Page 77 of The Surprise
Judging by her eye roll, she thinks it’s overkill.
“Okay, so here’s how it will go.”
“Ethan.” She doesn’t even say my full name, but I swear, with the emphasis she puts on it, Izzy thinks she’s as scary as Mom.
“Just one more time,” I say. “I want to make sure I didn’t forget anything.”
“You didn’t forget a single thing, I promise.”
“So I ask her to meet me at the grove.”
“You mean that bench near those three trees at Steve’s?” Izzy was unimpressed when she saw our meeting spot.
“We call it the grove.”
“I can’t call it that just because you two are stupid.” She folds her arms. “You call her over there. You tell her that you really value your friendship, but that you never stopped caring about her.” She pulls the flower bouquet out of the vase and clutches it to her chest. “You give her flowers and then you tell her ‘no harm no foul’ or some other dumb cliche about the ranch, because, well, we still own it. And then you kiss her.” She makes a gagging sound. “And then bam. You’re planning your summer wedding.”
“I’m not proposing,” I say. “Geez.”
Izzy drops the flowers back into the water. “Right? So why are you obsessing so much?”
I sigh. “I don’t know.”
Izzy punches my shoulder. “She either likes you still or she doesn’t, and after tonight, you’ll finally know. No more faking or stressing or obsessing.”
I think that’s the part I’m most excited about. Instead of buzzing around Beth, always giving her my ‘hey buddy’ smile, I can finally look at her the way I want to. Touch her the way I want to. Call her my girlfriend. Heck, I’ll be able to call and text her without worrying what she’ll think. Because she’ll know the truth about how I feel.
A slow smile spreads across my face. “Okay. You’re right. Thanks.” I throw two thumbs up and smile.
“You’re kinda dorky,” Izzy says. “Let’s hope Beth hasn’t noticed.” She jogs out the door and back to Maren. I’m not sure why they’re getting along so well right now, but I guess it’s probably good.
I do think about what she said, though. Is it just Maren rubbing off on her, or is she right? Am I dorky? I used to be reasonably cool, other than the no drinking, no swearing, no drugs thing, but I had friends. People liked me. Now that I’m here, shoveling actual poop and fixing fences. . .am I kind of a loser?
I text Beth before I have time to fret about it too much. My mom’s out of town, and while she’s supportive, I’m still nervous to start things up with Beth again under her very watchful eye. I don’t wait very long before my phone buzzes and Beth says, SURE, SEE YOU AT SIX.
When I race out to the barn to finish up my chores, Kevin’s out there, getting the new supplies unspooled so we can use them to fix the fence tomorrow. “Here, I can help,” I say.
“Oh, great.”
Kevin’s awesome to work with. He’s patient, he’s great with farm and ranch stuff, and he never gets angry about anything, really. But he and Jeff are brothers and they kind of do everything together, so we haven’t really hung out a bunch.
Then again, it’s not like I’ve ever asked him to do anything.
Maybe I should have.
“Hey,” I say. “What do you think about Beth Ellingson?”
Kevin pauses. “What do you mean?”
“I might like her,” I say. “But I’m a little nervous to tell her that.”
A slow smile rolls over Kevin’s face, totally transforming it. “Really? That’s great. I’m sure she likes you, too.”
“You are?” I can feel my heart swell a little. “Why do you think so?”
Kevin shrugs. “I seen her smile at you a few times.”
Hope deflates. “Do you date a lot, Kevin?”
