Tilting her head, Willow blinked at him like he was crazy.
“What? I’m being serious here! I think all their negative comments and energy were holding you back. You’re free now.”
“Okay, that sounds a little dramatic…”
“Me? Dramatic?” He blinked at her innocently. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about being dramatic. I leave that to my sisters, thank you very much.”
“Sounds like something a brother would say.”
And now he saw the impish grin peeking out that he was used to.
From there, they talked all about the things her brother used to do while they were growing up, and Levi realized for as crazy as her parents were, she had a fairly normal childhood. He felt a connection to her brother even though they had never met, mainly because they were both the only boys in their families. It wasn’t often he met someone with the same family makeup as his and now he almost wished they could all get together sometime.
So not going to happen…
Just the thought of his mild-mannered, fun-loving parents hanging out with Willow’s insane and uptight ones was enough to make him laugh.
And he did.
“What’s so funny?”
Levi explained what he was just thinking, and luckily she laughed with him.
“I can’t even imagine,” she said, still laughing. “Although, to be fair, I haven’t met your parents so I’ll have to take your word for it. But based on your description, it would be incredibly awkward.”
After that, the conversation flowed and Levi was confident that whatever funk she was feeling earlier had finally lifted. They stopped for lunch in Savannah, and Levi had been tempted to call his sister and see if she could join them. But after some discussion, he came to the conclusion that if they were going to stick to some semblance of a schedule and get in the most hours of driving for the day, they needed to keep their breaks short.
Once they were back in the car, Willow pulled out her phone and began checking their route. “I think at the pace we’re going, we should consider stopping once we cross into North Carolina.”
“And after we stop at South of the Border.”
“Naturally.”
Chuckling, he agreed and figured they’d simply play it by ear and see how they felt once they got there. “When we stop for dinner, we’ll see what the area is like and where the nearest hotel is. How does that sound?”
“Like the perfect plan.”
He wasn’t quite so sure…
They were still in the parking lot of the diner they had eaten lunch at, and after several long moments, Willow looked over at him. “How come we’re not driving?”
“Well, technically, there is no we in that. I’ve been doing all the driving. I think it’s your turn.”
“What?!”
“Come on. It won’t be so bad. South Carolina is fairly easy to drive through. The roads are nice and smooth, the traffic’s not that bad…I really think you should try to do some of the driving. Just for an hour. What do you say?”
He saw the indecision and panic on her face, but he knew this would be a good thing for her. Maybe if she tackled this–the whole driving thing–and succeeded, she’d have a little more confidence in herself.
Or…this could all go horribly wrong and you’ll end up taking a Greyhound home…
Okay, thinking like that wasn’t helping anyone, and Levi forced those thoughts aside.
Before he could change his mind, he climbed from the car and walked around to the passenger side. Pulling the door open, he reached in and took Willow by the hand. “You got this. I have faith in you.”
“Levi…” she whined. “This is crazy! I’m telling you, this is the worst idea ever! Worse than anything you’ve ever done!”
He led her around the car and helped her get seated behind the wheel. For several minutes he helped her move the seat until she was in a good position, then he pointed out everything she could possibly need to drive. With a quick kiss on her cheek, he said, “You’re all set!” before jogging around and getting in on the passenger side.
And that just felt weird.
Like…super weird.
Like…I don’t like this weird.
But now that he’d opened his big mouth and made such a production out of making her drive, he was just going to have to make the best of it.
And pray nothing went wrong.
It took her almost five minutes to pull out of the parking spot and then out of the parking lot. Levi made sure to be supportive and encouraged her with every inch she moved the car.
It was exhausting.
They weren’t far off of I-95, and he found himself holding his breath as she merged into traffic.
“You doing okay?” he asked once she was doing the speed limit and going with the flow of traffic.
She had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and he was pretty sure she hadn’t blinked in a solid minute, but…she nodded.
At least, he thought it was a nod.
“Willow?”
“Just…shush!” she hissed. “Don’t distract me!”
“Willow, we’ve got like four hours between here and South of the Border. You can’t expect me to be silent the entire time. That’s crazy.”
She glanced at him, and the car immediately swerved into the next lane.
“Willow!” Reaching out, he grabbed the wheel and waited for her to get back in her lane.
“I told you,” she murmured. “I know myself, Levi. I know that I need to concentrate. At least for a little while. I’ll let you know when you can talk.”
He was afraid to even comment, so instead, he reached for the radio to turn it on.
“No!” she cried. “No music!”
“Um…”
“If you turn on the radio, I’m going to inevitably hear a song I like, and then I’ll start singing along, possibly dance, and then the next thing
