Page 17 of Finding Alfred
I laughed because that was fantastic, but Alfred kicked my shin under the table. “Umpf.” Then he glared at me. “Sorry. Uh, I’ll have that for sure. And a Diet Coke.”
“Same for me, please.” Alfred handed Andrew the menus.
“Sure thing. It’s really good seeing you here, guys. Enjoy.”
“He was nice. Do you know him well?” Alfred asked.
“Oddly, no. I mean, we grew up together, of course, but we were never close. Looking back on it, seems like the only person I was really close with was Brock.”
“I get it. He was your person.”
“We were inseparable. Through college, too.”
“I don’t really know what it’s like to have a lifelong friend. Eddy is the closest. I started working for him about…I don’t know…nine, ten years ago.”
“That’s a long time.”
He nodded. “That’s why I followed him out here.”
“Makes sense.”
The food was as delicious as promised, and we had pie afterward, though I donotknow how I fit that in my stomach. When we finished up and paid, we headed out.
Stepping onto the sidewalk, I heard music, and looking around, quickly found Henry farther down, playing his violin. He was very good, and the tune he was tackling sounded somewhat familiar.
“What’s this? Oh…he’s good.” Alfred gripped my hand. “I think that’s…Stained?”
“The rock band?”
“Yeah. I like it.”
It didn’t sound quite like the original song, but enough that we knew what it was, and honestly, this version was nice. Henry was a talented musician with an incredible future ahead of him. I liked Alfred holding my hand and humming all the way back to the car. “This is also a good reason to park here,” I said as we got in. “And it helped walk off some of that meal.”
Alfred rubbed his stomach. “No lie.”
I backed the car out and turned it out of town. “You ready for part two?”
“Maybe. Where we going?”
“You’ll see.” I drove us out to Lover’s Butte. There were already a few other cars there when we pulled up, so I parked a bit farther to the east. “Come on.”
I grabbed a blanket from the backseat and tossed it over the hood, then helped him climb up. We leaned back against the windshield and stared up at the sky. All the stars sparkled like tiny diamonds above us. There was no way anyone in the big cities would see this heavenly view.
“Wow. What is this place?”
“Honestly, it’s where kids come to make out.” I nudged his shoulder and nodded to the closest car to us. The windows were already fogged up.
“Oop.”
“I didn’t bring you here for that. We can make out anywhere.”
“I don’t mind a little making out.”
“I’ll take you up on that, but look at the stars first, that’s the real show.”
Alfred cuddled up to my side. “It is. This is amazing. Thank you, Jackie.”
I kissed the top of his head. “Anytime.”
