Too restless to hang out at home, I grabbed my keys, jumped into my SUV, and drove around mindlessly. But that got old fast. This town closed up after eight PM on weeknights. Parents of Piedmont students probably loved that.
I ended up at the town park. There was a noisy gathering in the large picnic shelter near the entrance to the parking lot, so I drove past it to the empty end.
The night was overly warm, but the breeze made it nice. Slipping from the car, I locked it and strolled through the shadows, listening to the sounds of the night and enjoying the show put on by the lightning bugs.
A burst of laughter floated across the park, forcing my solitude to press in on me. Pulling out my phone, I texted Scott. Maybe he’d be willing to talk if I was willing to figure out what went wrong with us this week.
Are you busy?
It took less than a minute to receive a text back from him.
I’m with Monica
That was a surprise.
Your choice?
Not entirely. Do you need me to come over?
Yes. I’m at the town park
By yourself?
Yes
That’s crazy. Where exactly?
Small picnic shelter
On my way
Ten minutes later, he was pulling into the parking lot, just as the other party was breaking up at the big shelter.
The door to his truck slammed with a serious amount of attitude. He jogged over, stopped a few feet away, and frowned at me fiercely. “How long have you been out here by yourself?”
I shrugged.
“This is stupid, Sara.”
“Magnolia Grove is safe.”
“Do you know any of the people at the shelter?”
“No.”
“And yet you still drove past them and parked in the darkest corner of the lot? Seems kind of risky to me.”
“You’re not going to win this one, Scott.”
He snorted. “Then why did you text me?”
“I didn’t want to be alone.”
“Well, thanks. Glad I’m better than boredom.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why didn’t you ask Grant?”
“He’s off for the night. He’s my employee, anyway.”
“He seems like more.”
