Hailey scrunched up her nose. "It smells more like fish to me."
I laughed. "You know what? I have an idea. Come with me." I grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward the parking lot.
"Where are we going?" she asked as we walked past the car.
"I was hoping we'd wind up at Venice Beach. I was doing some research the other day about things to see here."
"And..." her voice trailed off as we sidestepped a skateboarder.
"And you'll see in a minute." We walked down the street and I pulled her off the sidewalk behind a building.
"Are you finally going to live up to the hitchhiking stereotypes and murder me?" Her fingers tightened around me, contradicting her words.
"Eh, not today. Wait," I said and turned her around to face me. "Close your eyes."
"Tyler, I don't think..."
"Just do it, Hails."
She pressed her lips together and shook her head at me. But after a brief stare-down she slowly closed her eyes.
"No peeking," I said as I grabbed her hand and led her past the building.
"Now I really am worried..."
I would have been in awe of what was in front of me if I wasn't completely in awe of Hailey. I stopped, grabbed her shoulders, and turned her toward the canals. "Okay...open your eyes."
"Oh my God." She seemed completely transfixed as she walked onto the small bridge. "What is this place?"
"The Venice canals. They made them to look like Venice, Italy." I joined her on the little bridge. She was looking out at the water, where more little bridges could be seen in the distance. Colorful houses were on either side of the canal. It was almost like we had stepped into a different world. And maybe time did stop for a minute, because the smile on Hailey's face would last a lifetime in my mind.
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Her smile grew even wider.
I wrapped my arms around her. "Better than the Grand Canyon?"
"Absolutely."
"Better than the ocean?"
She nodded.
"Better than that speck you thought was a buffalo?"
She lightly slapped my arm. "I did see a buffalo. I swear. But yeah...this is better." She smiled up at me. "Seriously, I could stay here. In one of these houses."
"What about the fishy smell?"
"You can't smell it over here. Besides, I'm already used to it. Really, this is amazing." She leaned forward on the railing of the bridge. "There's even little fish in the water!"
I looked down at the orange fish swimming.
"I want to stop time," she said softly as she placed her hand on top of mine on the railing.
I looked down at her. She looked wistful. And beautiful. God, she was so damn beautiful. But time couldn't stop. She needed to go home. Maybe she did have four months, but now there was this sense of urgency. I had this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Hails, let me drive you to the airport."
She laughed as she looked up at me. "You're really trying to get rid of me, aren't you?"
"It's not that, I..." I let my voice trail off. Why was I holding back? I had already confessed my feelings to her. She was still standing here. And she hadn't run off when she found out about Penny or the investigation. She was invested in us too. This wouldn't scare her off either. But I hated talking about it. I hated reliving it.
