Page 93 of Suits and Spark Plugs

“Hey, Liv. You ready for a wild night in nature?” Kelly chirped as she craned her head to see me.

“Come again?”

Her hand flew over her mouth, and her eyes grew round as she looked to where Scott was shaking his head. “Oopsies. I think Connor wanted it to be a surprise. Act surprised, okay?” she said back to me.

“Won’t be hard,” I mumbled under my breath. I had no idea where we were going or what we were up to. All Connor had said was to wear good shoes and bring a jacket.

Connor slid in next to me and nodded to Scott, who put the car in reverse and backed out onto my quiet neighborhood street. I looked over to Connor, and his smile faded a little at whatever my expression was telling him. My guess is that it is was screaming, “What the devil is happening here?”

“Trust me, I think you’re going to really like this.”

“Did you bring a treat for later?” I asked, trying to squash down my nerves. I wasn’t big on surprises or feeling at someone else’s mercy.

“Obviously. And before you ask, yes, it’s chocolate based.”

I nodded and did my best to relax into a smile. “Okay then.”

He took my hand and, noticing how cold my fingers felt, rubbed it between his own for a moment while he and Scott talked directions. The conversation was light on the way up the mountain. We headed the opposite way of Springfield, and as the road turned to a simple two-lane surrounded by forest, I relaxed and enjoyed the pleasure of being with Connor and our two friends.

After about thirty minutes Scott pulled onto a dirt road, and we began climbing higher into the trees. It was beautiful up there, and it had been a long time since I’d spent any time off the beaten path. My parents, back in better times, had often brought Sadie and me up for Saturday picnics. Nostalgia flowed over me like gooey caramel, sweet and sugary, and I appreciated the sweetness of those happier memories.

After another ten minutes we crested a small ridge and found ourselves in an open meadow. Trees ringed the circular opening, with a few jagged rocks here and there that would offer a great view of the valleys around us if we climbed on top of them.

“Okay, we’re here.” Connor squeezed my hand before releasing it and getting out. I followed suit, opening my side and getting out too. He was waiting behind the vehicle, where he’d reached over the truck bed and was pulling out a duffel bag.

“Here, man, why don’t you take this one,” Scott said, trading the bag Connor was holding for another. “Kell, honey, can you grab the blanket? Liv, if you’ll snag the picnic basket that would be great.”

We all followed directions and then walked in a line to the middle point of the meadow. Kelly and I spread the blanket out, and we all sat our things down on top of it. Connor took a deep breath and offered me a smile.

“I know how much you like to paint nature scenes. I thought maybe it would be fun to come up here in the late afternoon, when the light is so perfect, and take a ton of pictures. Trees, flowers, rocks, people. I’ll get them printed for you and you can use them to paint from.”

“Scott has great cameras that will really capture all the little details of everything,” Kelly inserted. “I came along for a romantic picnic dinner.”

I looked around the meadow and chewed my lip for a minute while I tried to hide the swirling emotions that had risen at the knowledge that he’d planned something so focused on my personal interests. Had anyone ever done that for me? The answer was no, and the reason was simple. No one else had ever been let into that secret part of my life.

My silence must have worried him, because he moved closer to me and ran a hand down my arm to take my hand. “Is this okay? I know you said that painting is your private thing, but you also know that I’m really supportive of that, so...”

“She’s trying not to get all mushy weird over it,” Kelly suddenly stated. “Give her a minute to breathe. She’s happy.”

Kelly’s outburst made the three of us laugh. Connor’s eyes asked if I was really okay and I nodded. “This is great.”

“Good. Scott will show us what he brought and give us a few pointers first, and then we can hike around and take some pictures. We can take a break for dinner and get some more pictures at twilight if you want.”

“Yeah, I want.” I grinned.

Scott really did have fancy camera equipment, and I paid close attention while he explained how everything worked. I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford to replace any of this if I messed something up. At the end of the tutorial, all four of us slung cameras over our necks. While the guys finished up some last-minute stuff, Kelly came to stand next to me.

“When I found out what Connor wanted to do I almost melted into a puddle. He’s kind of the greatest.”

“Yeah.” I flushed and her eyes danced. “I just have one question.”

“Shoot,” she said.

“How many strange and unexplainable pictures has Scott taken of you with these fancy cameras of his?”

“If you mean tasteful and inspiring, a lot.”

“Have you become his muse?”

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