Page 50 of Like Home
Hudson gets the last bite of my corndog, and I’m glad it was even bigger than I was expecting since he ended up eating nearly half of my meal. He decided a carne asada burrito didn’t live up to his culinary standards. Layla and Todd asked me a million times if I was sure about sharing my food, but I don’t mind one bit. I can never eat much in the heat, and it’s boiling hot today.
After we all demolish our meals and drain the last dregs of our drinks, we get in line to grab a special holiday beer from Reaper’s Reserve, a local craft brewery. We’ve been seeing people with their holiday edition drinks, tiny American flags sticking out the top of the cups with the brewery’s Grim Reaper logo emblazoned in red, white, and blue, and Layla seems really enthused about trying them.
“Two Raucous, Witty, and Brewed, please,” Ryan says to the tattooed twenty-something woman taking orders in the sleek black and silver food truck. His cheeks color a little at having to order the ridiculous-sounding beer, and I can feel the love in my chest swell to near strangling proportions.
I haven’t told him yet because I’ve been enjoying every secondwith him. I want to drag out all the good and make it last. With Jared, everything moved at lightning speed. Partially because we were in high school and relationships tend to run their course in dog years, and partially because we had a baby so young. I’m savoring this second chance.
“This beer better be worth it,” he grouses as we rejoin Layla, Todd and Hudson, beers in hand.
I take a sip, the ripe raspberry and yeast bursting on my tongue, and tip my head side to side. “I mean, it's pretty damn good. The name could be better, but at least the beer is tasty.”
He takes his own sip and nods grudgingly, “Okay, that’s delicious. I can forgive the name.”
“I told you it would be good. Reaper’s Reserve is known for their seasonal beers,” Layla says, leading us through the crowd.
We meander toward a live cover band playing some classic rock. “What are we doing next?” I ask. We’re two amongst a decent crowd with families spread out on picnic blankets or camping chairs surrounding us.
“Well, once we polish these off, I figured you and I can head out. I have something special to show you.” Ryan’s piqued my interest, but now’s not really the time for conversation as Metallica’sEnter Sandmanblares through the speakers. The lead singer gets drowned out by thebangof the drums. Despite the sound not being attuned properly, the band is actually pretty great.
We stay through a few more songs where they play everything from Queen to Creed. I enjoy dancing with Ryan as he holds me close by the waist, swaying in time with the music. Todd and Layla dance with Hudson between them, and he giggles every time they spin him in a circle, a flash of small, white teeth bright against his brown skin.
He’s warmed up to me a bit after I shared my food with him, but he’s still a little wary. I admire the standoffishness towards strangers, to be honest. Emma has always been way too friendly. The girl hardly has any stranger danger and it’s always made menervous. Hudson is much more discerning, and I bet Layla rests a little easier as a result.
Eventually, we drain the last of our sweet beers and Ryan looks at me with a smile. He pushes some stray hairs behind my ear and says, “Ready for a quick little adventure?”
“I thought this was the adventure,” I reply, gesturing to the still-undulating crowd around us and his family.
“Part of it. We’ll see you guys later,” he says to his sister and her family.
“It was so nice to meet you all,” I say, leaning in to give them both hugs and Hudson a fist bump.
“You too. Seriously, I’m so glad I finally got to meet you. Ryan never shuts up about you, and I’m happy to see he isn’t exaggerating. You’re as sweet and beautiful as he says,” Layla states, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. I smile and thank her, flushing slightly with the blunt compliment. “I pestered him to give me your number, but he wouldn’t budge. Maybe he will now that he can see we get along,” she says with a pointed look at Ryan.
“I think that’s a great idea. I’d love to chat and hang out,” I say earnestly. Layla is like the more intense, feminine version of Ryan, and I’ve had such a good time hanging out with her today. It was nice to meet someone who is so important to him.
Ryan facilitates another round of goodbyes and promises he’ll give me his sister’s number. He starts tugging my hand and leading me back through the crowds, clearly trying to make an escape. Once we’re in the truck with the AC cranked up, he waits for a gap in the cars and backs out.
“My sister really does like you. She’s not blowing smoke up your ass. She doesn’t do that, so if she says something, she means it,” he says, eyeing me for a second before returning his attention to the road.
“I really like her too. And Todd and Hudson both seem really sweet.”
“They are. I was so thankful when Lay found him, he’s truly one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
I nod in agreement and then get distracted by the road. I don’t recognize where we’re headed, because Lakeland is the other way. “Okay, I can’t take it, where are we going?” I ask, lifting the heavy weight of my hair off my sweaty neck.
“You’ll see. Can’t you wait for a good surprise?” He takes his eyes off the road briefly to smile at me and puts his palm on my thigh.
“Fine,” I acquiesce, drawing out the middle of the word like a sullen teen. He laughs and we fall into a comfortable silence, the radio playing softly in the background.
We weave up through some foothills until we pull off at a service road. I look over at him, eyebrow raised, as we bump over the unpaved road. “Is the surprise murder?” I ask jokingly.
He snorts, “No.I like you alive, thanks. It’s just up ahead.” He takes his hand off my thigh so he has better control over the uneven dirt road. We meander through a thicket of trees, the path barely visible, until suddenly we’re in a clearing and I can see all of Springview laid out below us. The service path continues on to the right, but up ahead, there’s a turnout that Ryan backs into.
“Wow,” I can’t help but say, “How did you find this place?” I hop out of the truck and Ryan instructs me to look at the view while he gets some things ready in the truck bed. I stare out at the town below us in wonder, enchanted by the streetlights blinking on in the encroaching dark. It looks like a little doll town with well-manicured buildings interspersed with large trees, patches of grass, and a blacktop grid. I can even make out the large park where the festival is.
I can hear Ryan puttering around behind me when he says, “Well, one of my coworkers whose brother is a firefighter mentioned that this is a great lookout spot that very few people know about. Really only some of the local firemen know of it because they want to keep it hush-hush. They don’t want a bunchof people up here causing issues since this is technically a service road. Anyway, he told me the view for tonight’s fireworks would be fantastic.” I nod in acknowledgment and he says, “Okay, you can look now.”
I turn to see that he’s lined the edge of the truck bed with twinkling fairy lights, and there are a few small solar-powered lanterns poised on the edges of the open tailgate emitting a soft, yellow glow. In the truck bed, he’s laid out the same picnic blanket we used at the festival along with an open sleeping bag for extra cushion from the hard surface. He’s also thrown several pillows up by the cab of the truck. Sitting in the middle of it all is a tray with a small charcuterie board for two with meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, and chocolates. Next to the board is a small bottle of champagne and two plastic champagne flutes decorated with red, white, and blue fireworks.
