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“But I did,” he grinned, pushing his hair from his eyes.
“Don’t complain about it then.”
“You’re mean,” he chuckled.
“You know,” I leaned towards him conspiratorially, “it surprises me that you were scared, what with the tattoos and bad boy demeanor you’re always sporting.”
“Hey,” he defended with a grin, “I’m not afraid of heights. I just couldn’t handle the teetering basket thing. What if it tipped all the way over and we fell to our death without any protection?”
“If that was the case, then I don’t think anyone would ever get in one. They’re safe,” I explained as the waitress set our drinks on the table. Mmm, sweet tea. I’d never tried the stuff until I moved to Virginia, but I was now a sweet tea addict.
“Obviously,” he smiled in amusement. “We’re still alive, aren’t we?” He raised his glass of water, taking a sip.
“Yeah, we are,” I mumbled, overcome by sadness. We were alive, we were healthy, and we had our whole lives ahead of us. But Gramps…
“Olivia?” Trace said my name hesitantly, placing his hand overtop of mine where it rested on the table. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
“It’s nothing,” I took a shaky breath.
“Oh,” he frowned as realization hit him. “You’re thinking of Gramps.”
I nodded.
“You know,” he started, biting down his lips, “I understand that every life has a limit. I watched my dad die and I almost did the same with you,” his eyes grew sad. “But that doesn’t make it any easier. When you look at someone, you don’t see an expiration date. You see life and that makes death so much harder to accept.”
His words were true. I turned my hand underneath his so that it was palm up and gave it a squeeze.
“You’re so wise,” I smiled.
“Hardly,” he snorted. “I’ve just had way too much experience with this. Seeing my dad killed tore me apart, Olivia. You never get over something like that. Then having to watch you dying in front of me, and being unable to do anything to save you, was another blow. Watching you in that hospital, waiting for you to wake up,” the lines of his face darkened and his lips turned down, “I vowed then to never watch another person I loved have to suffer that way. I can’t do it. I know that’s weak of me,” he laughed humorlessly, “but it’s true. Going on this road trip might be taking the cowardly way out. But I have to. I can’t stay home and watch Gramps wither away. Especially with the others not knowing,” he took his hand from mine and rubbed his stubbled jaw. His eyes had a faraway look in them.
I looked down at the table, overridden with guilt as I remembered what Warren had told me. He hadn’t told Trace the whole truth, but he had told me for some reason. By the time we got back from our road trip—I couldn’t even think about it.
After what Warren had confessed to me, I’d told him that I would talk Trace out of the road trip. But he hadn’t wanted that.
He’d taken me in his arms, given me a great big bear hug and said, “Don’t do that, Olivia. Trace needs this. I see it in his eyes. Go and have fun. Live for me.”
It had been hard to say goodbye to him after that, but I’d done it, because that was what he wanted.
I gazed across the table at Trace. We were both lost in thought. Slowly, his eyes met mine. The sadness that swirled in the green depths was reflected in my own.
I knew he was thinking,
not only of Gramps, but of his dad and what had happened to me.
I knew it was selfish of me, but I’d never really stopped to think about how he had been affected by what happened to me. I could see in his eyes how much he had suffered watching me lie in that hospital bed and then with the slow recovery process. At the time, I’d only been able to think about how I was hurting. But Trace had hurt too.
The waitress set our food on the table and we both snapped back to reality. He forced a smile and pushed his glasses further up his nose since they kept slipping down.
I hated seeing him so sad. I only ever wanted him to be happy. When you love someone unconditionally, when they hurt you hurt, and right now I was in so much pain that I couldn’t stand it. From now on, I was going to make sure this road trip was only about the two of us and all the fun we could have.
I eyed the massive sandwich in front of me and smiled at him, hoping to lighten the mood. “I still don’t know how you expect me to eat this.”
“You’ll manage,” he chuckled, picking up his own sandwich and taking a massive bite. “Delicious,” he said around his mouthful of food. A dollop of coleslaw sat in the corner of his mouth. I reached across the table and wiped it away with a swipe of my thumb. His eyes dilated as I took my thumb between my lips and sucked it away.
“Woman, we’re in a restaurant and you’re purposely trying to turn me on. That is so not fair.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” I laughed. “Honestly.”
