22. Will
CHAPTER 22
WILL
SEVEN SUMMERS AGO
G od, this feels like a bad idea.
It’s after eleven and I’m sitting halfway down the driveway to Hannah’s house, waiting for her to sneak out and meet me. Tomorrow is her twenty-first birthday, and when I’d told her I wanted to start the day with her, she’d immediately suggested a late-night date by the creek.
Part of me feels ridiculous, acting like a couple of high schoolers when I’m about to start my senior year of college, but I have to admit that there’s something a little exciting about sneaking around with her. In reality, I know her gramps really wouldn’t care, but telling him we were spending time outside of work would also come with more questions. Plus, he’s technically my boss for the summer, so I can’t help feeling like we might be playing with fire.
But, judging by the fact that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Hannah since I started, I don’t think I really care if I get burned. Something about these last few days have been a special type of torture. If I’m really honest, I have to admit that I’m falling fast for this girl, and I don’t know what to do about it. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to know about her. Not to mention the fact that she’s hot as hell and the way she’s kissed me has had all sorts of fantasies running through my head.
Before I can let that train of thought go for too long, I see Hannah running toward my truck in the moonlight, and I can’t help but smile when she jumps in the truck and immediately leans over to plant a quick kiss on my mouth.
“Hey, birthday girl,” I tell her, smiling as I reach out to pull her to me, wanting another taste of her, but she pulls back and winks in my direction.
“Uh-uh. Not too fast. If we start all that up here, I won’t want to stop. Let’s get down to the creek, then we’ll see about another kiss,” she teases, before leaning over and dropping another peck on my cheek.
I let out a groan before turning on the truck, leaving the headlights off as I turn off the drive and cut through one of the pastures to avoid getting too close to the house. We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes as we bump through the fields until I can’t stand it. Keeping my eyes on the field, I reach out and pull her across the front seat of my ancient crew cab Ford. She slides across eagerly, sliding herself under my arm and leaning against me as I drive.
“So, where’d you tell your mom you were off to?” she asks, sliding her hand across my lap to pull herself closer to me.
“Just told her I was going to see some friends. Honestly, with all four of my siblings, she’s got her hands full,” I tell her, slowing as I pull through the opening of the trees to get to the pond.
“I bet. How are your siblings? Gosh, I bet they’re so old now.”
“Yeah, it still catches me off guard sometimes. They’re good. Ollie’s getting ready for his senior year, and then Andrew and Luke are starting their sophomore year, and Kit’s about to be in the ninth grade.”
“That’s wild. I know they’re happy to have you home for the summer,” she says, and I nod.
“I guess so. You know the middle three are typical teenagers so I don’t know that they’re happy about much of anything, but I’ve enjoyed it. We’ve tried to do dinner all together at least once a week despite everyone having an incredibly busy schedule, and I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. At least Kit’s always excited to see me.”
“I remember when she used to dress up in a little Springside cheerleading outfit and cheer with us at the games. She is so precious,” Hannah says, and I laugh at the memory.
“God, I remember that. Mom used to have to bribe her to take the stupid thing off long enough to wash the grass stains out.”
We both laugh at that as I pull up at the creek and back my truck in so we can sit on the tailgate and look out at the water. As soon as I’m parked, Hannah’s jumping out of the truck and kicking off her shoes to dip her feet in the dark water.
“Damn, Han. You know there could be snakes in there right?” I ask, shaking my head and grabbing the blankets, and a few things I brought to surprise her.
“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a grandpa,” she teases, splashing some water in the direction of the truck.
The moon is full in the sky above us, and the way it casts a glow on the water and the woman in front of me is probably my new favorite sight. She continues splashing in the water and humming to herself as I set the blankets across the tailgate and pull out the birthday cake I got from the Piggly Wiggly to surprise her with and the bottle of champagne I grabbed to pair with it.
After a few minutes, Hannah looks up and must notice that I’m up to something because she starts to make her way over, asking, “What are you up to over here? Don’t tell me you–”
Whatever teasing retort she was about to make immediately dies on her lips, and her mouth opens as she looks at everything that’s spread in front of us.
“Oh my God, Will! What the hell is all of this?” she asks, and I smile at the surprised tone of her voice.
“I wanted to surprise you. It’s not every day that you turn twenty-one,” I tell her, and I look over at her, expecting her to tease me about this being cheesy or lame. But instead, I’m caught off guard when I see tears filling her eyes.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s the matter, Han? Did I do something wrong?” I ask, immediately regretting this whole thing. I should’ve known was probably a stupid fucking idea.
“Wrong?” Hannah asks, letting out a watery laugh. “Are you kidding? This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me!”
I look down at the cake and wine in front of her and the two small presents I have set off to the side and shake my head. “You don’t have to try to make me feel better, Hannah. I didn’t mean to—” I start, trying to figure out what to say when she runs at me, throwing her entire body into me, and I stop talking, just pulling her to me.
“The last three years that I lived with my parents, they didn’t even remember my birthday. There were no presents, no cards, no cake, and definitely no party like the rest of my friends. And then when I moved in with Gramps, he and my MiMi would always make sure I had something I liked for dinner and they’d put a little bit of money away for my college fund. But never anything like this,” she says, waving at the setup in front of us.
I sit there for a moment, not sure what to say before she leans back and kisses me hard. “Thank you, Will. Seriously, this is so special.”
“You’re welcome,” I tell her, still trying to get over my surprise. Our birthday celebrations definitely got a lot smaller after Dad left and Mom had to save every penny she could, but she’s always gone out of the way to make the day special for my siblings and me. “So, you want cake or presents first?”
“Presents?” she asks, looking around the tailgate until her eyes land on the boxes I attempted to wrap at home earlier. “You didn’t have to get me anything, Will. But I do love the Christmas paper.”
“Hey now, that’s all I could find at home okay?” I say with a laugh.
“It’s perfect. And where on earth did you find a cake?” she asks, already reaching across the bed of the truck for the presents.
“The Pig. I didn’t have them put your name on it because I knew that’d definitely start the rumor mill, but I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you certainly accomplished that,” she says, holding up one of the boxes. “So, can I open this one?”
“Go ahead,” I tell her, sitting beside her and leaning against the side of the truck and smiling as she tears into the box like a kid on Christmas morning.
She laughs as she pulls out a pair of cheap, plastic champagne flutes that say “Pop the bubbles, it’s my birthday” on them I found while I was picking up the cake. “For your first legal drink,” I tell her, grabbing the bottle of champagne I brought and popping the top to pour us each a glass.
“Okay, wait, forget the cake. Where the hell did you find champagne in Springside?” she asks, reaching out and taking the glass from me.
“Surprisingly, also at the Pig. But honestly, it was on sale for four dollars a bottle, so my hopes aren’t super high,” I tell her sheepishly, and we both laugh at that.
We both take a sip, and wince. “Shit, that stuff’s terrible,” I say, sputtering at the taste.
Hannah laughs harder at that. “It’s not that bad. Definitely better than the cheap liquor from the frat parties. Plus, it’s the thought that counts.”
“Okay, whatever you say,” I say, sitting my flute to the side and grabbing the other present. “Go ahead and open this one.”
She takes it from me, and tears into it much like she did the other present. She’s grinning as she tears into it, but as soon as she opens the small black box, her eyes widen and she looks up at me, “Will, what the hell is this?”
She pulls out the silver necklace with the small ruby pendant I picked out from the jewelry store in Saddle Ridge and just stares between me and the necklace.
“The guy said a ruby is your birthstone, and I just thought you’d like it,” I tell her, suddenly feeling vulnerable at the way she’s not saying anything.
“Will, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she says, and my stomach sinks as I see tears in her eyes again. “But it’s way too much.”
“Well, too bad. I wanted to surprise you, so you’re just gonna have to deal,” I tell her, trying to cheer her up.
She opens her mouth to protest again, but I pull her to me and silence her with another kiss. “So, I think it’s about time for some birthday cake?”
She rolls her eyes at my clear attempt to change the subject and just nods before saying softly, “Thank you, Will. You seriously don’t know how much this means to me.”
I kiss the top of her head softly and murmur, “Of course. I just wanted to make you smile. Happy birthday, Han.”
And as she kisses me back, I realize there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for this girl.