in a long time. Months. Judy did too, and Caroline inched past her bag to see the scene in the living room.
Dawson held Judy in his arms, the two of them smiling and giggling as he held out a doll for her.
She took it, and Caroline switched her attention to Belle. She glowed, positivelyglowed, as she pressed both hands to her heart.
“We’ll miss you,” she said to Dawson. “But Caroline issoexcited, and you two are going to have the time of your lives.”
Dawson chuckled and said, “I don’t know about that, but I’m excited too.” He set Judy down and turned toward the hallway, where he caught sight of Caroline. “Oh, hey, sweetheart.”
Caroline wasn’t sure of all the things running through her heart and mind. She only knew one thing—she loved Dawson Rhinehart.
So she rushed toward him and took his face in her hands and kissed him, the words,I love you, I love you, I love you, running through her head.
Caroline couldn’t wait to get out of the truck, but she forced herself to stay belted until Dawson came to a complete stop. Then she groaned as she spilled from the truck in front of the hotel he’d chosen for their first night stay of their road-boat trip.
A hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana, as they had a fourteen-hour drive from Three Rivers, Texas to New Orleans, where their ship would disembark and head up the Mississippi River.
She put both hands on her lower back and bent backward, feeling the pull up and down her body. “Nine hours in the car is too long,” she griped to Dawson as he came around the front of the truck.
He simply tossed her a smile and said, “Amen,” as he hurried inside. “I’m going to hit the restroom, and then I’ll get our rooms.”
“Okay,” Caroline called after him as the hotel entrance swallowed him. Dawson hadn’t scared her onceon the drive here, and they’d had bouts of silence mixed with plenty of conversation too.
Right now, Caroline’s head ached, and she was simply ready to be alone again. She wasn’t sure what that meant about her, or Dawson, or the two of them. Perhaps she just needed to get out of the small space of the truck and let her thoughts roam for a few minutes.
Her stomach growled, as lunch had been hours ago. Dawson had stopped for drinks and snacks, but her belly wanted real food, and she turned back to the truck to get her purse. After such a long drive, she just wanted a bellhop to come collect her bags and lead her to the nicest room in the hotel.
Neither she nor Dawson were made of money, though, and they’d gotten regular rooms at discount rates. She’d pulled their bags from the truck bed by the time Dawson returned, and he said, “Hey, you don’t need to do that.” He took her backpack from her and shouldered it himself. “I was coming right back.”
“I’m capable,” she said.
“Mm, yes, you are.” He kissed her quickly and then faced the hotel. “They weren’t busy inside, so we should be ready for dinner soon.” He glanced over to her, and she wasn’t sure what her face looked like, but he paused. “You don’t want to go to dinner.”
“I’m tired,” she admitted. “Who knew driving could be so tiring?”
He grinned at her and shook his head as he chuckled. “Maybe we’re not cut out for road tripping,” he said. “Because it’s a lot of driving.” He led the way into the hotel, and Caroline let him take the lead to get their room assignments and keys. The front desk clerk went over the Internet passwords and pointed out the way to the elevators, but Dawson leaned into the counter.
“We’re tired, but hungry. Can we get room service here?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the woman said. “We don’t have room service, but we have a restaurant in the corner of the first floor, and you can call and do a take-out order.”
“Okay, thanks,” he said.
She put a couple of pamphlets on the counter in front of him. “Or you can order from several places nearby. They deliver right to the room.”
Dawson swiped the papers from the counter and said, “Thank you, ma’am,” with the tip of his hat. The woman practically preened under his attention, and she glanced over to Caroline as if just seeing her for the first time.
Caroline gave her a smile, using up some of the dregs of her energy.
“You look tired,” Dawson said. “What’s up? We didn’t leave until eight-thirty.”
“I maybe didn’t sleep well last night,” she said as she turned to go with him to the elevators.
“Too excited?”