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"I had a really interesting time with you tonight."
"Good-interesting, or bad-interesting?"
"Good-interesting," he said, smiling.
"Great. I had a good-interesting time with you too."
"Thank you."
She pulled away from the curb, still smiling at him. "See you this summer, maybe," she said, with a little wave.
"Yeah, maybe!" he called.
Beau left that interaction feeling happy, and he found himself smiling all night. Holland McArthur gave him electric feelings. She was full of electricity. And she was sweet. She was sarcastic and witty, but at the root of it was pure sweetness. Holland was beautiful and could have had any guy in that room, but she had pumped him up, telling him he was handsome, telling him things that made him smile and blush at the thought of them.
For the next few days, Beau's thoughts went back to that encounter with Holland. It lasted beyond that, but he had traveling to do and got distracted.
He had two trips planned that summer, and they were both with different college friends. His first trip was a month-long trip to France and England. He would come back home after that and have two weeks off before his next trip. AJ would go with him on that one. He hadn't planned on going to Arkansas, but his break at home lined up with the time his parents and siblings would be there for the Fourth of July.
He booked his flight at the last minute. He would go to the lake house for four days and fly back with AJ. They would still have a full week in Chicago before leaving for Japan.
His spur-of-the-moment flight came into Little Rock in the afternoon, and his Aunt Sarah from Houston had to be there that day anyway, so she came to the airport to pick him up. She met him in the arrivals' lane on the street, so there wasn't much time to catch up before he sat in the car.
"How was France?" This was the first question she asked when they took off.
"Really good," Beau said. "England, too. It's been a great summer so far. How are you, Aunt Sarah?"
"I’m good. I have a rash on my leg that I had a dermatologist look at just now. That's why I'm in Little Rock. But good, otherwise. Lila's busy with acting, and Beck's painting. Your grandfather would be beside himself right now with none of you grandkids in medical school, but everybody's doing pretty well."
"They'll do fine," Beau said, talking about his cousins, Lila and Beck.
"I know they will. Thank you, baby. What about you? Your mom said you had a job already lined up, that's exciting."
"I am excited. It's a couple who owns the company, and they're both really good at what they do. I think I can learn a lot from both of them—even if I don't work there forever."
"Your mom said it was outdoor stuff."
"It is, mostly. They design small homes and things like that, but it is mostly patio design."
"That's pretty cool."
"Thanks, Aunt Sarah."
"Do you ultimately want to design bigger things? Buildings and things like that?"
"I might sometime. I'm just kind of starting at this one because they're nice people and they wanted me. I think it's a good place to start."
"That's good. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you," he said.
"So, you come here for a week and then you're off to Japan?"
"I'm only here for four days, but yes, on the Japan part."
"World tour," she said dazedly.
"Yeah, buddy," Beau agreed.
