She didn’t put up much of a fight to that, but she also wasn’t exactly excited when I loaded her up in my pickup, a lunchbox in the back that she probably hasn’t noticed yet. That should’ve been enough of a warning for me, but I was hyped about my surprise and didn’t press that hard.
“What’s wrong?” I’d asked her.
She put her hands to her stomach, said she wasn’t feeling well, but didn’t ask me to stay in tonight or anything, so I’m hoping what I have planned will make her feel better. At least cheer her up. But my stomach is in a state too. I wouldn’t call it butterflies, more like some tiny bastards are doing motocross inside my gut. This is excitement on a new level for me.
As we drive, I keep one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh where she sits in the passenger seat, thumb running a line back and forth on her bare skin. I steer us through the winding mountain roads, headlights on as we navigate to a hidden area of the Heights, racing twilight to get there before dusk falls.
It took a fair bit of research to work tonight out, but with Duke’s help, the romantic geezer, I think we’re gonna be golden.
Wish we could’ve gone in the Charger, but I haven’t had much time for it lately and it’s not gonna be road-ready for a while yet.
Amelia still hasn’t figured it out as I park the truck in a grassy lot, not far from where she parked her van that first night we fucked. What was supposed to be her last night in town.
Racing out of the driver’s side, I round the truck to open her door for her and help her down. Grabbing the lunchbox from the back seat, and an extra couple of hoodies I brought for us to sit on (or wear if it gets chilly), I lead her through the wilderness as the last light of the sun blinks out.
We make it to the clearing just in time, and the log I set out earlier today is still there, waiting for us.
“Ta da!”
I wave my arms around, gesturing at the tree trunks on all sides.
“The woods? Is this the surprise? I feel like you’ve shown me the woods before, Weston.” Her voice is tired, drained, not at all what I’m used to hearing from this girl who’s so full of life, who finds ways to laugh even in the darkest of situations. That’s okay. We all have rough days, but she’s about to have one hell of a reason to smile.
I set the hoodies down on the log, then move her over in front of one, pressing on her shoulders to urge her to sit down. She humors me, lowering down and taking a seat.
Joining her, I wave at the trees again, specifically the lower portions of them.
“I don’t?—”
“Just watch,” I interject.
Seconds pass, and then, a glow. And another. Tiny fireflies light up all around us, in synchronized harmony. At least five flashes in a row, and then darkness.
Another series of flashes starts up, this time from the ground.
More darkness when that sequence is over, and then the ones from higher up start again.
Amelia watches, wonder overtaking all the worry in her face, and I watch it hit her, where we are. What we’re seeing.
“What? How? I don’t?—”
“The synchronous fireflies,” I whisper.
“But how?” she asks. “I thought we didn’t get the passes.”
“Turns out we can see them from here.” I point with my head to the display all around us, any way we look.
“Clearly,” she says, then she gives a soft laugh. “I just… I’d given up on seeing them this year. Maybe ever.”
“Well, now you can move it to your “Been There, Seen That” board.”
Amelia rushes me, leaning forward to hug me tight, her head buried in my shoulder. I feel her body shaking and it scares me.
“What’s going on, darlin’?”
“It’s past time I let you in,” she says cryptically once she pulls back.
“I think you already did that, though it took some work,” I tease, nudging her with an elbow, but her mouth doesn’t so much as twitch upward.
