“Absolutely. I’m sure it was. I see them all time.” I had seen three in the two years I had been up here, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
Instead, I took her hand and walked her to the truck. I opened the door to make up for the fact I’d honked the damn horn, and let her use my arm to heave herself up into the passenger seat.
I walked around the front of the truck and watched her lean over to open my door from the inside.
I fucking honked the horn for this woman.
“Now are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked.
“Not yet. It’s not that long of a drive and you’ll probably figure it out as we get closer.”
“Okay. I’ll wait. Although I hate waiting, truth be told. I remember when I was a little girl, my momma and my daddy made me wait every Christmas morning before I could leave my bedroom and open my presents. They had to turn the lights on the tree first or they thought it wouldn’t be special enough. But even without the lights, I’m sure I would have thought it was pretty darn special. I mean, who doesn’t like presents and Santa Claus and all that sparkling stuff?”
I didn’t say anything because the truth would have depressed her. Trees and lights and ornaments cost money my mother couldn’t spare. Presents were only ever things I needed: jeans, shoes, socks. Sometimes she would try to buy me a treat. A bag of candy, or a bucket of bubble gum. Only I never wanted it knowing what she did to earn it.
“You can guess,” I suggested, trying to change the subject.
“I’m not very good at guessing. My brothers always tell me to do that and I come up with some of the most outlandish guesses. Mostly I’m using my imagination, I suppose. Like maybe you’re taking me to see a crashed alien spaceship. Which would be really cool, by the way.”
I smiled. “I am not taking you to see a crashed alien ship.”
“That’s okay. I still like wherever you’re taking me.” She shifted in her seat and saw the blanket from yesterday in backseat. She snatched that and covered her legs with it.
“Do I need to turn the heat on a little higher?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not that cold. I like this type of fuzzy blanket. I like to rub it between my fingers. Go ahead and say it—what am I, six? I know it’s just a thing with me. I’m a very tactile person. Like right now, I want to rub my palm all over your scruffy jaw so I can feel how it scratches my palm.”
I rubbed my jaw and thought it felt like sandpaper. “Sorry. I didn’t have time this morning to shave. I didn’t get to sleep right away so I woke up later than I wanted to.”
“I don’t mind. I’m sorry you couldn’t sleep. Was your mind racing? My mind races and races all the time. So much it’s hard to stop it. There are nights I wish someone would just knock me out with a big hammer and be done with it, so I didn’t have to think anymore.”
I wasn’t paying attention because of what she said earlier. “You can if you want.”
“Can what?”
“Touch my face. Feel my scratchy jaw. It won’t bother me.”
I glanced over and saw her bite her bottom lip.
“I won’t mistake it for anything other than what you said. I promise. I don’t bite, Shelby.”
“Ah hah, that’s not true. All humans bite. Well, the ones who have teeth anyway. How else would we chew our food? I think what you’re trying to say is you won’t get fresh with me if I do something as bold as touch your face. I’m holding you to your word, Eli.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled then and reached over to lay her palm on my cheek.
“Your hands are cold.”
“I think every part of my body is going to be cold until my blood thickens up.”
“Every part of your body?” I said, smiling. After all, if she was allowed to touch my face, I’m pretty sure I was allowed to flirt.
She squirmed then but she was smiling. “I think I need to give you a lesson on what being fresh is, mister.”
She rubbed my cheek back and forth with her palm and I thought it felt nice. Not too intimate. Not overly sexual. Just the touch of a woman’s hand against my face. I turned my head quickly and placed a kiss in the center of that palm. She giggled.
“Watch the road there.”
