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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
IVY
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Istuck my arms outthe window of Ethan’s old turquoise pickup truck and let the cool wind whip through my fingers. My mother had always warned me that this was dangerous as a child, and I always followed the rule to keep my hands inside the vehicle at all times. But today, I didn’t care about the rules, and at the slower speeds on the Washington Island roads, I doubted I was in any danger.
“I love Washington Island!” I said as I pulled my arms back into the truck. “It’s so cool over here.”
“Yeah. It’s always worth a trip over when you’re in Door County. I mean, you gotta at least get your Bitter’s Card, right?”
I puckered my face as I remembered taking the appropriately named Bitters shot at the bar we went to on the island. Apparently, doing shots of Bitters is an island tradition, and I even got a little card that said I was a member of the Bitter’s Club that year, complete with my thumbprint stamped in the yucky brown liquid.
“I’m not a fan of Bitters, I’ll admit, but becoming a member of the Bitter’s Club was well worth the few seconds of burning throat. I can cross that off my list.”
The past two days, Ethan had towed me all over Door County, and we’d been knocking things off my list left and right. We climbed to the top of a lighthouse, rented mopeds and rode through Peninsula State Park, he took me bowling for the first time, and even taught me how to drive a stick shift in his old truck. We’d done so much in two days that I was surprised we’d had any time left over for sleep ... or the other things we did in that bed and other places along the Door Peninsula. Having sex outside in a place we could get caught was another thing I got to knock off my growing list when he’d pulled me behind a tree at Cave Point and taken me right there just off the trail while people strolled by. It seemed everywhere I turned was a first I wanted to do, and Ethan was always willing to jump in headfirst with me to help me accomplish it.
“When you grow up in Door County, you learn to love Bitters. I get my card every summer.”
“I’m sorry,” I said as he pulled into the line for the ferry to return us home. “This must be really boring for you.”
He furrowed his brow. “What? What’s boring for me?”
“The past two days, you’ve been so amazing dragging me all over to do so many firsts, but I realize none of them are firsts for you. You grew up here. You’ve done all this stuff. I hope it hasn’t been too boring for you doing them all over again.”
He shook his head. “No. Not at all. Yeah, I’ve done all this stuff already, but you haven’t. And doing it with you makes it feel like the first time for me all over again. Seeing things through your eyes makes me see them the same way too. Honestly, this is the most fun I’ve had in longer than I can remember.”
“Really?” I kicked my bare feet up on the old dashboard. “You mean that?”
His eyes sparkled as he answered. “Yeah. I mean it. Honestly, I’ve pretty much done all the big firsts I knew I wanted to do before I died, so my ‘list,’ as you refer to it, has really dwindled down to nothing. Being with you for your firsts lets me feel that same excitement, that same wonder, again. And it’s pretty awesome.”
“Wow. I guess I never thought of it that way.”
“Yeah. Like the ferry, for instance. For me, I’ve been on it so many times it’s just a mode of transportation. But riding it with you reminded me of how cool the trip over the island is. It makes me appreciate the experience more, and that’s pretty great.”
I grinned back at him, excited to know he wasn’t just enduring all these adventures with me.
When we got on the ferry, we parked the car and climbed out. I liked going to the top and leaning on the rail for the jaunt back to the mainland. The wind whipped through my hair, and I felt so free up there.
“You cold?” Ethan asked when I closed my arms around myself.
“Yeah. A little. The fall air is a lot chillier out on the water.”
“Here.” He pulled off his hoodie and handed it to me.
“Aren’t you going to be cold in that?” I pointed to his long-sleeved t-shirt.
“I’ll be fine. Just put that on and warm up.”
“Thanks, Ethan.” I slid his warm, fuzzy grey hoodie over my head and pulled it on. It smelled like him, earth and pine and all the masculine scents he emitted, and I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent I’d grown so familiar with over the past week.
He slid his arm around my shoulder and pulled me up against his chest. I sunk into his warm embrace as I pressed my back to him, his chin resting on the top of my head.
“I love Paradise Isles, but I love Door County too. You really have figured out the perfect way to live.”
“Yeah. I kinda crushed it.” He chuckled.
“Yeah, you did. And see! That’s exactly why I’m going to take some time and live like you do. I want to find my happiness too. I can’t wait to see where I end up with nothing and no one standing in my way.”
