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“Ewwwwwwwwwww!”
I startled, looking around, and saw Cody and his mom—and there was his dad, holding the toddler. Mom had the baby.
“Hey little dude!” Dale called, waving across the terrace at him. “Did you like the fireworks!”
“Yeahhhhh!” His eyes were still all starry. “They were way cool!”
“Awesome!” Dale gave him the thumbs up, taking my hand in his other hand. He started leading me toward the exit.
“Did you kiss her in the Haunted Mansion?” Cody called.
Dale stopped and looked back. I was trying to keep a straight face. Then Dale winked and gave him a big thumbs up.
“Good man!” Cody called back, giving him two enthusiastic little thumbs up right back.
I laughed as we headed down the stairs.
“Your feet still hurt?” he asked.
“Don’t yours?”
“A little.” With the power of the pass, Dale got us one of those little golf carts I saw Disney employees running around in. We drove it to the front of the park and left it with one of the attendants.
“Your first show is tomorrow.” It just hit me as we were sitting there on the bench, waiting. Dale had used the phone in the attendant’s booth to call Chelsea to handle getting us back to the hotel.
“I know.” He leaned back on the bench, thumbs hooked in his belt.
“Nervous?”
o;Here.” The cabbie handed back a Kleenex box, taking one for himself and dabbing at his eyes.
“Thanks,” I sniffed, wiping my wet face as we approached the gates.
“I’ve made this drive a hundred times, Miss,” the cabbie said as he pulled over to let us off. “From first timers to cancer kids, I’ve dropped them right here—and this is the only time someone’s actually made me cry. Damnit.”
He reached back for the Kleenex and I handed him the box. I saw his name on the visor and a little jolt when through me. His name was Benjamin Grouse. Ben.
“Thank you.” I didn’t know if I was thanking the cabbie or Dale but they both said, “You’re welcome.”
“You have the time of your life!” the cabbie called, rolling down the passenger side window so we could hear him as we climbed out of the back seat. I asked Dale if we should pay, but he said Chelsea had taken care of it.
“We should give him something…” I opened my purse and leaned down to hand him two dollars.
“Thanks, Ben.”
“Thank yourself, lil miss.” He smiled, dropping me a wink. I wasn’t sure what that meant but the feeling came through all the same. “You stay all the way to the end, for the fireworks. It’s a helluva show.”
“We will.” I gave him a little wave and moved back as he pulled away from the curb.
Dale took my hand, swinging it as we walked into the park.
“Don’t we have to pay?” I asked as he strolled past the line of people waiting to get in.
“Oh yeah.” Dale reached under his t-shirt and pulled out a laminated card on a lanyard. Then he reached into his back pocket, producing another one to hang around my neck. “Your key to the kingdom, princess.”
“I already found my prince, remember?” I kissed him, intending for it just to be a quick, sweet kiss, but his hands moved to my lower back and I wrapped my arms around his neck and suddenly we were really kissing, completely lost, the world around us melting away.
“Ewwwwwwwwww they’re KISSing!” a little voice piped up beside us and I looked down to see a kid about five, curly blond hair and big, blue-eyes, pointing at us.
