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“This is the O-Man,” Dylan says. “O-Man, say hi to Caroline.”
O-Man raises his arms to be picked up, the bacon drooping from his mouth like a cartoon tongue.
“Do you need a ride?” Dylan asks Caroline. He surveys her suitcase and the lumpy bag of equipment. “I take it you’re here for the big weekend?”
“I’ve been hired to film it,” Caroline says, then considers how ridiculous this sounds. It isn’t Coachella. “My mom wants me to take some footage for her website.”
Dylan grins. He’s still staring at her, and O-Man is still sucking on the bacon, and Caroline is still missing Isaac, although she has to admit, this is a nice distraction.
“Let me give you a ride home,” Dylan says. “I just have to wait for… Orion’s mom. She has him this weekend. She’s going to meet us here aaaaaaany second.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Caroline says, checking her phone. Still nothing from her mother. “My mom is picking me up.” Caroline sees a blue Jeep coming in hot. Behind the wheel is a woman with long straight hair wearing a baseball cap backward (a cute look, one Caroline can’t quite pull off), and surprise, surprise—it’s Aubrey!
The only thing better than Caroline recognizing Aubrey is Aubrey recognizing Caroline. She gets an incredulous expression on her face—really, it’s meme-worthy. She screeches to a halt, flings open her door, and storms around the front of the car. She snatches Orion up off the ground while at the same time ripping the bacon from his mouth, which she then whips into the street.
Orion starts to cry. “My bacon!” His voice is sweet and clear, and in that moment Caroline both loves him and feels sorry for him.
“I cannotbelievethis!” Aubrey says. She gives Caroline the most withering of looks—Caroline suddenly feels like she needs a shower—then turns to Dylan. “How long hasthisbeen going on?”
Dylan seems pretty relaxed, maybe even a little amused. “About five minutes. We just bumped into Caroline on our way out of the diner. Orion was showing her his bacon.”
Aubrey buckles Orion into a car seat that seems a little janky in its positioning in the front seat of the Jeep (there is no back seat), and Caroline is tempted to speak up. Maybe she is maternal after all?
Aubrey looks at Dylan. “Have your mother come at five on Sunday. I have plans.”
“Plans with…” Dylan says.
“Plans with none of your business!” Aubrey says.
Caroline can’t believe she’s stuck in the middle of their domestic spat.
Dylan pauses. “My mother is busy all weekend,” he says. “I’ll come get him.”
Aubrey slams the car door shut so hard, the entire Jeep shudders. Orion cries louder, craning his neck around to see the fate of his bacon, which has just been snatched up by a seagull. “Whatever, have fun with your little girlfriend, you pathetic piece of—” She starts the car and drives away, flipping them both off as she goes.
“Wow,” Caroline says.
“Looks like someone made her jealous!” Dylan says, clearly delighted. He grabs Caroline’s suitcase and hoists up her equipment bag. “Come on, I’m parked over here.”
Caroline follows Dylan to a truck so big it qualifies as “monster.” He opens the passenger door and offers Caroline a hand as she climbs up into the seat (this requires her standing on the running board). The truck is so high off the ground that Caroline feels like she’s viewing the parking lot from the second story of a building. She revels in the novelty of aman with a truck. Isaac doesn’t even have a driver’s license.
Dylan climbs in, aims the air-conditioning vents toward her, and changes the radio station from Kidz Bop to the Coffee House, which is playing an acoustic version of “Night Changes.”
Whoa.
“To Squam?” Dylan says.
It takes Caroline a second to equilibrate. She’s in a truck next to Dylan McKenzie listening to One Direction. For a second, she’s sixteen again.
“Yes,” she says. Then: “I can’t believe you remember where I live.”
“It’s all my mother has been talking about for days,” Dylan says. “Staying at your mother’s house in Squam. She’s been trying to downplay it but I think she’s really excited about this weekend.”
Caroline finds she’s happy to hear this, for Hollis’s sake. Dylan turns the song up, and spontaneously, they both sing along,Everything that you’ve ever dreamed of disappearin’ when you wake up…It’s such a meet-cute, Caroline can hardly stand it!
She sends her mother a text:Nvm. I found a ride.
11. Provisions
