Page 79 of First Bride to Fall
Maybe she wasn’t picky enough due to her lack of experience, but as far as she was concerned, Grant Williams was a prince.Herprince, and if things kept progressing the way they had in barely twenty-four hours, she and Grant were going to have their fairytale ending, just like the heroes and the heroines in the books she read.
True to his word, Grant hadn’t bought peas. Only a few replacement bags of the other frozen vegetables. And milk. It was almond milk, but that was okay.
Wait.
She opened the deli drawer. Yep. The cheese was lactose free. No worries. She could adjust. Misty’d done okay with Devon, and she’d do just great with Grant. And anyway, it wasn’t like they’d always have to eat the same things. They were individuals with their own tastes and preferences.
Grant ambled through the front door, his arms loaded down, and she stepped back.
What was he carrying? He looked like an army ranger about to deploy.
He had an enormous backpack on his back and all sorts of odds and ends dangled from it, including what looked like a bedroll and a portable camp stove. He held a sleeping bag in his arms and a duffel bag and had a large pocketknife of some kind clenched between his teeth.
She jumped back at the sight. “What’s all this?”
He mumbled and motioned with his head, and she very carefully removed the pocketknife from his mouth. She studied it, seeing it had lots of pull-out thingies. She popped one up that looked like a bottle opener.
Grant grinned broadly. “Surprise!”
She closed the knife and flinched when the bottle opener sprang back into place.
“Careful,” he said. “Some of those are sharp.”
“Er…” She surveyed him up and down and peeked behind him. “What’s all this?”
When he’d said he had a surprise for her, she didn’t know what she’d expected. Maybe flowers or something. Definitely not camping equipment.
“Our supplies for camping day. Tomorrow, you’re going to show me what you know about camping, and then I—”
She touched his sleeve. “Grant.”
“Huh?”
“I’m really, really sorry, but I need to tell you something.”
His eyebrows arched. “It’s not about us? You haven’t changed your mind?”
“No! Far from it. It’s just about the camping?” She lifted a shoulder. “I might have exaggerated a little.”
“How so?” For his arms being so loaded down, he didn’t seem to be suffering. He really was a strong guy. She guessed he’d more than proved that the two times he’d carried her.
“When I told you I went camping with my sisters.” She licked her lips. “That wasn’t exactly true.”
“What? You’re kidding.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Is that why Misty looked so confused when I asked her about the tent?”
“Oh. Um. Did she?” Nell bit her lip. “And did you?”
“Hang on,” he said. “Let me set this stuff down in the bedroom. We won’t be needing it until tomorrow anyway.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He trudged through the living room, grumbling about something to himself, and Nell feared it was about her and camping. “I’m really excited to try it, though,” she called after him. “Can’t wait!”
He deposited his gear and returned, pausing on the threshold. “So. You lied about the camping?” He appeared a bit dazed but also crestfallen, and Nell felt awful for disappointing him.
“I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I promise. I was only…” Her chin trembled. “Trying to impress you.”
“Nell. You don’t need to try so hard.” His eyes glimmered dimly. “I already told you that.”
