The canoe ride was more fun than I would have ever thought, and I was disappointed when we had to head back. I definitely wouldn’t mind going to Blue Springs again sometime. “Don’t worry, we’ll come back next month,” Maddon promised.I didn’t argue with him, but I felt we were on borrowed time, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I tried hard to believe that if Lacey’s mom did run her mouth, the situation would work itself out and we could still see each other, but the more I thought about it, the more doubt crept in.I was playing with fire and I knew it, but the connection I felt with him made it impossible for me to walk away. Watching him doing something as heroic as saving a little girl, then to something as mundane as rowing a canoe had made me entertain thoughts about him that would make an old lady blush. I knew by the way he watched me in the canoe that his feelings matched mine, and I couldn’t help the rush of pleasure that raced through me thinking about it. I still planned on keeping my promise to my dad, but I found nothing wrong with at least fantasizing about it.Parking at Orlando International Airport was a pain, so I had talked Mom into telling my grandma and Donna that I would leave thirty minutes later and meet them in the pickup lane in front of baggage claim.
