Chapter 11 #3
Once we’re outside, he drops my arm. I miss his touch instantly. Which is TERRIBLE. I move a few inches away from him on the sidewalk just to remind myself that we are not a couple.
He looks down at my feet. “You probably won’t last long wearing new boots, so don’t be a martyr. They need to be broken in before you’ll get through a day wearing them.”
“If I can wear heels for nine hours at work, I don’t foresee any problem wearing these for half a day.”
“We’ll see.”
I want to wipe the smirk off his lips. Preferably with my own. For someone who is not a casual kisser, it’s a surprising thought. Also, absolutely infuriating. I look away and hope he doesn’t notice my cheeks heating. It’s absurd to feel this way about someone seven years younger than I am.
For lunch we stop at a taco booth from a restaurant that’s in town. I whip out my credit card so fast, Drew doesn’t have a chance to reach for his wallet. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, the cashier says, “Drew did some work for us last week. It’s all paid for.”
When I turn my head and glare at him, he is unrepentant. For dessert we share a caramel apple and once again I’m not allowed to pay. That’s when I decide to give up. He’s having fun treating me to everything, so I let it go. I’ll get him back somehow in the future.
“How are your feet doing?” he asks as we walk to the corn maze, a street over from the fairgrounds. Coming from the city, it’s mind blowing that everything here is within walking distance.
My feet are aching a little, but nothing I can’t ignore for the sake of looking cool.
“They’re good!”
He gives me a knowing side eye.
I’ll prove him wrong.
When we reach the corn maze, we’re waved through without stopping at the booth to pay like everyone else.
A few steps in, we’re surrounded by tall cornstalks.
They sway in the breeze, making a rough crinkling sound.
I remember twenty years ago when I was last in one of these.
We were lost for hours in the dark. It’s broad daylight now, but I don’t like the idea of a repeat.
“I’ve never been good at mazes,” I say. “What if we get lost? Do they send someone in to find the stragglers at the end of the night?”
“No. It’s like throwing a shoe into a tree to get the ball that’s stuck in the branches. You still don’t have a ball and you’ve lost your shoe. It’s better just to cut their losses.”
I push his arm. “I’m serious. What if we miss the Beatles tribute band because we’re lost in here?”
“The sound will carry. We’re not that far away.”
“Drew!” I laugh, but I might sound a little hysterical.
He chuckles. “I’ll get us out. I am good at these. We can wander for a while, and if we don't find the exit, I have a few tricks to try.”
So we wander for a while as children run past us from both directions.
Our feet crunch on the broken cornstalks along the path.
He tells me stories of growing up in Blissful.
My desire to never leave grows stronger with every step.
Blissful, not the maze. I would actually like to escape the stalks eventually.
Bookstore. Bookstore. Bookstore. The one word is a constant thrum inside my head. The longer it repeats, the harder it is to resist the pull. It could be a horrible mistake to buy a bookstore and move to a new town. It could also be the best decision I ever make.
I ignore my achy feet for as long as I can, but when I reach my threshold of pain, I tell Drew that I’m ready to get out of here. I’ve been limping for a while. His smirk is communicating I told you so without him having to say a word. He has no right to look so handsome when being proven right.
Within five minutes we’re free.
I stand at the opening and look around. “How did you do that? I could have sworn we were in the middle of the maze.”
He huffs on his nails and rubs them along his plaid shirt. “I’m just that good.”
I push his arm and he stumbles back a step, laughing.
We grab pizza from a food truck for dinner. This must be someone from outside of Blissful because Drew pays with a card and not labor.
As soon as we’re back to the blankets, I yank off the boots. My feet feel instantly better. Drew was right and we both know it. He was also right about my earlier purchases still being here, untouched. Just one more thing to love about Blissful.
Lauren and her family arrive soon after we do with their own dinner.
Then Diane and Roger. Lauren is just as forthright and funny as she was at the engagement party, much to Drew’s chagrin, and I’m almost disappointed when the band takes the stage, and we have to stop talking.
Brody puts the cutest little noise cancelling headphones over Benji’s ears.
I know the Beatles' music, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a video of them performing.
From the cheers of the crowd, the tribute band must be doing a credible impersonation.
They sound like the originals. Half way through, it turns into a community sing-along.
With their final encore, they bow and leave the stage.
I have never cheered so loudly after a concert before, and the only reason I am now, is because I’m trying to out yell Drew and Brody.
By the time the clapping dies down, my throat is raw.
The first boom of a firework makes me jump. Then the sky behind the stage lights up. We lay back on the blanket and watch the colors flash into existence before extinguishing.
“Worth the trip?” Drew asks from beside me, close to my ear.
I turn my head to look at him. His face is inches away. Close enough to kiss. A flash of a firework lights his face.
“Yes.”
It takes me an exorbitant amount of time to look away from him and back at the sky.
I don’t want to go home. Ever. I’m being irrational.
Today isn’t every day in Blissful. I’m sure most of the time one day feels like the day before.
Monotonous. Commonplace. Yet no matter how hard I try to downplay my ridiculous desire to never go back to Tucson, I can’t brush away the yearning I feel to live here.
It doesn’t matter that my family and my job and my whole life is in Tucson. This is where I want to stay.
With the last, colorful burst of light in the sky, the crowd slowly stands and begins gathering their things. I lay where I am, unwilling to end the day quite yet.
Drew lies still beside me. “I have one more stop. A chance to gaze up at the billions of stars. Are you up for it?”
Anything to put off leaving. “Definitely.”
Once my sneakers are on, Drew grabs his cowboy hat from the blanket and plops it back onto his head. I say goodbye to his family. Lauren and Diane give the best hugs. I kiss Benji’s chubby cheeks.
Roger takes the blankets. Drew carries my bags. I have my boots. While everyone else heads towards the parking lot, Drew and I walk in the opposite direction. It grows darker the further we get from the scattered street lights.
I’m happy, so I twirl in a circle, my arms out with a boot in each hand. If I were with anyone else, I’d feel foolish. When I slow, Drew’s standing nearby, grinning. More than my wish to stay in Blissful forever, I wish I could spend every day with him.