Page 65 of Meant to be Mine

“Nowhere at all,” I said. “Just out. Anywhere that wasn’t where we started. We never did make it up north. I still want to see the redwoods.”

She nodded slowly. “I think about that a lot, actually. How free it felt. Like the whole city was just sitting there waiting for us.”

“It was.”

“We thought we knew everything,” she said.

“We knew enough,” I said. “We knew where to get a good burger.”

She smiled at the table. “We did know that.”

The burgers arrived and we ate the way we always had, which was without a lot of ceremony. She stole two of my fries before her own were halfway gone. I ate mine and watched her talk between bites.

She told me about a road trip she’d taken in New Jersey with a colleague from school.

“Same energy,” she said. “Just going.”

“I used to think about those drives when things got hard,” I said. “I’d think about being sixteen and not knowing any of what was coming and just driving.”

She sighed. “And we used to think being seventeen, dealing with our parents, and failing a test were hard times.”

“Yep. I think the years make us realize how good we had it.”

“Now we sound old.”

“Making me feel old.”

We ate and talked about some of the good times. I realized most of the best times of my life included her. How had I never seen that before?

She sat back when she finished her burger and pressed both hands to her stomach. “I forgot how big those were.”

“You ate the whole thing.”

“I was hungry and it was so good.” She grinned and pulled her shake back toward her, working on the last of it. “You really haven’t been back here?”

I shook my head. “Felt like cheating.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t come here without you. It would be like cheating on you.”

“You’re very sentimental.”

“Who knew?” I said with a shrug.

She let out a long, contented sigh. “I’m going to need a nap.”

“One more stop.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.”

“Hint,” she said.

“Nope.

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