“I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too.” As they kissed, Cameron savored the feel of Melanie’s body pressed against hers. “Did you have a good day?”
“I did. I got the kids off to school, then went home and took a run with Lucy. Ran some errands and got groceries for us so the fridge is stocked, at least until Jonah gets home.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But I wanted to.”
“You’re the best, and I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Melanie playfully squeezed Cameron’s behind. “Now, are you going to tell me what we’re doing tonight?”
“You’ll see. Come on.”
After opening the door for Melanie, Cameron hurried around to the driver’s seat as they headed off on their adventure. Cameron knew Melanie had been where they were going before, but they’d always gone previously with kids. She also knew Melanie would love the activity they were going to do because it allowed her to be competitive. Melanie hadn’t become the most requested nurse on the labor and delivery floor for no reason.
“Are we going where I think we’re going?” Melanie excitedly asked as Cameron turned down a road that led to the outskirts of town.
“Perhaps.”
“Yes!” Pumping her fists in the air, Melanie giggled with joy. “Oh, my goodness, I’m so excited. I haven’t been here in forever!”
“I thought you’d love it.”
“You know me so well.”
“Yeah, I do,” Cameron smirked at her as she pulled into the parking lot.
Jurassic Adventures was a locally owned mini golf course that also had laser tag, a go-kart track, and an arcade. The entire place was dotted with oversized dinosaur figures to keep the loose theme of the place going. Over the years, the colors on the dinosaurs and the red barn the arcade and laser tag were in had faded. But the fun they had there never faded.
Cameron’s kids loved it growing up. Many birthday parties for Jonah and Dylan and the Mackenzie kids were held there. Due tothe Maine weather, they only opened seasonally and were often busy during the warmer months. She was thankful that there weren’t too many cars in the parking lot for a weeknight.
Hand in hand, they headed into the converted red barn to purchase their tickets. Cameron bought them the unlimited pass which allowed them to do anything at Jurassic Adventures. They started with go karts before a round of laser tag. Melanie won at both, not that Cameron was surprised. Her only chance at redemption would be at mini golf. She’d been on the golf team in high school and played occasionally still.
“You do know this isn’t actual golf, right?” Melanie was leaning up against a wooden fence that separated two of the putting greens. She had a bottle of beer in her hand as Cameron’s drink sat beside her foot on the ground. “You don’t have to take six years to line up your putt.”
“I could get done a lot faster if you keep quiet.”
“So hostile.”
Cameron resisted the urge to laugh as she focused on the fluorescent orange golf ball in front of her. She loosened her hips, put the club in position, and hit the ball. Apparentlytoohard because it bounced off a rock and came ricocheting back at her.
“Dammit.”
“Don’t worry. You’re only losing by like ten points now instead of twelve since you got me this drink.”
“Ha ha,” Cameron stuck her tongue out at her as they laughed. “Let me get you on arealgolf course and I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“Nah, I prefer my golfing experience to be surrounded by fake dinosaurs and annoyingly loud background music.”
“Yeah, what is up with that?”
“I dunno.” Taking another sip of her beer, Melanie sat the bottle down by Cameron’s as she stepped up to take a shot.
Cameron hated to admit it, but a tipsy Melanie was still better at mini golf than she was. Melanie got the ball into the cup in only two shots while it took Cameron four. The rest of the game went a similar way, with Melanie winning by the end of it.
Looping her arm around Cameron’s, Melanie leaned her head onto her shoulder as they returned their putters to the makeshift clubhouse at the end of the course.
