“Or… you don’t have to,” I said, giving both him and me an out.
“Where are you planning on taking me, Grace Note?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Just a little heads-up—I’m not a huge fan of surprises.”
“You’ll like this one, I promise.”
There was something bothering him. Something holding him back. My only chance of wrangling it out of him was to get him into the car, but that required being bold. Yesterday’s nepo baby was not today’s leading lady.
“Get in, Beats. Let’s go for a ride.”
* * *
A smile litup my passenger’s face as we stepped out of the car. He was looking up at the monstrosity of slides crisscrossing in all directions. I followed his gaze, gulping. I didn’t mind roller coasters or rides with straps on them, but free-falling in a bikini had never been my idea of a good time.This isn’t for you, I reminded myself. It was for Beats and my quest to give him a day he’d never forget.
“Oh, shit.” His mouth was open wide. “You go big with your surprises. I thought you were taking me to a fast-food joint or something.”
“I considered that, but then I thought, ‘Where can I take Beats that will meet all of his needs in one place?’” I gestured toward the waterslides. “There you go.”
“How does a water park meet all my needs?”
“Well, first, you get a shower.” I held up a plastic bag full of mini toiletries, plucked from every hotel my father has ever stayed at. “Then food and entertainment and an adrenaline rush. And then, as if all that isn’t awesome enough, you get to follow it all up with a nap on the lazy river.”
“Sounds amazing. What’s the catch?”
“The catch?”
“Yes. What do you want from me? Nothing is free.”
He was so jaded. Not that I blamed him, but it screwed up my plans of springing the ‘catch’ on him until later in the day once I’d buttered him up.
“I’m going to try to convince you to go inside,” I admitted.
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t you ever get tired of just surviving, Beats?” I asked, choosing my words carefully. “Don’t you want more?”
He averted his eyes. “I mean, ideally, I’d like a roof over my head, but it’s not that simple.”
“What if I could help you?”
“How are you going to do that, Grace? Hide me in your shed?”
“I don’t have that part all planned out yet,” I said, walking around to the back of the car and opening the trunk. “But I’m working on it.”
“So, you’re telling me that a teenage girl is going to fix the entire foster care system that has taken years of dysfunction to get to where it is today?”
“I don’t have to fix the entire system, Beats. I just have to fix your situation. Baby steps, you see.”
His eyes lingered on me for the longest time before finally reconciling with whatever was circulating through his head. “Okay, then. Fix it and I’ll come inside.”
I didn’t believe him. “That seemed a little too easy.”
“Because I know you aren’t going to fix it.”
“Watch me. And once we have you situated, I’m going to help you get auditions. That much I know I can do.”
