Chapter 34 What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World
Connor
“Yeah, I did go to therapy.” I sit up straighter in my seat and grip the wheel a little tighter with my left hand.
My right is still blissfully intertwined with Maisie’s.
It was instinct to make contact with her.
As easy as breathing. I don’t want her to ever pull away.
“Donny—my therapist—and I have been working on lots of stuff. I’m actually—” I pause even though I know I have nothing to fear where Maisie is concerned.
She will support me in this, I know it. “—going to keep going on a weekly basis.”
I squint and peek at her out of the corner of my eye, but Maize just smiles and her eyes melt into gentle green pools of kindness, her shoulders dropping.
“I think that’s great, Connor.”
“You do?” I sound like an insecure fool, but I can’t help it. I need the validation right now.
“Of course I do,” she says, shifting so her knees are tucked under her and to the side. She keeps one hand interlocked with mine, but uses the other to squeeze up my arm as if reiterating her point with each movement.
Shivers run down my spine. We weren’t strangers to a small degree of friendly physical contact before—but this feels different. Intentional.
Her hands are wisps of things, but boy do they have grip. Her ministrations soothe aches in my muscles, and an embarrassing groan sneaks out of me. Her cheeks redden, but she must take it as a sign of approval, because she moves up to my trap and neck. She’s so close to me now.
“I think you deserve someone who listens to you and is trained to help you work through all the complicated emotions that come with life. I’m happy you’re going. I’m proud of you. And I hope you’re proud of yourself too,” she whispers close to my ear as she continues massaging my neck.
This is getting distracting, which is not what I need while operating a vehicle moving at sixty miles per hour.
“Maize,” I say.
“Hmmm,” she hums back.
“You gotta stop, or I’m gonna steer us right into one of the highway dividers.”
Her laugh jingles through our small shared space, but she sinks back into her seat and adjusts her feet forward again. Our hands, however, remain connected. I’m glad but also scared of the hope it gives me. She could just mean it as a friendly gesture. Friends hold hands sometimes.
My mind feels like the spinner in Twister—a game my brothers and I played incessantly as kids. Which color will it land on? Friendship blue or Potential Romantic Love red? Or will we get twisted up somewhere in between, like green?
She’s back to swiping through her phone, trying to DJ our next song.
“Any preference on the music?” she asks. “I guess I didn’t even ask when we started this road trip.”
Her smile twists at the corners like that was absolutely on purpose, but she’s throwing me a bone by letting me pick the next song.
“How about some—” I’m about to request some Louis Armstrong when her phone starts buzzing in her hand.
“It’s my dad,” she says, and I hear her concern.
“Answer it,” I say as nonchalantly as I can, but I also wonder why he would be calling when we’re only a little over two hours into the drive.
“Hello?” she picks up, folding forward to rest an elbow on her knee. I can’t hear everything, but I catch the word “snow.” Her leg is bouncing, and I guide our joined hands over it, hoping the weight will calm her.
“How bad?” she asks, biting at the same cuticle she always does. “Okay, will do.” Her head drops back against the headrest. “Love you too, bye.”
“What is it?” I ask. My gaze darts between her and the road. Everything in me screams to comfort the wonderful but worried woman sitting beside me.
“They said there is a huge blizzard coming their way, and it’s supposed to stretch across where we would pass through in West Virginia.” She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “They want us to find a place to stay the night. They said they’d pay for it.”
I know I should sound disappointed, and it looks like the unexpected situation is making Maize nervous—which I don’t like—but I can’t help but be a little excited at the prospect of staying somewhere overnight together.
Even if we’re in separate rooms and nothing happens, maybe we’ll get in our pajamas and crawl into bed to watch a movie.
Maybe she’ll get so cozy, she doesn’t want to go back to her own room.
It’s a chance to be away from school, in a new place, just the two of us. Anything could happen.
“It’s gonna be okay, Maize.” I shake off my excitement to make comforting her my first priority.
“There’s a rest stop not too far ahead. Let’s stop there and look up hotels an hour closer to home.
That way, we can still get a little more driving in, and we’ll be closer when the snow clears. Sound good?”
Her eyes are dim, missing their usual sparkle, but she nods.
“Good. Now, put on some Louis Armstrong for me. This old-people-music lover needs a fix.” I wiggle my eyebrows like a dork, hoping to make her smile. The corner of her mouth tips, which has me internally jumping for joy.
She plugs her phone back in and tilts her head in my direction. “‘What a Wonderful World’?”
“That’s the one, Betty.” I squeeze her hand again, and it stops shaking. “That’s the one. What a wonderful world.”