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“Yeah.” I glanced over to Russell and Wylie. “I just…”
Russell was now wearing sunglasses—they were black Wayfarers. It hadn’t been bright enough yesterday for either of us to need sunglasses, and wearing them now, backlit by the sun, he looked like a Paul Newman dream.
“You just what?” Chloe asked, her voice soft.
“Nothing. Russell and I are just friends, that’s all.” Chloe gave me a look that plainly said come on. “We’re just friends now,” I amended. “And okay, sure, yesterday I thought maybe it was something else, but I was very stupid yesterday.”
I’m not arguing, Didi chimed in.
“I mean, it was ridiculous. I got caught up in an idea of something and convinced myself it was true. But there’s no such thing as falling for someone at first sight.”
“What? Of course there is.”
“But—”
“It’s just not the only thing,” she said. “The rest of story is more important than the beginning.”
“Have you ever—I mean…?”
Chloe looked over at Wylie, her expression softening. “Oh yeah,” she said. “I was a goner from minute one. He was too. It was like lightning.”
“But it didn’t work out,” I said, even though I had a feeling she was more than aware of this. That lightning lights up the whole sky—but then disappears.
She turned back to me. “Most things don’t work out,” she said, like it should have been obvious. “But if you don’t try, you don’t know. Right?”
“Okay,” Wylie called. Chloe headed over toward him, and I followed, turning her words over in my head. Wylie handed Russell a set of keys with what looked like great reluctance. “Russell has assured me that he will treat my baby with respect and care.”
Russell gave me a smile, then got into the driver’s seat and started adjusting the mirrors. Wylie put my duffel and tent into the back seat, then came to join me and Chloe.
“Well, um… It was really great to meet you, and thank you so much—”
“It was great to meet you,” Chloe said as she pulled me in for a quick hug, then took a step back and looked at me critically. “Have you ever thought about bangs?”
“Um. Not really?”
“I think they’d look great,” she said with a nod as she headed back toward the house. “Get home safe!”
I waved at her, then turned to Wylie. “Thank you. For everything.”
He waved this off. “Just drive safe, okay? And good luck.” He held out his hand to me, and I shook it. Wylie smiled at me, his real smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Darcy.”
I gave him one back, trying to freeze this moment in my mind. And even though I had a charged phone now, and I knew I could have taken it out and asked him for a picture, I also knew I wasn’t going to do that. Not only because it seemed incredibly gauche, but also because I kind of liked that, for once, I didn’t have any pictures marking this time. It was just something I’d have to remember, and hold on tight to.
I headed for the car and pulled open the passenger-side door. Russell was in the driver’s seat, one elbow resting against the open window, his curls falling over his forehead and his black Wayfarers reflecting the sun.
As I settled into the car, dropping my canvas bag at my feet, I realized I’d never been in a car quite like this. It looked like it was probably from the seventies or eighties. Russell and I didn’t even have our own seats—the front seat was just one long bench seat that stretched across, with nothing separating or dividing us. And the seat belts just went across our laps—which I knew was a thing from older cars but wasn’t anything I’d experienced outside of a plane. The windows went down with a manual crank, which was also something I’d never seen before.
“Ready to do this?” Russell asked, starting the car.
I nodded. “Ready. Do you need the address? It’s the South Strip Transfer Terminal.” I looked around and realized—of course—this car wouldn’t have any kind of screen you could see directions on. “I can navigate, if you want?”
“I’m good to get us in the general direction—I might need some help as we get closer.”
“For sure.” I pulled out my phone and typed the address in. “And thanks again for the ride.”
“Of course.” He shifted the car into gear and pulled forward, down the driveway and toward the gates. I glanced back and saw Wylie standing in place watching us. He raised a hand in a wave, and I raised one back. “You should definitely be there in time for the nine o’clock bus.”
“Oh, good.” As Russell approached the gates, they swung inward, and when they’d opened all the way, he drove through them. I turned around for a last look at the mansion, this impossible place where I’d literally landed last night, taking one last picture in my mind before we drove forward and it passed out of sight. I leaned back against the seat, which was covered in a kind of soft maroon fabric. “I would have a lot of explaining to do if my dad came home and found I hadn’t been there.”
