AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I swung the Volvo into my driveway, singing “Don’t Get Me Wrong” at the top of my lungs, I waited until it was over before hustling inside. I found two notes on the kitchen counter in my mother’s scrawl. One read:Daniel called and asked if you could arrive by six and if you could pick up a can of green beans on your way. They’re his sister’s favorite, and they’re all out.
The other:Adam called. I hung up on him.
Still singing under my breath, I picked up a pen and scribbled two words at the end of the second note:Good, ugh.
Then I nearly skipped upstairs to shower, dress, and figure out which camera to take with me. I was going to take lots of pictures this time. Joyful pictures. Excited pictures. I planned to take photos of Daniel, his house, his sister and brother if they let me, maybe even his mom.
I was going to document and claim these moments of happiness because Iwantedto. Besides, I’d never had the chance to channel this kind of energy onto film before. Not even at the beginning with Adam. I’d always been so anxiety-ridden.
“Bye, I’m leaving,” I called, gathering my keys, and settling the Leica around my neck.
Mom emerged from her office dressed in a red poodle skirt complete with a dog sewn onto the side of it. Looked like the prairie rancher had won over the preacher’s daughter, and now she was working on a new romance set in the 1950s. “Do you have condoms?”
“Mom.”
“Do you?”
“We’re just friends!”
“No, you’re not.” She sighed, grabbed her purse from the sofa, pulled out a twenty and stuffed it into my hand. “You like this boy, right?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Then buy some condoms.”
“Mom—”
“And take it from a romance author, buy him flowers, too.”
With another eye roll, I took her money. She could be as annoying as she wanted to be. It didn’t matter. Each minute that drew me closer to seeing Daniel again brought bubbly excitement chasing through my veins.
Almost an hour later, I rang Daniel’s doorbell with a can of green beans and a bouquet of flowers clutched in my hands, a new pack of condoms in my backpack, my Leica around my neck, and a stupid, hopeful smile on my face.
“Mister! It’s you again!” Kennedy swung the door wide wearing blue jeans, a sparkly hairband rather like one of Minty’s, and a stained yellow T-shirt. She took one look at me, and whipped around to yell, “Dan! Your friend Mister is here! He has flowers! And green beans!”
“You can just call me Peter,” I said to her.
“Sure, okay, Mister Peter. C’mon in.”
I laughed as I stepped inside. “Just Peter.”
At that moment Daniel appeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a small towel. He looked as glowingly handsome as ever, barefoot and laid-back in a white button-up and blue jeans. “Hey,” he said, breaking into a smile. “Roses? Thank you.” His eyes crinkled at the edges as his smile grew even wider. “Wow. I’ve never had a guy show up with flowers before.”
“Me either.” I let him liberate them from me.
He ducked his head to smell them. “They’re gorgeous.” He breathed in deeply again, closing his eyes. The golden tint of his hair picked up the orange tone of the flowers, and I lifted my camera to grab the shot.
Daniel’s head came up at the snicking sound, his eyes searching mine. “Are they for me? Or my mom?”
“For you.”
A flicker of emotion crossed his face, and I didn’t know what to make of it.
“I got the orange ones—not because of UT, but because of autumn. It’s coming up soon.” A wrinkle of anxiety disrupted my joy. “And, uh, my mom said to bring them?”
Daniel turned to Kennedy, handing off the hand towel. “Take this and the green beans into the kitchen for me, will you?”
Kennedy fixed the sparkly headband in her messy hair before grabbing the can from my hand and darting off.
