"No. It's about what I want to be when I grow up. My dad is a dentist. I figured, what the heck, I'll follow in his footsteps then changed my mind. I'm a big disappointment all around. Grandma always wanted me to be a singer, an actor, any kind of performer. She wants to see someone in the family do something exciting with their life, but we're all a bunch of boring fucks," Rico said.
"Boring is good," Sam said and Rico groaned.
He then frowned deeply at Sam and said, "You must have had it rough to think that way." After a pause, he reconsidered. "I'm not prying or anything. Sorry if I put my foot in it again."
"No, you're right," Sam admitted. He didn't really want Rico to censor himself around him. His directness reminded Sam of his grandmother, and he knew Rico was a good guy.
Sam found that working in the kitchen while Rico was chattering next to him soothed his nerves, but then there wasn't any more for him to do. Once he was out of there, Sam wondered how he would keep himself from obsessing about Wyatt leaving.
As he came out from the back, he saw that Lara had come into the cafe and went over to her. "Good morning."
"Good morning. You know about the special assignment for you and Wyatt?" Lara said.
Sam shook his head and wondered if that was something Mrs. Del Rio had arranged.
"There's a float that's ready to be painted. I estimate that's a two-man job, just right for you and Wyatt," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "The Smiths' kid is an art student. She did the drawing, but she didn't have time to paint it in. There is a color chart and you'll pick up the paints over at the school. We stashed the float at the Lubbock's old barn. You know where that is?"
"No, sorry," Sam said.
"I already told Wyatt all about it. He has the directions. He'll be by to pick you up. He was happy to hear about it. You can take the boys over there and you can have the dogs with you too," she said and looked at him questioningly since he wasn't reacting the way she expected. "Something wrong?"
"No. Sounds good," Sam said with a vague smile. Honestly, he didn't know how he felt about this. All he knew was that his heart hurt.
He would get to be with Wyatt today and for a little while longer until he was gone. That was something, but it wasn't enough. He would just have to make the best of it and make sure he didn't get in too deep.
Oh fuck. That thought made him want to laugh, and it made him feel sick at the same time. He was already in too deep and this was hopeless.
Pulling up in front of the café, Wyatt arrived with a car full of kids and dogs and they all headed for the school to pick up supplies. Sam was glad for the distraction of kids chattering and the dogs poking their heads out the windows. Being alone with Wyatt right now would have been agony.
"You feeling OK?" Wyatt asked him as they arrived to park on the side of a dirt road that led to the barn.
Sam told him the truth or at least a part of it. "Just didn't sleep well."
Walking the rest of the way with the supplies, they arrived at the barn where the float was. The barn was huge, like an airplane hangar with big doors on both sides to give them plenty of light. In there, they saw the peach blossom honey float with drawings of the usual peach flowers but also bees, beehives and jars of honey.
"They've marked off the colors for us. We just have to slap on some paint," Wyatt said as he set down the box with the paint canisters.
"Slap on some paint? You mean color it in precisely," Sam told him as he went over and looked at the drawings. They were good, skillfully done but not too serious.
"Ouch. I didn't realize it would be so detailed," Wyatt said as he took a closer look at the drawings.
"We can do it. This is nice work. We have to do it justice," Sam told him.
"We will, as long as you don't distract me with your hotness," Wyatt said and he grinned at Sam.
Under Wyatt's teasing gaze, Sam did feel hot, as in overheated. He had no idea how he was going to manage working with him and staying aloof at the same time. He was sure to fail. But then he saw some hope when the kids and the dogs came in.
"We'll need to keep the dogs away from the paint. OK, guys?" Wyatt told them.
"Are we gonna paint?" DJ asked.
"No, sorry," Wyatt told the boys.
Seeing that they looked disappointed, Sam told them "This is painting for grown-ups. It's not going to be a lot of fun."
"What are me and Ry gonna do?" DJ wondered.
"We wanna volunteer," Riley told them.
