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“We never do anything to anyone who doesn’t either want it or deserve it.”
He laughs. “Just telling you. My brother’s entrusted me with looking after Cassie, and I take that responsibility seriously. If you make her cry, we’re going to have problems.”
It’s a threat, but I don’t treat it as one. His tone is sincere, even though looking at him, there wouldn’t be any contest if we had to throw down. “There’s going to be no problem. I plan on treating her like an angel.”
He looks at the horse. “Uh, is it safe for two people to ride the same horse?”
“I wouldn’t have brought him if it weren’t safe. I can promise you, Cassie will come home safely and happily.”
“Are you giving him the third degree, Uncle Jeff?” Cassie pushes through to me, beaming in my direction.
“Just making sure we have an understanding.”
“Believe me, Uncle, I wouldn’t be going on a horse ride with a man unless I trusted him.”
“Oh, if you’re sure. Just be careful, Cassidy.”
“Well then, if everyone is convinced of everyone else’s safety, shall we get going?” Cassie says, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward Monterrey.
“Let’s do so.”
We saddle up, and I hold her tight as Monterrey walks out onto the road and we head into town.
We go for a pretty typical date, all things considered. It’s just Burly flavored. Our local theater is pretty small, one of those that runs movies that have been out for a while already.
“It’s about the experience,” I say as we sit down and the movie starts to play. “This place has huge, comfortable chairs. The popcorn is top notch. And they don’t even overcharge for the candy. Not too much, anyway.”
Cassie laughs as she bites into her sour gummy. “Plus I get to sit close to you and everyone gets to see what a handsome guy I’ve nabbed.”
I put my hand over her shoulder and massage it. “That’s the spirit.”
There are other people here. Most of them don’t pay us much mind, focusing on the movie. Cassie surprised me by suggesting she wanted something scary. Horror films never did much for me, but when it comes to spending time with her I don’t take much convincing.
During the film, she tenses up and she moves closer to me during the particularly scary parts. I chuckle, and hold her close. I guess now I see what she sees in them. Something to keep you on edge, something to keep the adrenaline pumping. As much as I like the theater experience, I silently wishe we had watched this in private, on a sofa, so we could get a whole lot closer to one another, and that maybe this could spin out of control in the right way.
We’re not so crass as to try to do anything in the movie theater. I wouldn’t write it off, but I think we’d need a better understanding of one another before making such a daring move.
That familiarity will come in time.
Next step is dinner. It’s at Burly’s only diner, due to a lack of other options for restaurants, outside of a single fast food place, and that doesn’t seem like first date material.
Thankfully, Olivia’s Diner works hard as the only restaurant in town, and Olivia herself is a skilled and highly knowledgeable cook who can make damn near anything you want and make sure it comes out good.
I order a nice, hearty bowl of beef stew, and Cassie chooses a double cheeseburger. “I’ve never eaten here,” she says. “But I think a burger is a good bellwether of if a restaurant is for me or not.”
“How so?”
“It’s pretty basic. If you can make a good burger, I can trust you to make a lot of things. If you mess that up, I’m kind of skeptical of your skills as a cook.”
I laugh. “I’m sure Olivia will meet your expectations.”
“I hope so. She does sort of have us by lack of options. It’d be really easy for her to skate by on that and just take advantage of people who don’t want to cook.”
“Nonsense. She’s part of this community. She’s going to stand by her contributions. It’s different out here, Cassie. I get why you’re jaded and all, but Burly is way different from Tacoma.”
“Hope you’re right.”
I take her hands into mine. “I am right. You’re going to love it here, if you’re not loving it already.”
