"He's really attractive, Mom."
I nod, though there’s no way she can see; it’s too dark, and she’s the one leading the way. And now that I think of it, we’ve been on this path for a long time. We should have already hit the campground by now.
“Are you sure you’re going the right way?” I ask, the thick branches seeming to cave in on me from either side.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she says, “I’m following the exact trail we came up.”
I keep walking, squinting to peer through the darkness, when a branch smacks me square in the face.
“Umph! Lucy…” I scold.
"Sorry. I didn't realize you were that close behind me." She keeps walking, and so do I, and soon another leafy branch whips across my neck. I shiver because who knows what kind of spiders are on the thing.
"Are you doing that on purpose?"
When she doesn't answer, I decide to fall back a few steps and keep my hands up to guard my face.
"Don't you think so?" Lucy says.
"Don't I think so…what?" It's not a grammatically correct response, but I don't know what she's talking about, and she didn't answer my question about purposely smacking me in the face with branches, and, of course, I'm getting smacked in the face with branches.
"That the dad you used to date is cute."
I walk faster to catch up because we need to keep our whispering voices on. "Well, he wasn’t a dad when I was dating him, but yes, Liam is a good-looking guy." There, end of topic.
“I know he wasn’t a dad when you were dating him,sheesh. And, not likeIwould be attracted to him or anything, but for somebodyyourage, he's really cute. He looks like he could be an actor. And he's really ripped. I didn't think guys that age still worked out."
The volume of her voice has risen and we’ve got to be getting too close to camp for this conversation.
"Hey, Lucy," I say, hoping to break the cycle of her thoughts. I bring my voice down to a whisper and pray she’ll follow suit. “Let's not talk about it anymore because we’re getting too close to camp."
"You know what?” Lucy replies. “I actually don’t think we are. You were probably right. I think wearegoing the wrong way.”
Our detour takes so long that I fear I'll have to go to the bathroom again by the time we get back to camp. Luckily, Lucy lets the topic of Liam die.
She wasn’t wrong, though. Liam Wheaton is gorgeous, and he’s taken very good care of that impressively chiseled body of his.
Back at camp, beside the dim light of the dying bonfire, I catch the outline of a man—a mere silhouette, really, but I know exactly who it is.
I freeze, which is bad because, since I chose to lead the way—Lucy smacks into me from behind.
"Sorry," I whisper blurt.
"Why’d you stop—” When she doesn’t finish her sentence, I realize Lucy sees him too. She tips her chin up. "Oh… I know why you stopped.” Sure, she’s whispering, but it’s definitely loud enough for him to hear, which sucks because there’s something very accusatory in her tone.
Liam gives us a casual wave of acknowledgment. "Evening, ladies," he says, sounding and looking like a cowboy starring inan old western. He’s a lumberjack, a cowboy, a divorced father of two…I’ll take all three, please.
"Hi,” I say with a wave.
Lucy drags her one-syllable greeting of‘hey’into three full syllables, which also sounds accusing.
But the changed woman in me wants to seize this opportunity before it slips. I want to have Liam Wheaton all to myself without the doting trail of hopefuls at his heels.
And on a night like this, under the moon and stars, the setting is like a dream.
I cannot believe I’m about to do this because Lucy haszerochill factor despite the fact that she's the one who taught me that term. But the fact is, Lucy has been encouraging me to date since we moved back here. Behind closed doors, she’d be pleading with me to do this very thing, so I know she’ll approve.
That doesn’t mean she won’t embarrass me, though.
