“Well, there was this horse that broke out of its enclosure when I was about eight years old. It found its way onto our property and I was...”
Clay listened intently, to every word she said, but didn’t register a single one. He heard her voice, he watched the animation in mannerisms as she spoke about the thing she loved most, and he fell a little more in love with her than he’d been yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that. How he’d ever get the courage to tell her how he felt, he didn’t know. But for now, this was enough. Sitting beside her, breathing in her scent, listening to her tell him about one of the things she loved most in the world, this was good.
~~~
Much later that night when the celebration was wrapping up and all the food was being packed away, Cruz filled two paper plates with food, and a third with desserts, wrapped them in foil, and quietly left the trailer park. He walked down the highway in the darkness, carefully holding the food filled plates, in front of him. When he was right across from the store, he quickly crossed the street and went right into the store.
Julia looked up from where she stood wiping down the counters. “Hi! I thought y’all were having a party today?”
“We did. It’s winding down now and everybody is packing up leftovers and getting ready to go home.”
“Oh, okay. Was it fun?” she asked.
“It was. Had a lot of fun. Thanks for working today so we could all be together.”
“It’s no problem. Casey was here until just a little while ago, and it was a slow day except for people coming in for gas.”
Cruz smiled and walked over to where she’d just finished wiping off the counter and tossed her disinfectant wipe into the garbage can. “I thought you might be hungry,” he said, placing his mountain of foil wrapped plates in front of her on the counter.
“Oh, my gosh! That’s a lot!” she said, laying her hand on the top of the plates.
He smiled shyly. “I wanted you to have enough for now and for later. And there’s dessert in there, too. Plus I didn’t know what you liked, so I brought you some of everything.”
Her expression softened as she looked at him. “That’s so sweet. Thank you, Cruz.”
“You’re welcome.” He stood there awkwardly for a few moments, then kind of wandered over toward the door. “I guess I should be going.”
“Are you going back to school tonight?”
“No, we’ll be going back tomorrow night. I usually ride with Sebastian.”
“Are you taking the same classes he is?”
Cruz snorted a laugh. “No, I’m in Pre-law. He’s just partying.”
Julia laughed along with him. “So, you want to be a lawyer,” she asked, when their laughter died down.
“Well, I want to be a judge, maybe a senator one day. But I have to be a lawyer first.”
“I’m not surprised. You always were so smart in school.”
He canted his head slightly. “You knew who I was in school?” he asked.
“I was a couple of years ahead of you, but yeah. I noticed you. You were always so kind to everybody. And always won all the scholastic awards.”
He smiled at her. “I didn’t know that.”
“What, that I knew who you were?”
“Yeah. I wish I’d have known.”
“Oh, yeah? Why?” she asked, fully aware that they were both flirting now.
“I might have asked you to a dance or something. You probably wouldn’t have gone, though. You were a couple of years ahead of me.”
She looked at him for the space of about two heart beats. “I’d have gone with you.”
“You would have?” he asked.
