“Isn’t that what your moms always had for snacks?”
I chuckled. “Oh yeah. Mama convinced herself they were healthier than potato chips.”
Izzy laughed. The sound rolled beautifully across his lips, lighter than the slight rumble of his voice, and something about it felt especially familiar. “Should we hit the road?”
“Oh, hold up.” I grabbed my phone. “You can say no, it’s totally fine, but Leo wants me to take some pictures for my Instagram this weekend. Would you mind taking one of me, or I could get one of us together?”
A smile played on Izzy’s lips, and he kept his eyes tilted slightly down as he nodded, shy. “Yeah, sure, we can take some pictures together.”
“Great.” I played with it a minute, getting the app ready. “I didn’t even have an Instagram a month ago, but Leo insisted it looked weird for a PR guy to not have social media.”
“I just have one for my hikes,” Izzy said. “Lots of pictures of hillsides.”
I looked up. “That sounds like it’s more my style. I’ll make sure to add you.”
I held the phone out as far as I could, searching for an angle. For a second, I struggled to get a good shot. Izzy and I were side by side, with maybe a foot between us, and as I stared up at the phone, we each took a sideways half-step and bumped into each other.
My finger hit the button as a warm thrill shot through me. The phone flashed, and when I glanced up, I was surprised that we both looked pretty good, caught off guard with natural smiles.
“That will work.” I posted the photo and added a quick caption,Childhood friends, reunited #weddingroadtrip,then pulled open the passenger door.
“I figured you would be an expert at social media,” Izzy said, “considering your work.”
I ran around, then hopped in the driver’s seat and got situated. “I do the boring stuff. I study the industry magazines, and handle all the research, and build up the infrastructure. Leo’s the one who looks cool and charms the famous people.”
“You like being a boss?”
“It’s okay.” I waited for the traffic to slow, then pulled the car out, slowly accelerating. “It makes my brain happy when I work out all the details. Kind of like solving a puzzle. And I’ve learned to be good at the other stuff, the public speaking and projecting confidence and everything.”
“That makes sense to me. Whenever I spend a day in the field, completing the paperwork afterward is deeply satisfying. But the only audience I have for my speeches is the trees.”
I laughed. “So I guess you weren’t just being nice when you watched me organize my binders?”
“I was so busy taping flowers in my notebook and labeling them I barely noticed.”
A loud laugh tumbled out as the memory came back to me. “That’s right. I guess it’s not hard to see why we weren’t more popular in junior high.”
I pulled up to the coffee shop as Izzy shrugged lightly. “I’m still waiting for flowers to get cool.”
When I glanced, I saw that his cheeks were slightly pink. His voice was soft, like he might hesitate before talking, but I could tell he was enjoying the joking around, too.
He was shy, just like when we were kids. And I realized right then that, if I were going to figure anything out over the weekend, I’d have to learn to pull him out of his shell.
Izzy got me an espresso shot, which I threw back at the little coffee bar, and we were back on the road. It didn’t take long to make our way out of Pittsburgh and into the sprawling green that covered much of Pennsylvania. The highway cut through the forests, full with their late summer leaves, while above us, only a few white clouds dotted the sky.
The conversation flowed at an even, steady pace. We had a good number of silences, but instead of feeling awkward, they stretched comfortably between us. We’d start talking about the parks around the city, and then after a few minutes of pleasant quiet, I’d toss out a question, and he’d pick up again, telling me about one of his first forestry jobs and an autumn at Yosemite.
The two people I spent most of my time with, River and Leo, were both chatty as hell. I loved that about them, but there was something really special about enjoying a silence, especially on a beautiful drive like we had that day.
“I’ve never been to a double wedding before,” Izzy said, his eyes out the window. I wanted to watch him, to study the expressions on his face, especially when he got quiet. But I kept my eyes focused on the road.
“Me, either. The guys figured, since they had the chance to do it, they wanted to go all in together and share the moment.”
“Way less pressure, too.”
I laughed. “I think we’re supposed to pretend that this wedding is chill and low-key, totally without pressure. How dare you break the spell.”
“All those people staring at you? Everyone you know in the same room? Standing up in front of crowds and declaring big emotional things? Even if you’re in the woods, it’s not exactly chill.”
