“It’s fine,” she insists before shaking her head. “Okay, no, it’s not fine. Don’t you even start back there. I can feel you getting all Hulk smash-y.”
She looks at me in the rearview mirror for a second and I smirk. I was absolutely about to start in about how it’s not fucking fine.
“But let’s move along. Dad, how’s Katie? I invited her, you know, but she said someone had to hold the fort down because too many people were taking vacations this week.”
That’s news to me. I thank my lucky stars that Katie’s not here to witness this train wreck.
“She’s good. Same as she ever is. She said she’s binge-watching baking shows because she’s finished everything she can find with hot guys. That’s a direct quote, by the way.”
“She’s a riot. I need to come out for a visit soon and see her.”
They keep talking, and I kind of zone out. Between the dancing and the trail, my leg is sore. Not too bad, but enough that I know I need to take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe soak in the tub later. I miss having my own bathroom.
We pull up to a brewery I haven’t been to yet and Bean turns toward me.
“This place has some of the best burgers around. I promise, Min. No food poisoning this time. And if I’m wrong,there’s enough time between now and the wedding for it not to factor in.” She’s got a shit-eating smile on her face, and it’s hard not to grin back at her.
“You better pray to all the gods that you’re right, or you won’t be making it to that wedding of yours.”
She puts a hand to her chest in mock outrage. “Did you just threaten my life? And in front of my dad?”
“Yep.” I step out of the car and head inside without looking behind me. It’s a seat-yourself place, so I slide into a booth and pick up the drink specials flier. Bean walks up a few seconds later.
“Scoot over.”
“Huh?” I look up at her and fake surprise at her arrival. “Oh, you finally showed up.” She laughs and sits with half her ass hanging off the bench and starts shoving me over toward the wall. “Jeez, if you wanted to sit next to me, all you had to do was ask, Bean.”
“God, you’re so annoying sometimes,” she huffs.
I make room for her as Alex takes the bench across from us.
“Only sometimes? I’ve gotta up my game.” A waitress comes over to our table to give us menus and take our drink order. I resist the urge to order something alcoholic. I could use a shot or three. “So the burgers are good?”
“Yeah. So are the fries. I haven’t tried anything else yet.”
I look over the menu. I know within a minute that Bean will order the mushroom Swiss burger, and Alex will order the bacon guacamole burger. They’ll both drown their fries in ketchup.
“What are you grinning about?” Bean asks.
“Nothing, just making guesses about what you’ll order. But I should be figuring out what the hell I want.”
I settle on a burger with onion rings and BBQ sauce on it.The waitress brings us our drinks. I was right about what both my best friend and Alex would order, but I don’t say anything. When Alex catches my eye, I know he knows, though. He gets a little glint in his eye, and his lips twitch up slightly.
“Having fun, Dad?”
“Sure am. What else do you have planned for this week?”
“Well, there’s the normal touristy stuff… The downside of which is that we’ve done it a million times, but the upside is that means we know what stuff to skip. So we can do like Mount St. Helens, Haystack rock?—”
I poke Bean in the shoulder. “Ohhhh ohhhh, we could see the bunnies in Cannon Beach!”
“Why do youalwayswant to go see the bunnies?”
“Um, because they’re bunnies.”
“Weirdo.” She shakes her head at me. “Anyway, there’s a million little towns full of gift shops and thrift stores and fun restaurants. The lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, plus the long ass bridge, the Astoria Column…”
“You should take him to Powell’s. Everyone should go at least once in their lives,” I tell her. Alex enjoys reading, even though he doesn’t do a lot of it, and he would love to find a few random autographed copies or even the first editions they keep in glass cases. Luckily, it also tops a lot of ‘places to visit’ lists and doesn’t draw suspicion when I mention it, since I shouldn’t know about his affinity for books.
