Page 85 of What Remains True
All she had left to do was order the paints. She was searching online for the best deals, when there was a knock at the door.
“Hey, did I get the time wrong? I thought we said three.”
“We’re surprising you!” Zan lifted her horse lunch box in the air in front of her. “With lunch!”
Adam lifted a cooler. “Ours is in here.”
“What a nice surprise,” Merry Anna said. “Come in, or should I come out?”
“Let’s eat under the tree. I brought a sheet to sit on.”
“Great. I’ll be out in a second. Give me a minute to put away what I was working on.” She rushed back and propped the board against the wall in her bedroom and tucked everything else back in the craft box.
She ran outside to catch up with Zan and Adam, who were already spreading out the sheet.
Zan opened her lunch box. “This is how big kids take lunch to school.”
Of course it is.Merry Anna could still remember her first lunch box. It was pink with little yellow daisies all over it.
“I’m going to make lots of friends in school.”
“I bet you will,” Merry Anna said, then noticed Adam open a container. “Oh my gosh. You made fried chicken, Adam?”
He grinned. “Fourth of July food. We’ve got fried chicken, potato salad, watermelon chunks, and cake.”
“I helped make the fried chicken. I put the pieces in the milk and flour. It was a mess.” Zan spread her fingers wide and made a face.
“It truly was the messiest batch I’ve ever made.” Adam pressed the tip of his finger to Zan’s nose. “But we cleaned it up together too.”
A yellow butterfly flew across the picnic. Zan seemed mesmerized by it, staring and smiling as it looped up and away.
After the picnic, the three of them rode in Adam’s truck and parked near where the fireworks would be later that night. With Zan between them, they walked down Main Street, through all the vendor tents. There were crafters, food tents, and activities.
“Look!” Zan turned to Merry Anna. “They are doing face paint. Can we?” Her eyes were filled with hope.
The next thing Merry Anna knew, she and Zan were both getting butterflies painted on their cheeks.
It was a full day, and by the time they sat down on Mill Hill to watch the fireworks, Zan was losing energy fast. She fell asleep, and even through the explosions and whistles right above them and the oohs and aahs, she never moved. Adam carried her, and Merry Anna toted the blanket and all their purchases back to the truck.
“Thanks for coming,” he said. “That was a good day.”
“It was a blast. Get it?” she teased. It was a bad joke, but shecouldn’t resist. She’d found lately that she liked being a little silly.
Adam pulled in front of her house. “I don’t remember that light being on when we left.”
“I probably left it on. I do that all the time.”
“Oh no, you’re one of those?” he moaned.
“What? Wait.” She pointed her chin toward him. “You’re the light-and-thermostat police! My dad was like that growing up. Drove me nuts. So I guess that’s that.”
“That’s what?” he asked.
“We could never be a couple. I am constantly leaving lights on. All the time.”
He shrugged. “Oh yeah, that would never work. Total deal breaker.”
“Impossible situation.” The playful banter between them seemed so natural. She grabbed her things, including an insulated shopping bag with two Moravian chicken pies she’d bought at a vendor earlier, which were just bake-and-eat. Evenshecouldn’t mess that up, hopefully.
