“Dinner with the Mercers, actually,” I clarify as I dig through my bag and grab my Chap Stick.
As we climb out of his truck, I pray he’s right about being able to distract himself from the symptoms of his withdrawals, but I have a feeling it’s going to be worse than he thinks. Pulling a blanket from behind his seat, he lays it on the ground and we sit in the center of an opening in the woods. The leaves have started to change and a beautiful array of yellow, orange, and red kiss the leaves slightly. “Where are we?” I ask as we sit and George pulls out burgers wrapped in wax paper.
“This is my father’s land. We come camping here sometimes.”
“It’s beautiful,” I note as I tear open my burger. “Very peaceful. I love the color of the leaves.”
“Just wait until the next week or two. It’ll put Crayola to shame. Things will get really busy around here starting around the end of next week.”
Taking a huge bite of his burger, he looks up and chews, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Ike and I used to come here a lot.” I glance around for Ike, but he’s still nowhere to be seen. Where is he? “We used to bring girls here, too,” George says, with a slight smirk. “We were real classy guys.”
“Oh,” I feign insult. “And here I thought I was special,” I tease. “I’m just one of many.”
“It was in high school and where else is a teenage boy supposed to bring a girl for some privacy around here? It was either this or a barn. This was where we hid.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” I can’t help questioning. “Hiding me or hiding us together from the town?”
“Why would I hide our friendship?”
“Maybe Misty would get pissed if she knew?”
He takes another bite of his burger and chews slowly, and I wonder if he’s buying some time before he responds. Finally, after he swallows and sucks some ketchup from his thumb, he says, “I know I must look pretty pathetic to you.”
My head rears slightly. That’s not at all what I think. “No. Not at all,” I tell him.
“I mean, hanging out with a girl that’s taken and the drugs. They’re not things I’m proud of.” His gaze lingers off somewhere, nit meeting mine. He’s ashamed.
“We all cope differently,” I admit. I’m the last person in the world that could judge George. Sure, he is doing some things I think poorly on, but I was about to kill myself a few days ago, so who am I to say anything? At least he was trying to survive his pain, I was ready to end it; period. Maybe I’m not the stronger one like I thought.
“The thing between Misty and I just kind of happened and seems to have snowballed from there. But we’re not together . . . we’re only friends.”
“But you still wouldn’t want her to see us together, right?” He cocks his head to the side, giving me a look that says he’s baffled by my question.
“Do you want to be seen with me, Charlotte?” he asks seriously and my brow furrows in confusion with his question.
“What do you mean?” I ask before biting into my food.
“I just thought you might not want others to see you with me. Apparently, it’s no secret I’ve been seeing Misty, and with you knowing about the drugs and all . . . Plus, I look like I’ve been beaten with a bat.”
Licking my lips, I shake my head. “You think I’d be ashamed to be seen with you?”
“Well, aren’t you?”
Leaning forward, I lay my hand on his leg. He stills as his gaze moves to my hand. “You’re my friend now, George. I’m not ashamed of that.”
When his coffee eyes meet mine again, his mouth quirks up on one side. “Yeah. You’re pretty lucky to have me as a friend,” he laughs.
Rolling my eyes, I take another bite of my burger. When I’m done chewing, I ask, “So, what the hell do people do around here for fun?”
“You mean other than attending epic dances at the dance hall?” he jests.
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “Other than that.”
“Hunt, fish, hike, and drink,” he answers simply.
“Sounds riveting,” I snort, but on some level, it sounds wonderful. It sounds peaceful and isn’t that what I’ve wanted more than anything the last few years?
“Well, it’s not for everyone,” George notes. “But it’s home. Why don’t I take you on a tour one day?”
“Oh my,” I say, in my best Southern drawl, placing a hand to my chest. “I get the grand tour of Bath county with George McDermott. It’s my lucky day.”
“Yeah, well, you’re growing on me. Kind of like a fungus.”
“You really know how to make a girl feel special, George,” I reply, tossing my crumpled up wrapper at him. “That burger was awesome, but I probably just gained a thousand pounds eating it.”
“You could stand to gain a few pounds,” he notes before shoving the rest of his burger in his mouth.
“Well, I think I just gained a third butt cheek.”
“God, I hope not, because that ass of yours is perfect,” he notes with a devilish smirk on his face. Heat crawls up my neck and onto my face, causing my cheeks to redden.