“Rude.”
We exchanged playful, tired glares, then both chuckled.
“Let’s drive around a bit.” He started the engine. “There are some other areas where they like to hang out.”
He drove us deeper into the hills, and while we did see another young bull wandering through the trees, it was otherwise a bust. Still, I did get to see some moose. And I got a pretty cool video of a mom and baby, plus a bull. Even if I hadn’t seen one with a set of giant antlers, I couldn’t complain.
When we returned to Greenville, the town was awake and as bustling as a tiny town like this ever was. Eric found a café that he’d been to before, and to my surprise, they had a brief wait before we could sit.
“That means they have good food, right?” I asked. “If a place in a town this small is this full?”
He nodded. “Trust me. They’re worth it.”
He was right, too. The omelet I ordered was perfect, and Eric’s Belgian waffle looked amazing; I’d have to try that if we came here again, which we probably would. Their coffee wasn’t half bad, either, which was good because we were both downing the stuff like it was going out of style.
“I can’t believe you got me out of bed at three in the morning,” I grumbled between sips.
He laughed. “And I can’t believe you’re still bitching about it.” Gesturing at my phone, which was facedown beside my empty plate, he asked, “How many likes did that video get?”
“Probably not many yet.” I opened the app to check. “It’s still ungodly early, and—oh, wow. Thirty. That’s not bad.” I put the phone back down. “I don’t have a ton of followers, so I’ll take it.”
He chuckled behind his coffee. “Watch it go viral.”
“From your lips to the internet gods’ ears.” I huffed with mock annoyance. “I just wish I could’ve seen one of thebigbulls.”
“I know.” He grinned. “But if you’re still willing to get up at the crack of dawn, we could try again…”
I made a face. “Ask me again after I’ve had some sleep and some more coffee.”
“I will,” he said. “And you’ll jump on it because you’ll remember how cool it was to watch a baby moose wandering through a field.” Okay, he probably had me there.
“Hell, I’ll come to see the adult moose.” I paused. “Is it ‘moose’ or ‘mooses’?”
“Pretty sure it’s ‘moose.’”
“I mean, I guess I could use ‘moose’ in a caption on social media and see if anyone corrects me.”
Eric grinned. “You could use ‘meese’ and see if someone’s head explodes.”
I snorted. “Well, damn. Now I’m tempted.” I paused. “‘Meese’ sounds like someone combined a goose with a moose.”
He grimaced. “That would be fucking terrifying. Can you imagine a Canada goose as big as…” He gestured at the field where the moose were lumbering around. “They’d be, like, giant murder dinosaurs with antlers.”
I was cracking up before he’d even finished saying that. “Oh my God. Dude, are you sure you should be driving? You sound like you’ve been…” I pantomimed smoking a joint.
“Pfft. No. I’m just up at fuck-you-thirty because someone wanted to see…” He flailed his hand at the field again.
“Bro, this was your idea. And it was your idea to do it again.” I put up my hands and shook my head emphatically. “This is on you.”
He grumbled something and picked up his coffee.
I just chuckled and sipped my own. As much as I didn’t do mornings, ithadbeen worth it in the moments when we’d seen moose emerging from where they’d slept the night before. It had been totally worth it to see the tiny baby.
It had been totally worth it to be out here with Eric.
Something told me we’d be back out here before too long, watching moose wake up in the light of the sunrise.
Early-ass morning or not…
