Page 43 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
It was nearly one, and a few minutes before, she had received a text from Theo. He was here. He was always on time. She replied that she was coming out, putting on her shoes. They clicked on the tiled floor as she went to the front door.
“I’m going!” she called back to the house. “Bye!”
“Make sure you’re back by five!” Beena called back from the living room. Lavinia was watching Biter in the evening while her parents took Alfie to a football match. “Have fun!”
As Lavinia stepped out of her front door, she felt a jitter run through her spine that had little to do with the brisk autumn weather and more to do with nerves when she spotted him in his car. Taking a deep breath of crisp air, Lavinia walked over, getting in.
“Hi,” she said, sitting down and looking at her best friend. Theo was wearing a soft flannel shirt that was navy blue and beige, the sleeves of which were rolled up, displaying the muscle of his forearm as he gripped the wheel with one hand.
“Hey,” he said, looking over. He gave her a smile, which was perfectly normal. This would be fine!
Lavinia smiled back, and his gaze flicked down to her mouth, snagging there. She bit her bottom lip, nervous, and his eyes jumped away. His grip on the wheel tightened. Heat sweptthrough her, and she busied herself with putting her seatbelt on, feeling only slightly nauseous.
Memories of their kiss resurfaced in her mind: the feel of his mouth against hers, the taste of his tongue.
“Ready?” he asked, voice rough.
“Mhm!” she all but squeaked.
Theo put the gear shift to drive and they headed away from her neighborhood. Lavinia grabbed his phone, which was connected to the car, and hit play on his music. She scrolled through his playlists, putting songs up on queue; after a few songs, they both relaxed.
They drove out to the farms. Most of the trees had changed from green now, and the multicolored landscape was breathtaking as they drove. Some of the roads were covered with yellow leaves that looked like shavings of sunlight. As a breeze lifted the air, leaves twirled and fluttered as they fell, shimmering.
Lavinia started singing along to the music, and Theo looked over at her, a smile twitching his lips. Then she put on songs they used to listen to in high school, laughing as Theo groaned.
“Why are we listening to this?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “This is painful. I can feel all the teenage angst seeping back into my pores.”
Lavinia only turned up the volume, belting out the words, and eventually Theo joined in. She cackled and they sang together, the way they used to on the drive home from school when they were seniors and Theo would drive her home everyday. A wave of nostalgia hit her at the memories. That was so long ago now, yet, in the car with him at this moment, she felt like no time had passed at all.
They made it to the farms, and even though the traffic hadbeen rough, she had hardly noticed. Theo parked, and they got out of the car. The sun was shining now, so she left her jacket in his car, tilting her face up to the sun’s heat, relishing the feeling.
When she turned back to Theo, she saw he had been watching her, a fond expression on his face. His gaze was warm, and she felt shy all of a sudden.
Lavinia looked around at the masses of cars in the parking lots, the tons of people walking around. “There’s so many here,” she said, and he came around the car to walk with her.
Most of the rush was for the farm activities, not the food, but still. Theo smiled, throwing an arm over her shoulder as they walked towards the barn, where the food was sold from a window-counter. They approached the food line, where there were at least a dozen people in front of them: parents with young children and old couples and groups of friends.
“The donuts’d better not be finished,” she said, peering at the line.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “If they are, I’ll steal some from the first person we see.”
She looked up at him, arching a brow. “Even if it’s a kid?”
He nodded. “Even if it’s a kid.”
“You’re awful,” she said, laughing.
“Just for you,” he winked.
They continued chatting until they made it to the front of the line, where they ordered baked potatoes and roasted corn. Luckily, the apple-cider donuts were still in stock. “Thank god,” Theo said, paying. “I really didn’t want to make any kids cry today.”
“As opposed to every other day? When you are okay with making kids cry?”
Theo laughed, bumping her shoulder with his, and they walked over to the benches with their food, sitting down with their feast. There was a band playing live country music in the background and kids running around with baskets of apples.
They ate, people-watching. When they were finished and about a pound heavier for it, Theo did his shopping at the farm stands and Lavinia bought an armful of pumpkins to decorate her front door. Theo ran the groceries back to his car so they wouldn’t have to carry them around and, when he returned, they walked over to the area where games were set up, playing a round of cornhole, which Lavinia was abysmal at.
It was a fun day, but by the time they were walking back to his car around four in the evening, her feet were aching. The heeled booties were new, and she had not broken them in yet, and as such, she was losing feeling in her toes.
