Except what we had now was a hell of a lot more than that.
“What do you say we go get ice cream?” I asked, glancing at June in the rearview mirror as I drove us back from Parkersville.
She grinned and threw her arms up in victory. “Yeah!” she yelled. “Let’s get something for Nat and Bubbie, too.”
“Actually, they’re gonna meet us there. In fact,” I said, pulling into a parking spot on Main Street, “looks like they beat us.”
Nat stood on the sidewalk in front of the ice cream parlor, Owen playing with the toys affixed in front of him on his stroller. An older woman with short dark hair I recognized as Wanda, the secretary at Havenbrook High, was talking with her. Though, from Nat’s posture, it was clear it wasn’t a pleasant conversation.
“Nat!” June yelled as we made our way toward her.
Nat whipped her head in our direction, a smile spreading across her mouth when her gaze landed on us.
“Hey,” I said, placing a hand on the small of her back before leaning in to kiss her. “Made a new friend?”
“Hardly,” she said against my mouth, then squatted in front of June. “Hey, Junie B. How’d your time go?”
“It was so fun! They had video games and a huge Barbie house and five thousand bins of Legos!”
“Five thousand, huh? That’s a lot.”
I laughed. “It was more like two or three.”
“But there were so many, Uncle Asher! I’ve never seen that much in my wholelife.”
“Well, I guess that means we better start accumulating your own collection, then, huh?” Nat asked.
“Really?” June’s eyes lit up. “Can we go buy some now?”
“Thought you wanted ice cream, Junebug?”
“Oh yeah!” June tugged Nat’s arm and pulled her toward the ice cream parlor. “Let’s go!”
“Well, this certainly is something different,” Wanda said, regarding each of us with a smile that looked completely forced. “I was just tellin’ Natalie that this definitely wasn’t what any of us at the high school expected of her. But it’s nice to see she’s finally maturing.”
I narrowed my eyes at the gall she had. Who the hell did she think she was, coming in and saying bullshit like that about a woman who was fucking amazing?
“I don’t know,” I said. “Seemed pretty mature when she was published in three magazines last year.”
“Oh… Well, I?—”
“Also seemed pretty mature when she won an award for one of her images the year before.”
“That’s certainly?—”
“And I’d think bein’ brave enough to fly all over the world alone was mature. But what do I know? If you’ll excuse us.” I pressed my hand to the small of Nat’s back and opened the door to the ice cream parlor, ushering them inside.
Once inside the safety of the shop, Owen squealed his approval, and June ran up to the case, her hands pressed to the glass as she stared at all the flavors. Meanwhile, Nat stared at me.
I ran a hand through my hair and slid her a glance out of the corner of my eye. Okay, so maybe I’d overstepped, speaking for her when I knew damn well she could speak for herself. But what the fuck was I supposed to do? Just stand by while someone insulted my wi—friend?
“What?” I asked.
She smirked at me. “What was all that about?”
“Small-minded people bein’ small-minded.”
“I wasn’t talkin’ about her. I haven’t spent a day in my life caring about what those people think of me. I’m sure as hell not gonna start now.” She tucked her fingers into the waistband of my jeans and tugged me closer. “I’m talkin’ about your reaction to it.”
