Page 50 of Stony Point Summer
“That’s why I showed up on your doorstep. To see if you’d say all that to my face.”
“You have to know I wassohappy to see you today. Because I didn’t think I’deversee you again—which broke my heart.”
“Here I am.”
“Andthatscares me.” She reaches for her drink instead of meeting his eye.
“Celia. Look at me.”
She does, and he takes one of her hands in his. “What are you afraid of?”
“This. Us.”
“Come on, Celia. After we were together earlier?”
“That’s right. Because a few days from now, you’re gone. A month from now … a year? What’ll I do? How will this work?”
“Not sure I have those answers.” Shane lets go of her hand, turns on his barstool and clasps his fingers behind his neck for a moment. Then he turns back to her. “But right now? This only works if we make a deal.”
“I’m listening.”
“Okay, so … no thinking ahead. No planning far in advance. Just be in the moment and seewhereit’ll take us. That’s it.” He lifts her chin. Sees her moist eyes. “Deal?”
She watches him for several silent seconds before resting her hand on his face and murmuring into a kiss, “Deal.”
* * *
And they do it. They stay in the moment.
Celia brushes her fingers through Shane’s hair before glancing past him. “Hey.” She motions to a wall on the far side of the room, past all the round tables. “Is that one of those claw machines?”
Shane looks over his shoulder toward the arcade game tucked in a small alcove. A menagerie of furry faces presses against the game’s glass enclosure. Two couples stand beside it, pointing while one woman manipulates the claw. “Yo, Patrick,” Shane says then as Patrick slides a drink to a waiting customer further down the bar. “Seriously? A stuffed-animal game in this joint?”
“Absolutely. You’d be amazed at the dough that machine brings in. Bets get placed on it.” Patrick lifts a folded towel off his shoulder and wipes the bar top. “And hell, on date night? The men are lined up sometimes. They get real competitive, too. You know, for their sweethearts,” he says with a nod toward Celia.
As he does, hoots and hollers rise from the small group gathered around the arcade game.
So Shane looks from Patrick, to Celia, and stands up. Taking Celia’s hand, he gives a little tug. “Let’s give it a go, Cee.”
* * *
As the running lights around the cabinet blink on and off, Shane and Celia scrutinize.
They strategize.
They stay in the moment, reading the instructions and studying the placement of the plush vegetables and fruits and animals in the prize pit behind the glass. There are polka-dot turtles and orange dragons. Silly-faced apples and grinning oranges. Cute Dalmatians and angry alligators. Fuzzy and fluffy, velvety and soft. Shane notes which are too tightly packed together. Celia points out which are too far from the chute.
“Okay, we’ve got this. Two tries for a dollar,” Shane says, pulling his wallet from his pocket. “Ladies first.” He hands Celia a dollar bill.
After inserting the money into the machine, Celia grabs the joystick and maneuvers the claw. Left, further left. Forward a nudge. “Watch the elephant,” she says as she drops the claw. Its three silver fingers wrap around the elephant’s trunk, lift the plush animal—and promptly drop it back in the pit.
“Shoot!” she whispers.
“It’s too heavy. Go for something lighter,” Shane tells her. He nods to the assorted plush prizes.
“I’ll try the stuffed eggplant. Elsa can keep it in her kitchen.”
Moments later, the eggplant slips from the claw before it gets to the chute.
