Page 83 of Beastly Mountain Man

“That is irritatingly logical.”

“I’ve been consistent.”

I studied him.

“I don’t want to do television halfway.”

“I don’t think you should.”

“And I don’t know how to do it fully without letting it eat every available hour.”

“That sounds like the part you have to figure out.”

I leaned back slightly.

“Delegation is literally part of my job.”

“I know.”

“I assign responsibility all day long.”

“You’ve mentioned that.”

“Then I get nervous and start taking it back.”

Lucky’s thumb moved once against my side.

“Do you think caring about the work requires doing every part yourself?”

“No. Of course not.” That one was easy.

I pictured my set. Department heads. Producers. People I trusted enough to hire and then occasionally failed to trust enough to leave alone.

“I think I’ve been treating vigilance like commitment.”

Lucky said, “You’re allowed to care a lot.”

“I do.”

“I know.”

I looked toward the windows.

“I don’t know what any of this looks like when the road opens.”

“Neither do I.”

I turned back to him.

“You’re alarmingly calm about that.”

“We’ve known each other three days.”

“Thank you for the reminder. Very romantic.”

Lucky smiled. “You want me to pretend we have the next year organized?”

“No.”