“If you’re thinking it, I know it’s a solid plan,” Bruce said, encouraging him.
Now I was grinning, cheesing like the happy, proud girlfriend. Why? Because Price’s idea was stellar.
“Well, let’s eat, and you can tell me if it’s any good,” Sarah teased.
We sat down around their big farm table, and I’d never laughed or smiled as much as I did in that one hour. We finished with Sarah’s apple pie and my caramel crème brûlées.
“I don’t know about the restaurant food, but the desserts are going to be fabulous,” Bruce said as he cleared the table.
“I feel exactly the same,” Price said with a wink at me, and stood up to help Bruce.
Price
“Come on,” I said, helping Emerson up to the top of the water tower.
We sat on the ledge in the darkness, nothing but stars above us. Our legs dangled in the air, her much smaller pair of shitkickers knocking with mine. With her head on my shoulder, it was a perfect moment.
“It’s too quiet for me,” I admitted.
“Ha, is that so?”
“I need to hear an ambulance or a police siren.”
“Thanks for bringing me,” she said, changing the subject.
“Anytime. We can come anytime. My mom would love it. And I do like being here.”
I pulled Emerson closer and breathed her in. I used to love the morning dew ... that smell was how I knew I was home. Now I loved the smell of this girl.
“You’re my home now,” I said into the night.
“Do you think it’s too soon?”
“I don’t. I hate to believe in crazy hoodoo-voodoo, but when we’re sitting here, looking at the stars, I have to believe there’s a greater plan. And we met as part of that plan. I was wandering through life, content with how I grew up, and then thrown into this new place, lost for the first time, looking for direction. You were also wandering, and looking for love. And we both found what we needed in each other.”
“I did find love. You. Bev. Sheila. I wanted the love of my mom, but maybe what I found is better, or what I was supposed to find.”
“I think so. I know so,” I told her, and then guided her mouth toward mine.
We kissed on top of the water tower, and the place held new meaning for me.
Emerson pulled away and glanced over the edge. “We’re going to fall off of here.”
“Ha, come on.” I guided her back safely to the ground and took her hand in mine. “Where you grew up, it’s the sand dunes. Here, it’s the back of a truck.”
“Oh, yes.” She skipped a step, getting my meaning.
“You sure?” I stilled in the darkness on the way back to the truck.
“I’m sure.”
When we made it back to the spot in the field where I’d parked, I opened a blanket and set some music on my phone instead of the dash—I was mostly a New Yorker now.
We lay facing each other for a while, kissing, running our hands down each other’s backs. Then Emerson’s hand was under my shirt, and she pinched my nipple. I moaned, and it was all over. My shirt came off, and so did hers.
I pulled a second blanket over us and unhooked her bra. My mouth traveled the length of her neck, making its way toward her cleavage. In no rush, I took my time there, listening to Em’s soft whimpers.
When she begged, “Please,” I slid down and took her jeans, panties, and boots with me. Nestling between her thighs, I made her go wilder until she declared she couldn’t take it anymore.
