Page 16 of If the Summer Lasted Forever
Not me, of course.Somegirls. Other girls.
“Bring your camera?” I ask.
He reaches into his back pocket, producing the small video recording device he was using the other day. “All charged up and ready to go.”
“Your dad says there’s a ghost town nearby.” Caleb shoves his way in front of Landon. He looks like a miniature explorer in his oversized khaki hat with its wide brim. “Can we see it too?”
“Sure,” I say, though my heart twinges when Caleb assumes Mark is my dad and not my uncle.
I walk them around the back of the house to the spot where I park my Jeep. It’s a white Wrangler, cute as can be even though it’s almost ten years old. When I got my license, Mom and Uncle Mark bought it for me from the lady who owns the rock and mineral shop on Main.
I glance at Caleb, wondering if he’s visited the little shop yet. She has all kinds of minerals, even a few fossils. I could buy him a geode, and Landon could split it. And maybe when it’s warmer, we could?—
I stop myself, realizing I’m planningmoreoutings. This is dangerous. The last thing I need to do is get attached—to either of them.
“Nice Jeep,” Landon says, earning copious amounts of brownie points.
I flash him a smile. “Thanks.”
Five minutes later, we’re navigating the winding road, making our way up the mountain. The new foliage on the trees and bushes is rich green thanks to all the rain we’ve had. Even the pines look more vibrant. It’s a pretty day. There are only a few wispy clouds in the sky, and it’s already warmer than yesterday.
A creek runs next to us, and Caleb presses his nose to the window. “Can we pan for gold?”
“Some people do, but there are rules and regulations. Your mom and dad would have to contact the Forest Service first and figure all that out.”
“Huh,” Caleb answers, less interested.
It takes another twenty minutes to reach the turnoff for the historic site—which translates to twenty minutes of mindlessly answering Caleb’s questions as I try not to focus on Landon sitting in the seat next to me. His long legs are stretched out in faded jeans that fit just right, and he wears sunglasses and a well-worn baseball cap. He’s the embodiment of a Colorado summer.
Finally, I take a right off the scenic highway, turning onto a well-traveled dirt road. It’s narrow with bumpy washboards that make Caleb say, “ahhhhh,” just so he can hear his voice vibrate.
“It’s rough,” Landon comments, turning my way as the Jeep’s back-end shimmies on a turn. Once we’re out of the corner, I glance at him, wondering how he’s handling the drive. To his credit, he doesn’t look too concerned.
“Soon a road grader will come through,” I tell him, “clean it up for the summer tourists in their low-clearance cars and two-wheel-drive vehicles. Paige’s brothershatethe road grader.”
“Paige is your friend, right? The one I met the other day?”
“Yeah.” I flash him a smile. “She’s the best. I’m lucky to have her.”
“I would say she’s probably pretty lucky to have you too.”
He has no idea. Paige lost her mom just a year before I lost my dad. We understood each other in a way no one else could, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
We reach the historic site a minute later, and I pull to the side to park. Caleb scurries out of the Jeep as soon as I turn off the engine, and he books it to the shanty that stands twenty yards from the road.
“Don’t touch anything!” Landon hollers out his window, and then he turns back to me with a small smile on his face. He relaxes in his seat, and after a moment, he says, “Hi.”
The way he’s looking at me makes nervous butterflies stir in my stomach. “Aren’t we past that part of the outing?”
“We’ve had an eight-year-old chaperone.”
Which makes me wonder how he would have greeted me if Caleb hadn’t been with us.
“Well, then…hi,” I end up saying, feeling off…but in a rather pleasant way.
“Thanks for driving us up here.”
“Sure.” There’s a sudden lack of air in the Jeep, so I open my door and step out just so I can catch my breath.
