He smiles wryly. “You’re not a bad motivator yourself.”
And like that, the magic of the Starburst has made the firstdate awkwardness disappear. The rest of the night only gets better. We laugh, talk, gorge on candy, and then, when the
fire is low and the stars blaze bright, we wrap in blankets and
search out constellations above us. Everything is so perfect
that I don’t want to ever leave.
But I know that can’t be. Real life--boring, frustrating
2015 is waiting just beyond those bushes. As Lawrence and
I fold up the blankets and chairs, despair cuts into me like
a blade. I try my best to keep things light, to squeeze out
the last bits of pleasure from this first and final date of ours.
Lawrence lingers as well. Does he not want the night to end
either?
“Well,” he says, looking around the beach. “I guess that’s
that.”
“Yeah.” I let out a breath that sounds a lot like a sigh. “I had
a good time.”
“I did too. Those Starbrights were ginger peachy.”
I chuckle. “Sure were.”
“Of course, they have nothing on my Aunt Eloise’s lemon
meringue pie.” He digs the tip of his shoe into the sand. “You
ought to come back tomorrow so I can bring you a piece. One
treat for another. Seems only fair.”
“Oh, you’re sneaky, Lawrence.”
“Nothing sneaky about it. I ought to return the favor,
that’s all.”
I should refuse. I know this. I’m being careless with my heart.
This is a guy I can never really date. Not even close. And yet…
“One more day. That’s it.”
Lawrence beams. “Swell. Meet me here for lunch? I’ll bring
us out a picnic.”
“Sounds ginger peachy.”
Chapter 1o
Cassandra
unt Eloise’s lemon meringue pie lives up to the hype.
A
At the picnic with Lawrence, we pick up right where
we’d left off the night before. We’re so absorbed in conversation
that a sudden clap of thunder makes us both look up at the
sky with a start. A blanket of rain-laden clouds hang above us.
Droplets turn to sheets of cold wetness in a matter of seconds.
Lawrence and I jump to our feet.
“Where did this come from?” I ask, holding my hands over my head as a weak shield.
“Snuck up on us,” he says. “If you weren’t so darn interesting,
I might have seen its approach.”
The compliment makes my heart swell. I want to keep
talking, but the rain pours harder. Lawrence isn’t running
inside either. Our eyes meet. It’s as if neither of us wants to
be the one to leave. I wipe the rain from my face, though it
doesn’t help.
“Well,” I say, “I guess we’d better…”
Lawrence sets his hand to my arm. “Wait.”
His touch sends a ripple of energy down my arm. He bends
down and collects our plates and forks. Then he lifts the blue
wool blanket, gives it a firm shake to loosen the sand, and
sweeps it over the tops of the bushes.
“I’m not ready to go in yet,” he says, ducking beneath his
makeshift tent with a grin.
I slip under the blanket and join him. “Not bad,” I say, examining our little shelter. “Well done, Boy Scout Lawrence.”
“It won’t keep us very dry, but it ought to help. It’s a warm
rain anyway.”
“And now that you’ve said that, we’ll both catch pneumonia
and die.”
Lawrence laughs. “I’m fairly certain that won’t happen. But
then, I’m headed into law, not medicine. Maybe they’re writing
our death certificates as we speak.”
I shake my head. “Sorry, but if we both catch pneumonia,
I’d be significantly better off than you. One of the few perks
of my era.”
I expect Lawrence to carry on with the banter, but when I
look at him, he’s watching me with an unexpectedly soft smile.
His eyes drift down to my lips.
“I wouldn’t mind dying today,” he says. “Might as well end
on a high note.”