“Yes.”
It was that easy, Amanda thought. It had been that easy, and that hard, all along.
She felt the heat in her own cheeks.
“I’m hot,” he said, then blushed some more. “I mean, warm. Nervous. I have a break. Want some ice cream? As long as we’re acting like kids.”
Amanda walked with him to the ice cream stand near the popcorn kiosk. Kids milled around, coming up to their waists. Sean got vanilla, and she got rocky road, her favorite. She remembered how as a kid she had once dissected a cone, asking her mother for the name of every ingredient, so she could safely guess what they were once they were in her mouth. Here, this was a nut. A mini marshmallow. All safe in her mouth.
Sean and Amanda sat near the primate habitat, suddenly shy around each other. Their thighs touched. The sun melted her ice cream, but Amanda was too nervous to taste it.
“What should we do on our date?” Sean asked.
“What do you want to do?” Amanda was scared of dates. She hadn’t gone on many, and most had been total disasters.
She looked at his shiny hair and realized Sean might have issues too. She had never asked about his past, but maybe there was a reason he had also gone to work at the zoo and not to college. Not that everyone smart went to college.
“I like to go for long walks. My mom got me into it. Sometimes I go to the track for the car races, but to be honest, that’s more for my dad.” He ate his ice cream, thinking about it. “Whatever you want. Maybe you could tell me more about Molly. We could do something fun. How about a movie?”
“Not the loud ones,” Amanda said. “I don’t like the loud ones.”
“Me either. Hey, have you ever played miniature golf? It’s really fun.”
Amanda thought about it. “I might get it wrong.”
“Who cares?”
“Okay, then.” They finished their cones.
“This weekend?” he asked as they both carefully wiped their hands and dropped the napkins in the trash.
“Yes, please,” she said, and he held her hand all the way back to the gates.
While Amanda was gearing up for work—and possibly love—Larry was walking the beach, once again. His feet felt different on the sand, like he was going someplace. He was staying at the hotel until he decided next steps. Maybe he’d buy a little place in Seaside. Something more modern than the cabin, like a condo.
Stomping his feet like a local, he entered the market.
Gertrude was in the back, but this time she waved at him. Aspire was at the counter, looking bored.
“Did Amanda give you those clothes I loaned her?” the teen girl asked.
“She’s going to send them back, all nice and laundered, now that she’s home.”
Larry poured himself a cup of coffee. “You give any thought to what we talked about? Maybe striking out on your own somewhere?”
“Where would I go? What would I do?”
“I don’t know. What would you like to do?”
Larry noticed her mother was listening. She looked sad but receptive, from the shape of her head.
“I like anime. And books. Not much to do with that.”
“There’s a ton you can do with that. Why not look for a job in a bookstore or library? Rent is expensive, but you could get a place in shared housing, with young people like yourself. Safety in numbers, and some of them might turn out to be friends.”
Aspire looked away, her eyes filled with boredom.
“Maybe,” she said.
