Chapter 42 Elizabeth
ELIZABETH
@pancakesareelite:
So you have game night every week?
@theanswerisno:
I sometimes skip them
@pancakesareelite:
And you play board games together?
@theanswerisno:
Yep
@pancakesareelite:
Sounds like a dream come true
@theanswerisno:
Well, it’s kinda like what we do
@pancakesareelite:
And that sometimes feels
like a dream come true too
I wasn’t sure if I’d misheard her, but @theresarose seemed to be asking me if I’d like to be on her guest list for the San Diego Comic-Con. As if we were friends. As if we hadn’t only just met.
“I’ve never been either,” I admitted, relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one in this little group. “Isn’t it impossible to get tickets?”
“Not when you’re engaged to Thunderstruck’s favorite employee.
” Rose threw William a loving smile. She then turned to me.
“My mission in life is to get everyone to go to Comic-Con, at least once. Come over to the dark side.” She curled her hand toward herself and then reached to her left and swiped something from her bag before offering it to me. “We have cookies!”
I burst into a fit of giggles and took the offered cookie. “If you really don’t mind, and if it isn’t costing you or taking up someone else’s spot, then yes, I’d love that.”
She waved a hand. “No, not at all. The more the merrier.” She slid her phone across the floor to me. “Give me your number and email address, and I’ll send you the comp tickets.” She looked around at everyone. “There’s only one catch.” She paused for effect. “You’ll have to cosplay!”
“Nope,” Claire said. “You know I don’t cosplay.”
Rose laughed, seemingly unaffected with how unimpressed Claire was. “Meh, worth a try.”
Claire’s tense shoulders softened. She scooched over and gave Rose a little pinch. “What are you going as?”
“A hobbit, for old time’s sake.”
“Aw,” Claire said, her lips pouting. “And you’re…?”
William nodded even though she hadn’t finished her question. I was so confused.
“My Gandalf,” Rose said, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I pictured a hobbit and Gandalf looking at each other the way these two did.
“Will it be the first time you’re both in costume since you met?” Claire asked.
They nodded.
“Ah, my heart.” Claire clasped her hands at her chest. “Your love story is one of my favorites.”
I wanted to ask what it was, but these weren’t my friends and their lives were none of my business.
Taking me by surprise, Lincoln leaned in and whispered, “Rose and William met at Comic-Con while she was dressed as an unnamed hobbit and he was dressed as a suave Gandalf. Years later, they met again and didn’t recognize each other.
It’s kinda like they were meant to be. Like they’d always find each other. One way or another.”
His soft and pained gaze dragged up until it met mine, stopping my heart.
“Can we count on you all being there?” William asked, pulling Rose onto his lap as though she were a rag doll.
They nodded. I didn’t. It depended on whether Lincoln was okay with having me around. I’d already gate-crashed his office, his cabin, and now his game night. I didn’t want to overstep. Again.
Dixit began, and while I’d played it online, the real-life game experience was so much warmer. Perhaps it was the crowd, but I found myself laughing. Actually laughing. At one stage, I’d snorted my coffee and nearly spat it everywhere. Very graceful.
At the end of the game, Claire won but no one was upset about losing.
“Before we start the next round,” Dean said, standing, “I brought dessert. I’ll heat it.”
“I’ll make more coffee.” Lincoln joined him in the kitchen.
“How are we going to divide the teams?” Rose packed away Dixit and set up the Pictionary. She rolled out sheets of construction drawings, face down, and then looked up to grin at me. “I get Lincoln to give me all his outdated drawings to play on.”
A smile spread across my face, matching hers. It was so easy being around her.
“I love Rose more than anything in the world, but she’s so bad at this. Please don’t let me be paired with her,” William said.
Even though this had us in stitches. I was nervous about being paired up with Lincoln.
“Claire and I are both awful at this, so it won’t be fair if we’re on a team,” Rose said, and turned to me. “Are you good at drawing?”
“Let’s make it fair,” William said before I could answer. He tore off a few pieces of paper and scribbled everyone’s names on them. He crumpled them up and shook them around in his large hands. I thought Lincoln was tall, but William was something else.
He walked over to Rose. “My love, you first.” She pulled a face and picked out one of the folded names. She unwrapped it and looked at me without any apprehension. “Elizabeth.” Then she opened a second piece of paper. “And Claire!”
“Excellent,” William said. “This’ll be easy.”
“What did we miss?” Dean asked, returning with freshly heated brownies and a tub of ice cream. Lincoln carried a tray of coffees.
“You’re both teamed up with William for Pictionary,” Claire said, and the two men looked at each other and smiled.
Rose scooted up next to me, and we leaned over the big sheet of paper. “Okay, as you heard, I’m not good at sketching… but it was William’s turn to pick a game, and he picked this evil game. Do any of you want to go first?”
Claire and I shook our heads.
“Fine,” Rose said. “I’ll go first.”
When the game finally started, Rose scribbled on her side of the paper, and hand on my heart, I had no idea what she was meant to be drawing.
“Chicken!” Claire yelled.
Rose shook her head, and William leaned over with a snicker. He wasn’t even focusing on whatever Dean was drawing.
“Squirrel!” Lincoln said in that deep, wonderful voice of his.
“Yes,” Dean replied. A point to the boys, then.
I scrutinized Rose’s squirrel. She really wasn’t good at this. She huffed and handed the marker to Claire.
Surprisingly, I deciphered Claire’s “leak” before the boys got their answer. She nodded at me, which seemed a lot better than the scathing looks I’d endured pregame. At one stage, I even made her giggle.
When it was my turn, my heart raced. I picked my clue. Subway.
A train! I could draw a train. When the timer turned, I started sketching, and Rose and Claire guessed pretty much anything but a train.
“Sausage!” Rose yelled.
“Sausage dog!” Claire said.
I growled, adding windows.
The timer ran out, and Lincoln laughed. I looked up, and our eyes locked for a second. “Subway,” he said quietly. “I’m well-trained in reading Elizabeth’s drawings.”
“You would have drawn a sandwich,” I said, savoring the few seconds that felt familiar with him.
That lopsided smile came out, and my insides melted. It was like seeing it for the first time. He nodded. “I would have.”
The game raced on, and even with our indecipherable drawings, we managed to win. The losers were sent off to the kitchen for another round of hot beverages.
After they returned, Rose curled into William’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her. “Even when I lose, I still win.”
“We better get going,” Dean announced after everyone finished their drinks. “We have to be up early tomorrow morning to get back to the kid.”
Rose stood and gave Lincoln a tight squeeze. To my surprise, she gave me one too.
It had been a while since I was hugged so fully and genuinely by someone. I squeezed my arms around her and wished I could bottle this moment. Tonight was the most fun I’d had in years.
“It was nice meeting you.” Being hobbit-sized, Rose craned her neck and beamed up at me. “Tonight was so much fun. I can’t wait to see you again.”
Again. As though we were friends. Maybe one day we could be.