She put special earmuffs on Frankie to muffle the noise so he wouldn’t be scared, and she kept a tight hold on his leash even though he was lying on the ground next to them.
As darkness fell, the first fireworks exploded in the sky, painting it with brilliant colors. The crowd cheered, and the booms and crackles echoed across the river.
Callan’s eyes were wide with wonder as the questions practically flew from his lips.
She held up a hand. “We’ll go talk to one of the guys in charge later and you can ask him all the questions you want. All I know is that they’re pretty and they go boom.”
They sat watching the fireworks light up the night sky. The air was filled with the scent of food from several nearby vendors, the sound of music and laughter, and the warmth of the summer night made the night perfect.
As the grand finale burst into a spectacular array of colors and patterns, Daisy turned to him, her heart full. “Happy 4th of July.”
“To you as well.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Paused, then slowly sat back.
They shared a quiet moment, the world around them fading away as they sat, shoulders touching. It had been a perfect day.
CHAPTER 18
Daisy always thought you could tell a lot about a person by traveling with them, and she should know. Several relationships hadn’t even managed to survive a weekend getaway. But this trip? Other than a few misunderstandings, they’d gotten along really well. Callan was laid back and easy to travel with. Interested in everything around him, not to mention the tour guides loved all the insightful questions he invariably asked.
Leaving Philadelphia behind, they set off towards Gettysburg as she looked up at the sky.
“Hope it doesn’t rain. Driving in the rain is the worst.”
Callan wiped Frankie’s paws before the dog jumped into the van. He rotated his left shoulder, looked at the clouds, then at her. “Nay, lass. It willna rain today.”
She opened the weather app on her phone. “How can you be so sure? It says it’s going to rain.”
“My shoulder aches when it is going to rain. You’ll see.” He held out his hand. “Want me to drive the carriage? ’Tis your turn to relax.”
“Sounds good to me. It’s about a two and a half hour drive. We should stop and pick up some more road trip snacks.” With a shrug, she handed him the keys.
“Aye. I would like more of the sweet and spicy jerky and those Snickers candy bars.”
She pulled her hair up into a bun. “I knew you had a sweet tooth.”
While Daisy was glad Callan wasn’t in a hurry, that he was enjoying the journey, she wondered why he wasn’t more eager to meet the relatives of his brother’s wife? Maybe he was nervous? Or maybe he simply enjoyed her company. That’s what she hoped.
As they turned down the block, she pointed to a grocery store. “Pull in here. We can get snacks and restock the groceries.”
Callan looked in the rearview mirror. “Frankie needs more biscuits.”
Her dog had him wrapped around his finger … or was it his tail? She pondered the thought as they parked, noticing Callan was getting much better at parking the van.
The doors whooshedopen as they entered the store, and Callan was immediately hit by a wave of cold air. The people in this time liked the air so cold inside the shops, when ye went outside ye immediately started sweating.
The sounds of music filled the space, people pushing metal carts up and down the aisles, selecting their food. The lights overhead cast a stark, bright glow on the endless rows of products.
“I have the list.” He pulled a scrap of paper from the pocket of his jeans, reading the items. “Milk, bread, dog biscuits and food.”
There was a smile on her face as she looked at him.
“You do not like to make a list, and then we wander up and down every aisle while you decide what you want.”
She grinned. “You’ve got me there. I’m glad one of us is organized. I’ll push the cart and you check off the list.”
With a nod, he took charge of gathering the supplies. The sheer abundance of choices was overwhelming. There were dozens of varieties of bread alone, each packaged neatly in plastic bags.
“Is there a reason there are so many kinds of bread?” he asked, bewildered.
