“How long until we’re there?”
I bark a laugh. “You’re as bad as Sadie.”
“Considering I think she’s of high intelligence and wonderful, I’ll take it as a compliment,” Lark says with a smirk.
Arguing that my daughter is not those things doesn’t exactly make me sound good, so I focus more on what I was implying. “I meant the part where she’s annoying on road trips.”
“Oh, well, according to my brothers, I’m annoying when I don’t know something. Really, this is your own doing,” she informs me.
“How is that?”
“Let’s see. You won’t tell me where we’re going.” She ticks the first one off on her free hand. “You won’t tell me how far away it is.” Next one. “You won’t say what we’re doing when we’re in said place.” She sighs heavily. “And you’re allowing my imagination to run wild, so this is your penance.”
“I see.”
She looks around. “Oh, are we in Utah? Or maybe Arizona? Shit. I should’ve paid more attention!”
“You’ve been too busy yapping about random things.”
Lark snorts. “Yeah, like being taken against my will and crossing state lines.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Against your will, huh?”
“That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
“Why don’t we call the cops then?” I taunt her a little. “Maybe Jimmy can come arrest me.”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
“I almost forgot you and your friends have a thing about cuffs,” I say, remembering our night at the bar.
However, that also reminds me about how much I’d like to explore having her bound up, just for me.
“I do not. If you recall, that was Suzanne,” Lark corrects.
“And what about you? Would you like me to tie you up?”
She grins at me, mischief in her eyes. “Maybe, cowboy.”
“I’m very good with rope.”
“I bet you are.”
God, I love the banter between us. The way it’s so easy and natural makes my heart swell.
I’ve never had a relationship like this before. Where we can laugh, talk, and just be a little stupid at times.
I loved my wife with all my heart, but we were young, and so was our love in a lot of ways. We didn’t have a playful marriage. My mother got sick a week after we were married, and it changed everything in our lives. Then Emmy Jo got pregnant with Sadie soon after that. A few months after giving birth, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Emmy Jo smiled up until the end of her life, but it never really reached her eyes.
With Lark, her entire face lights up. She’s like the sun, blinding as she rises, and you just want to bask in it. She takesthe clouds and pushes them aside, allowing the rays to peek through.
It’s hard to look away from.
Even harder to stay away from.
“All right, do you really want to know where we’re going?” I ask.
