He gave me a funny look. “You go to church?”
Why was that surprising? “Only my entire life.” I raised my eyebrows. “And you?”
To my glee, he looked slightly discomfited. “I need to find a new one Jade can be comfortable in.”
If I hadn’t known Jade’s struggles with sitting still, I would have made fun of him. But instead, I focused on my food. “So,” I said between bites, “where am I going pro bono?”
“You’ll see.” Derrick wriggled his eyebrows.
“Well, if I’d known I was getting kidnapped, I would have at least brought another pancake.”
“All you need to know,” he said as we came to a stoplight, “is that I’m going to prove once and for all that I can be more fun than you.”
“You can try.” I finished off my first pancake. Once my second was gone, I dove into my purse for gum and lip gloss.
“You don’t need makeup where we’re going,” he said.
I ignored him and pulled down the little mirror on the sun visor. “Some of us need more than fifteen minutes to look presentable.”
“You look fine. What’s important today,” he sat back with a smirk, “is that you understand how deep my fun level goes.”
“Um…my fun got that girl a diamond all her own.” I snapped the cap back on my lip gloss. “I really doubt you can beat that.”
He nodded for a moment before turning to me once more. “Fine then. Put your money where your mouth is.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let’s make a bet,” he said slowly. “This summer, we’ll take turns picking new places to take her. And whoever suggests the one she likes best wins.”
“What will I win?” I asked.
“Haha, very funny. Winner will get to choose what we do for an entire day.”
“That’s not so hard.”
His grin widened. “And the loser can’t complain.”
I studied him. He seemed so sure of himself, and honestly, I couldn’t fault him for that. If anyone in his family knew what Jade would like, he would be the one to know. But I wasn’t in his family. And I hadn’t spent the entire first two weeks of school convincing Jade to talk out loud for nothing. Derrick might know her past, but I knew who and what she was now.
“Fine,” I said with a shrug. “It’s a deal.”
He turned the music up. “All right, but be prepared to lose.”
* * *
I had to work hard to hide my shock when we pulled into a parking slot. I was impressed, as much as I hated to admit it, with his little gem. But I wasn’t about to let him know that.
“What is this place?” I asked as he pulled Jade out of her car seat.
“Burns Park,” he said, taking the backpack from me and putting it on himself. “My parents used to take me here as a kid. I’m honestly kind of surprised it’s still up and running.”
I was, too. But that only made it more delightful. The park itself was huge. We’d passed at least two covered picnic spots and two play areas for children of different ages. But smack dab in the middle was a miniature theme park, complete with an old fashioned Merry-Go-Round. There were several of those carnival rides, the kinds that go up and down or just round and round in circles. A small but real train tooted as it made its circled the other rides, and there was one of those really tall slides in the back.
“How have I never heard of this?” I asked as we made our way through the metal railings which had been moved back so the entrance was clear.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged before giving me a wicked grin. “Maybe you just needed to meet a real Arkansas native.”
“Hey!” I called as he scooped Jade up and ran with her to the ticket counter, both of them laughing as he went.
