Page 41 of Summer Romance
“To Devon?”
“Yes, full change of scenery. I’ll pick you up at 10:05.”
23
Ethan pulls into my driveway just as Pete and the kids are disappearing around the corner. I’m standing outside because I was watching them go. It was so strange to help them pack and watch them load overnight bags into Pete’s car. I can’t think of the last time I was away from my kids for twenty-four hours.
“You ready for a road trip?” he asks. There’s a nervous air about him, like if he were standing up he’d have his hands in his pockets and be studying his shoes. I want us to be like we were on Pelican Island, where he was looking right into my eyes. I want him to touch my hair.
“I am,” I say. Ferris hops into the backseat with Brenda.
We head out of Beechwood onto the highway, and we’re quiet as we drive north. We both relax, and the silence feels as easy as our conversations do. The trees on either side of us are a deep summer green, and I feel like I’m moving through a tunnel, like a straight shot out of my life. It’s strange to have a whole day without drop-offs and pickupslooming. I check my phone to see if the girls have texted. They haven’t.
Ethan’s phone rings and he answers it on speaker. I feel like I’m invading his privacy somehow, so I turn my body toward the window.
“Hey,” he says.
“What time are you getting here? People are showing up and we want to start in an hour.” It’s a young guy.
“You’ve got to wait till I get there, probably around two thirty. Promise me you’ll wait. I really don’t want you guys shut down permanently.”
“Okay. Promise. Thanks.”
He hangs up. “So I thought we could stop for lunch just outside of Devon. Let the dogs out for a bit.”
“Is that okay? He sounded like he wanted us to hurry.”
“They can skate all afternoon. And it’s good for them to have to handle things and wait sometimes.”
“They really are like your kids,” I say.
He smiles. “I guess.”
“That’s absolutely exhausting,” I say. “Why would you take that on?”
“You’ll see,” he says.
We pull offthe highway into the dirt parking lot of a roadside café. There’s a wheat field out back that waves us in. I stay outside with the dogs while Ethan goes in to order our lunch.
We find two Adirondack chairs on the back deck and let our dogs off leash. I am tucking into a chicken saladsandwich and looking out onto the wheat field. Ethan’s looking at me like he’s going to say something. Then he’s looking at the fields. He turns his body toward me and shifts back straight ahead.
“What’s with you?” I say.
“I don’t know. I’m not so sure about this.”
“Your sandwich? Mine’s great.” I polish off the first half.
He shakes his head at me like I’m hopeless.
“You’re not sure about what?”
“I guess bringing you along. I kind of feel like you’re about to see me naked.”
I blush like I’m twelve years old. I feel it prickle on my cheeks.
“God, Ali, stop. I don’t mean actually naked. I know the rules.” He’s smiling now. “It’s just that you’re going to see my actual life, who I am. I don’t know what you’re going to think.”
When we’re offthe highway in Devon, we head through the city. Ethan points out the different neighborhoods, the building where he has an office. We pass his favorite hot dog stand, and the proprietor waves so enthusiastically that we stop.
