She turned to face me. “You mean what’s changed since high school?”
I nodded.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t feel the same way, back then. I was just scared. You—you told me I was yoursoulmate. I mean—who meets their soulmate when they’re 8 years old?” She met my eyes. “I was 18 and you were 17—and we didn’t know where our lives were leading. It was all so scary. Uncertain. But...” She trailed off.
“But what?”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” She loosened her grip on my hand.
“It does to me.” I held her hand firmly, willing her to continue to open up to me.
“But I never really thought that meant I would lose you completely. I know now that my silence when you told me how you felt must’ve felt like the worst kind of rejection. But I swear, I never meant to hurt you. And I never thought you’d just take off like that.” Her eyes welled with emotion. “You were just... gone.”
I brought her palm to my lips and kissed it.
My thoughts rolled around in my head, and I opted for open honesty. “I didn’t think about how you would feel when I walked away like that. I just—needed the space. I needed to grow up and figure out who I was when I wasn’t the teenage boy in love with Brooke Meadows.”
“And did you?” she asked. “Figure it out?”
“Working on it,” I told her, then distracted her by nuzzling kisses into her neck.
We madelunch in my apartment, then I got ready to unveil my big surprise for the weekend.
I caught Brooke’s eye. “I know I said we’d do the zoo,” I told her, “but I thought all the walking might be taxing. Plus, I had a slightly different plan in mind. Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
I held her hand as we wound down the staircase to my Subaru. I drove away from the beach, taking the 15 north towards Escondido.
She squeezed my hand contentedly throughout the drive. Barely-controlled excitement burst through my veins.
Less than an hour later, we pulled into a large parking lot. I turned to face Brooke.
“I knew the zoo might be a lot of walking for you, so today’s adventure has a bit of walking and a bit of riding in style.” I winked.
Her eyes widened as we approached the entrance. Surrounded by large palm trees was a thatched-roof hut with a bright orange sign that read San Diego Zoo SAFARI PARK.
“A safari?” Her eyes filled with joy.
The park was currently hosting a Summer Safari African Extravaganza, and Brooke and I settled in to seats to listen to the tribal drummers and watch the acrobats and fire eaters. Brooke kept tapping my shoulder, squeezing my hand, and shooting me huge grins.
After the shows, we headed back towards the entrance where we waited to board a large safari truck. This was the part of the experience I was most excited about—a chance to experience an up-close view of the African savanna here in Southern California.
I helped Brooke into the open-air truck, and we listened to the guide as we bumped along the road towards the 1,800-acre expanse.
The guide informed us that four baby elephants had been born in the Safari Park the previous year. While the youngest weighed 257 pounds, the mother weighed 6,300 pounds.
As the safari truck passed through an automatic gate, we saw three African rhinos basking in the sun. Nearby was a natural pond with ducks floating in it. The truck moved slowly, pulling up close to the majestic animals. One rhino clambered to its feet and came over to sniff the truck, which caused Brooke to give an extra-hard squeeze to my arm.
“I can’t believe they’re so close,” she whispered in awe.
I brushed her hair back from her face. Itwasan amazing sight.
As we slowly moved forward in the truck, we came across Cape buffalos and herds of wildebeest. The guide’s voice spoke about this habitat “having no predators” and being an “herbivore-only community.”
We passed a skittish herd of impala, clumped closely together with their heads raised and laser-focused on us as we passed.
I heard Brooke’s gasp as we approached the giraffes.
