Page 60 of Fight for Me
“That doesn’t technically answer my question,” Lexie grumbled good-naturedly. She took his hand anyway, and his warmth traveled up her arm and wrapped around her the way it always did. Minutes later, she was standing on her tiptoes beside his truck, trying to peek beneath the blue tarp tied tightly over the bed.
“You don’t know how to let yourself be surprised, do you?” Jake teased as he opened her door and helped her climb inside. Lexie looked around as they pulled onto the main road and was surprised to see they were one of the only vehicles moving at that hour. She had thought Friday night in a college town would be busier. She watched the streetlamps flash by her window until they passed the city limits.
“Where are we going?” she asked for the hundredth time as he turned onto a narrow back road.
“You’ll see.”
He reached across the console and captured her hand in his, threading their fingers together while his headlights swept silently over barns and fields that rolled in all directions. At one point, they crossed over the highway that circled town, and she saw a lone tractor-trailer pass underneath as they continued toward their mysterious destination.
Finally, Jake slowed and pulled onto the shoulder near a break in the hedgerow that was barely visible in the dark. Without a word, he popped open his door and jumped from the cab, leaving Lexie alone in the light-flooded interior. He walked quickly to the front of the truck and unhooked a length of chain from the top of a fence post before pushing open a wide metal gate. Within moments, he was back behind the wheel. He eased the vehicle off the solid roadway into what appeared to be afallow cornfield. When they cleared the gate, he jumped out again to shut it behind them.
“What are we doing?” Lexie whispered as he climbed inside for the second time and shifted into four-wheel drive. Jake chuckled and peered through the windshield, following what Lexie could now see was a worn path obviously used by other vehicles for one reason or another.
“I know the people who own this land. Danny left the gate unlocked for me,” he said, by way of explanation.
The moon was only a sliver in the sky, providing almost no light as the truck bumped slowly along. Lexie looked in all directions, trying to piece together why they could possibly be making this journey in the middle of the night.
“It’s so dark. We won’t be able to see anything out here.”
“Oh, I think we’ll see more than you’d imagine,” Jake said vaguely, his expression growing more excited the farther they drove. Finally, they topped a small rise, and he turned the truck until they were facing back the way they had come.
“Stay here,” he ordered as he turned off the engine. He pulled a small camping lantern from the center console. The noise of his door snapping shut behind him was entirely too loud for the wide, empty space, and Lexie jumped. She twisted in her seat, following him with her eyes as he pulled down the tailgate and started unloading things from beneath the tarp, his face lit eerily from the lantern below. When he saw her watching through the back window, he tossed the tarp itself up onto the cab, which prevented her from spying.
Lexie settled back into her seat, trying to be annoyed with the cloak-and-daggers routine but failing miserably. He’d obviously gone to some trouble to arrange whatever this was, and her excitement was growing. She could hear a lot of rummaging behind her, and at long last, the truck bounced on its suspensionas Jake climbed down from the bed. Seconds later, her door popped open with a soft ding.
He smiled and held out his hand. “Close your eyes,” he directed. She hesitated, glancing past him into the dark, empty night, and his expression softened even more. “Trust me.”
Lexie nodded and closed her eyes, then shifted from her seat, bracing her hands against Jake’s shoulders as he guided her down onto the running board.
“Now, hold on.”
“To what?” she asked, but her arms tightened instinctively around his neck as he scooped her legs out from under her. “Jacob!” she squealed, pressing her face into his shoulder as he hip-checked her door shut.
“Shh, you trust me, remember?” he reminded her, taking careful steps toward wherever they were going.
Lexie nestled closer, feeling like she was floating through dark space and time. Only the solid feel of Jake’s arms kept her grounded to the Earth.
Suddenly, he set her down on something hard.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Lexie did as she was told, opening her eyes and looking in awe at the truck’s bed. There was a small sea of blankets and pillows lit by half a dozen camping lanterns, like Jake had built a fairy garden in the middle of the desert. She could see two thermoses and a small basket of snacks tucked into the back corner.
“What’s all this for?” she asked in wonder.
“Well, the Leonid meteor shower peaks around 2:00 a.m.,” Jake said, and Lexie turned to meet his eyes, catching a flash of uncertainty in them. He shrugged. “I thought we could at least have good seats.”
Lexie looked down a slight hill toward what appeared to be a dark hole. She stared until her eyes adjusted to the dimness,finally realizing the hole was in fact a pond filled with tiny points of glittering light. Understanding dawned, and she looked up.
The sky above was alive with thousands—no,millions—of stars of all sizes, undiluted by city lights. As she looked in awe, two of them shot across the dark expanse, disappearing as they faded from view. Lexie brought her eyes back down to Jake, who was watching her intently.
“What do you think?” he asked, glancing from the pond to the truck and back to her.
Lexie looked around for another moment or two. She could hardly believe her eyes. No one had ever done anything like this for her before.
“I love it,” she said, and Jake exhaled in a relieved rush.
“Yeah?”
