Building on Love

by Kat Bellemore

  Davis moved a few steps to throw his satay sticks in a trashcan and then wiped his hands on a baby wipe he’d pulled from his pocket. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation, but he was much too focused on his hands to not be.

  “What do you think, Davis?” Chloe asked him, hoping that if he voiced his objection, his mother would have no choice but to concede and find a different way—though Chloe had no idea what other option they had. They could get creative, though. When she had first organized Building on Hope, Chloe had learned that there was never just one answer to a problem.

  Davis paused, then finished wiping his hands, though the movements had slowed. He threw the baby wipe into the trash before his gaze moved to his mother, then to Chloe, then panned over the rest of his family. It finally returned to Chloe. His gaze met hers. And he smiled. Like an actual one—one that reached his eyes.

  “I think it’s a great idea.”

  Chloe’s heart stalled, and her ability to speak with it. “W-wha— You do? I mean, I thought…well, you came to be with…but…” Her words trailed off as her thoughts became too jumbled to even attempt to put them into speech. How could Davis think that going off alone together for three days was a good thing?

  But hadn’t the idea made her own heart jump in excitement? It had been so brief that she’d barely registered it. But it had been there. Because even though everyone else seemed to treat Davis as if he were a giant man-baby who needed to be coddled, Chloe wasn’t so sure.

  And she suddenly felt drawn to him, wanting to know what made him tick. Chloe was surrounded by the same people, day in and day out. Every few months, there were volunteers who would go home, and new ones would arrive to take their places. But it wasn’t the same. She envied Travis, who went to the city to purchase supplies or pick people up from the airport and was able to travel the country when everyone got a break. All Chloe had was business meetings three times a year, rarely being able to use their week off for pleasure.

  But this… This was a chance to not be the head of a volunteer organization. She would be able to play the tourist, or the tour guide in this case, and pretend she was normal for a few days. And suddenly the idea that had seemed terrifying just moments before seemed genius.

  And the way that Davis actually seemed excited about it—well, Chloe wouldn’t think about what that smile did to her. Because no one’s smile had ever made her stomach flip-flop the way it was now. It meant nothing, of course. She couldn’t allow it to.

  “All right,” she said. “I guess we have luggage to load, then.”

  13

  Davis tried not to stare as he helped remove Chloe’s luggage from the locker she’d rented. He was surprised that it was only one small hard-shell suitcase. He looked inside the locker, even though it couldn’t hold more than just the one. He couldn’t imagine someone living their whole life with nothing but what could fit in that small case.

  “Is this it?” he asked. Maybe she had rented another locker.

  “That’s it.” A lock of hair had escaped Chloe’s ponytail, and she tucked it behind her ear. She looked at the suitcase, a thoughtful expression making her eyebrows dip in the center. “I don’t usually think about it, but it really is crazy that I’ve chosen to spend my life out of a suitcase. Teenager me would have been appalled, not only that I own so little, but that I chose to stay in Thailand at all.”

  She pushed a button on her suitcase that lengthened the handle, and she straightened. “You ready for an adventure?”

  Davis wasn’t sure. He’d wanted to spend the week with his family. But the fact that he was spending three days with Chloe helped soften the blow, and really, he should have been more upset about the turn of events than he was.

  “I always love me a good adventure.” Davis smiled, but it felt strained, and apparently looked it as well.

  Chloe laughed. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, but either way, you’re on the crazy train now.” The sound of Chloe’s laugh made Davis smile for real. It had a carefree nature to it, one that he envied.

  Davis gave his mom and dad a quick hug, assuring them that he’d be all right until they joined him, and then followed Chloe to the bus. The driver held out his hand, and it took a moment before Davis realized that he was waiting for Davis to hand him his bag. The driver placed both Davis’s and Chloe’s luggage under the bus, then directed them to board the bus.

  Davis had seen plenty of pictures of Thailand before he’d made the trip—he’d never be accused of not having done his research—and he’d prepared himself for crowded buses with no way to beat the heat except the breeze that came through the open windows.

  This was not that kind of bus. It had comfortable seats, two to each side, and air conditioning, and, unlike a typical Thai bus, no one was standing in the aisle. There were even TVs at the front where a Thai movie was playing. Didn’t seem to be the type of thing that Davis would enjoy, but they had the sound muted, with Thai subtitles scrolling across the screen instead.

  This was Davis’s kind of bus.

  “You better take a window seat,” Chloe said, motioning for him to enter first.

  He gave her an appreciative nod, then slid into his seat. As soon as he had settled, he immediately felt sleepy. Davis hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since arriving in Thailand, and he hadn’t realized how exhausted he was. “How long is the ride?” he asked, even as his eyes began to close.

  “Three hours.”

  “Do me a favor and wake me when we get there.”

  And then he was gone.

  * * *

  Davis awoke to someone poking his shoulder. He didn’t open his eyes, instead slapping the hand away. “Just another five minutes.”

  “Sorry, no can do. We’re here.”

  Here. Where was here?

  It took a moment of clawing at memories, but then he remembered, everything flooding back at once. Thailand. The bus. Being alone with Chloe. Davis’s eyes shot open.

  It was late afternoon, the sun hanging low in the sky, the interior of the bus darker than it had been when they’d left Chiang Mai.

  They were the last ones on the bus.

  “Morning, sunshine,” Chloe said, giving him a soft smile. She stood, and Davis followed suit. As they exited the bus and moved toward their luggage, which had been unceremoniously thrown on the pavement next to the bus, Chloe held out a couple of packaged snacks toward him. “They came around with these while you were passed out.”

  Davis took them from her and looked over the packaging. They seemed to be a sweet bread of some sort. His stomach growled, and he found himself craving more of those meat skewers. Davis shoved the breads into his satchel, then grabbed the handles of both his and Chloe’s bags. After moving their luggage out of the road and over to a patch of grass, he asked, “Do you know where we’re staying? My parents have a reservation or something?” He ripped open the packaging to one of the snacks, desperately needing something to tide him over until they found real food.

  “Yeah, it’s a fancy resort kind of place that’s off the river. It’s crazy how much you can buy with American dollars here.”

  Davis heard what she said, but he couldn’t respond. His mouth was full of something that shouldn’t be there, and he needed to find a place to spit it out. Like, now. The first bite hadn’t been bad, but it was the aftertaste that didn’t sit right with him. No, it had to be more than that, because he was seriously feeling sick. Either way, Davis couldn’t be rid of it fast enough.

  His gaze darted around the bus station, and he spotted a trashcan sitting against one of the pillars. Davis held up a finger so she’d know he wasn’t trying to be rude, then ran for the can.

  After spitting out everything, he slipped a baby wipe out of his pocket and wiped his mouth, then tossed it into the garbage, along with the uneaten bread that he’d shoved back into his satchel.

  When he returned to Chloe, she was grinning, like that had been the funniest thing she’d e
ver seen. At least she didn’t seem offended.

  “Sorry… I… I guess it’s an acquired taste.” Good thing that Chloe wasn’t a woman he was trying to impress, because he was lucky she wasn’t jumping back on the bus, putting as much distance between them as she could.

  But Chloe only laughed harder. “They gave each of us one, and I gave you mine,” she finally managed to say. “I don’t like them either.”

  Davis stared. “You gave me something you already knew was terrible?”

  “They’re not so bad at first,” she said with a wider grin and an unapologetic shrug. “But then there’s something about them that seems off and ends up making me feel sick for the rest of the trip. I thought it was just me, but I guess not.”

  Davis supposed he couldn’t fault her for that. “Well, awful bread aside, that was actually a really pleasant trip.”

  “Yes, that was quite the nap you had there. I was afraid that when I tried to wake you, it would turn out that I actually had a dead body on my hands.”

  That was an unsettling thought. “I was that far gone, huh?”

  Chloe nodded. “You missed some amazing views. The Thai mountains are beautiful, unlike anything you’ll see back in California. But you’d probably have missed it all anyway.” She picked up the handle of her suitcase, and Davis followed suit.

  “Why is that?”

  “The road is super windy. You’d be puking the whole way.”

  Chloe said it so matter-of-factly, like she already knew everything there was to know about Davis. True, she’d been there when he’d thrown up after his first Jeep ride. But he’d done very well on his second one to Chiang Mai. He hadn’t puked once. Sure, he’d thought he was going to. But he hadn’t.

  “You’re probably right,” he said while taking in the bus station. It didn’t look very different from the one in Chiang Mai, though a little smaller. There were only enough spaces for about five buses, and then what seemed to be a parking lot full of little blue cars, if they could be called that. They were more motorcycle than car, considering they had no doors, or even sides, for that matter. They did have windshields connected to the roof, so that was something. On closer inspection, Davis realized that the vehicle didn’t even have four wheels. There was only one wheel in the front, with two in the back. The seats were colorful, and flowers hung up front by the driver, though that was probably to help the prospect of imminent death seem a bit more attractive. Because there was no way that those things weren’t a death trap.

  And to Davis’s horror, Chloe was walking toward a man who was leaning against one. He hurried after her. “We’re not actually going to ride in—”

  His words were cut off as Chloe ignored him and started speaking to the man in Thai.

  Unlike other languages where Davis could pick out a word here or there, he didn’t understand a single syllable of what was being said, despite having tried to teach himself common phrases on his flight the week before.

  Chloe and the man seemed to come to an agreement because Chloe handed him twenty baht, then motioned for Davis to get inside the vehicle.

  “It’s time for your first lesson in how to ride in a tuk-tuk.”

  Davis stayed rooted to the spot. “You expect me to get in that thing?”

  Chloe nodded. “Unless you want to spend the night at the bus station, then yes, I do.”

  His stomach felt queasy, leftover bits from the bread he’d eaten threatening to reappear. “Can’t we take”—his panicked gaze swept over the area—“one of those?” He pointed to something that looked like a bus that had had the back cut off. At least it had sides.

  “It’s too big for just the two of us, and more expensive, and I’ve already paid for this one.”

  Davis swallowed hard. It would be fine. Things would be great. It wasn’t technically a motorcycle. It had three wheels. And a roof. He tried not to let Bridgette invade his thoughts. This wasn’t the same. That road had been wet and slick. And the driver wouldn’t be going as fast as Bridgette had been.

  It would be fine.

  Davis silently repeated this to himself as Chloe watched him, her gaze curious. It was that gaze that propelled him forward and into the tuk-tuk. He settled onto the colorfully decorated seat. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it wasn’t terrible either.

  “Hold your bag tight and use your other arm to latch onto the bar next to you,” Chloe said as she did the same.

  No seatbelts. Okay.

  Davis grabbed hold of the bar just in time, because, despite the lack of anything resembling passenger safety, the driver slammed his foot on the gas, and they sped out of the bus station. Davis bounced on the seat, hanging on as if his life depended on it—because he was pretty sure it did—as they swerved around corners and other vehicles.

  “Rules of the road don’t apply to these things as well?” Davis yelled above the noise of the tuk-tuk.

  “It’s the Wild West when you ride in a tuk-tuk,” Chloe yelled back, a grin splitting her face.

  Even as Davis found himself on the verge of a panic attack, Chloe was loving it. Her hair whipped around her face as they raced through narrow streets, then back onto a larger main street. She beamed like she was in her element here. Chloe had always seemed pretty laid back at the village, but this was different. And it made Davis want to find what she had.

  Happiness.

  But that was increasingly difficult as each moment ramped up his anxiety, and the probability of him puking. Which would not be ideal, considering they were driving so fast, the wind would just bring it right back into his face.

  And so Davis closed his eyes. But rather than pray that it would end, preferably with him still alive, he tried to imagine what it would feel like if he experienced everything like Chloe did. What would it be like if he embraced this moment? Not worrying about if this would end in a fiery crash.

  Maybe he could just start out by smiling.

  Davis opened his eyes. The world still slid by in a blur. He tightened his grip on the bar next to him, and then he forced the edges of his lips to tilt up. And stay there. It wasn’t a true smile, but it was a start. He noticed a small boy playing by the road; he looked a lot like Uan from the village. Davis smiled—a real smile—at the thought of the two Thai children sitting on his feet, clinging to his legs, until their mother scolded them and they scampered off.

  They’d done the same thing each evening, as if it were a ritual, and he’d loved it. Even though they didn’t speak the same language, they hadn’t needed to.

  The tuk-tuk hit a bump at that moment, and it threw Chloe into Davis, startling him out of his thoughts. He instinctively threw a protective arm around her shoulders and tightened his grip on the bar next to him.

  “You okay?” he asked, though his words were muffled by the hair that was flying into his face. It smelled like plums.

  “Yeah. Good catch,” she said, slightly breathless. She tilted her face up so she could look at him. Her cheeks were pink, but she was still smiling as big as ever, maybe even more so now.

  Whatever Davis was going to say left him, his mind blank as the only thing that he was aware of was Chloe nestled into him as they raced through the streets of Chiang Rai, her intoxicating shampoo, and her eyes still laughing, teasing him. Questioning what he was going to do next.

  Davis wished she’d look away and not tempt him like that, while at the same time wanting to pull her in even closer, if that were possible. He was no longer afraid. No longer anxious or nauseous. He dropped his head slightly. Closer to her.

  Chloe didn’t back away.

  “We’re here,” the tuk-tuk driver bellowed in English as he came to a sudden stop. Both Chloe and Davis fell forward, Davis’s arm preventing Chloe from hitting the floor, though their bags did.

  The spell broken, Davis mumbled something about crazy drivers, then stepped out from the tuk-tuk, his legs wobbly. It felt like he’d been on the ocean all day and now had to get used to the land.

&nbs
p; The tuk-tuk raced away, disappearing just as quickly as it had arrived, making it all seem like some crazy dream—a colorful, terrifying, beautiful dream. But in Davis’s dream, the tuk-tuk driver had taken another thirty seconds to get to their destination. And there hadn’t been an interruption.

  Thank goodness it had only been a dream.

  Davis didn’t know what he’d have done otherwise.

  14

  The expansive resort that stretched before them caught Chloe off guard. It had been a long time since she’d been here—she couldn’t ever justify the expense when she traveled by herself. Travis had offered to come with her the last time they’d had a break. And the time before that. And every other time over the past few years. But when she hadn’t been busy with business, she’d needed the time to herself. To just…be.

  And frankly, warding off Travis’s advances didn’t lend itself to the kind of relaxation Chloe was after.

  But when Kara had invited Chloe along on their family vacation, she hadn’t been able to say no. Being with Kara and Rick and the twins—they were family. At least, for now. Her own parents were thousands of miles away, and Chloe was lucky if she saw them once every couple of years.

  Chloe glanced at Davis, who was similarly staring at the resort, awe in his expression. His cheeks were a bit pink, and she wondered if hers were as well. Chloe hadn’t meant to slam into him on the ride over, but part of her was kind of glad that she had.

  “My parents can afford a place like this?” Davis asked.

  “Like I said, the dollar goes a long way here. One night can cost twenty-five hundred baht, which is a lot if you’re Thai, but that’s only eighty U.S. dollars.” She nodded ahead of them and raised an eyebrow as if to say, Shall we?

  Davis followed Chloe inside to the check-in counter. His gaze wasn’t focused on what she was doing, but instead taking in the high ceilings and glossy floor. Two restaurants sat on opposite ends of the lobby, both looking more American than Thai. Chloe had stayed here once before and knew they wanted to cater both to those who enjoyed Thai food and those who did not. She also knew enough to stay away from the Thai massages they offered. She’d thought her back might snap the last time she’d received one.