Page 115 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout
Beau smiled, reversing out of the driveway. “We had good times in that truck.”
There had been day trips, picnics in the truck bed by the lake, and drives to and from school. And kisses. Beau pressed his lips together.And a lot of blue balls.
Sienna was quiet beside him, and Beau peeked over, wondering if she might have fallen asleep.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
The light was limited in the car, and it was still dark out. But Beau could see that her gaze was distant as she looked straight ahead.
Beau bit his lip.We had one very bad time in that truck too,he realized, the memory making him feel sick. Sienna cleared her throat, and he gathered her hand, dropping them wound together in her lap. He didn’t want to think about the last time Sienna had been in his old truck, how the small space of it felt enormously empty after she slammed the car door and ran to her house.
Beau continued along the Pacific Coast Highway, trying to think of a better memory.
“Sky diving,” Sienna said, taking a sip of her milkshake.
Beau objected immediately with a hard shake of his head. “You’re nuts.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Don’t you remember how jumping out of a tree worked out for me? How do you think I’ll do jumping out of aplane?”
She giggled, putting her near-empty milkshake on the truck’s dash and climbing into Beau’s lap in the driver’s seat. He leaned back as much as he could. They were both tall—too tall—for Sienna to be straddling his legs without bumping her head. But they made it work.
Sienna pressed her lips to his, pulling back, her face shifting in thought as she glanced out the window at the meadow
“What?”
Her green eyes flickered. “Hot-air balloon ride.”
“We don’t have to jump out of it, right?” he joked.
“No,” Sienna said, leaning closer. Her breath, sweet from the milkshake, fanned across his face, and Beau licked his lips. “I just want to fly with you. Chase the sun until we bump into the moon.”
Beau’s nose grazed hers. “Wish list?”
“Wish list.”
“Beau.” Sienna pulled him from his thoughts. “Where are we going?”
Beau squeezed her hand. “Flying.”
* * *
Sienna had dozed off during the rest of the ride. “Hey, wake up.” Beau stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I don’t want you to miss this.”
The sky was still dark, but light began to peek through from the east of the canyon. Beau got out of the car, moving to open Sienna’s door. Taking her hand, he guided her through the relatively empty dirt lot, past a small building. But Sienna’s hand slipped from his when she stopped following.
Beau turned to face her, but Sienna didn’t look at him.
He glanced over his shoulder at the enormous hot-air balloon about fifty yards away—its hues of red, orange, pink, and purple—matching the sunrise they were about to chase.
“What do you think?” he asked. “No jumping out though.” Beau ran a hand through his own messy hair while Sienna remained quiet.Okay, too grand maybe.He sighed, toeing the dirt. “Sienna—”
“I think... ” Sienna began before pausing to swallow, “I think none of this is real. It can’t be possible that you makeeverythingbetter than the last.” She shook her head, her tongue coming out to wet her lips. “None of this is real, right?”
“Sienna—”
“No. I thought it was a fairy tale before. I thought we’d have that ending before. And... Beau, don’t do this to me if it’s all a dream.”
