“Well, thank you. Again.” He didn’t know what else to say other than that. She couldn’t possibly understand the impact her offer to help Marissa had on him. He couldn’t quite understand it himself. Marissa hadn’t had a female role model in quite some time, especially not someone as smart and amazing as Sarah, and Wes sensed his daughter might be needing exactly this.

“Sure,” she said. “And thanks for the good news…about the termites.”

He nodded and turned to leave.

Just go. You apologized and said thank you.

He turned back. “It’s not that I don’t think it’s amazing what she can do.” For some reason, he felt the need to explain that. “She’s super smart and I’m really proud. I just…” He ran a hand through his hair and released a slow, deep breath. “I just can’t relate to it, and I’m not sure how to connect with her. I know sports. I know the outdoors. I know working with my hands.” He shrugged. “Computers and technology aren’t my thing.”

Sarah looked surprised by his openness. “You don’t have to share her interests or know anything about it… Just maybe support her and ask her about it? I’m sure she’d love to show you the things she’s working on sometime,” she said carefully.

“I can do that.” He entered the room. “Maybe you can show me something first…you know, just so I don’t seem completely dense. Maybe teach me some buzz words I could use to at least sound like I know what she’s talking about?”

“Sure.” Sarah laughed, and the sound hit him square in the chest. Her smile was mesmerizing. It wasn’t the grin she wore when she knew she was getting the better of him or the grimace she wore when she seemed to be struggling to tolerate being around him when they had differing opinions about the inn, but a genuine smile. One that brought him back to when they used to be friends.

If he was a smarter man, it would have sent him running out of the room.

Instead, he pulled the armchair toward the desk and sat next to her. His shoulder brushed against hers as he moved the chair closer to look at her computer screen. He swallowed hard; the feel of his solid shoulder muscle against her soft bare skin had him experiencing a buzz of electricity through his entire body. He didn’t move away.

If she was as affected by the contact, she hid it well as she turned her laptop toward him and clicked an icon on the screen. “So, this is called coding. It’s the back-end programming on all the apps.”

He nodded. “I know what apps are.”