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When he parks, he says, “Full disclosure, we aren’t actually eating here.”
My brow furrows. “What do you mean? What are we doing here?”
“Well, I planned on just getting some takeout and take the food somewhere a little more intimate.”
I have no idea what he has in mind, but he has me sold with the word ‘intimate’. He pulls up the menu on his phone and has me pick out what I want. I settle on the chicken alfredo since I’m sure that I will get anything with red sauce all over my dress because… well, that’s just who I am as a person.
Half an hour later, we are pulling into the drive-in movie theatre.
“The drive-in?” I ask. “Man, I haven’t been here in years.”
“You haven’t taken your kids?”
“Three kids shoved in a car, pumped full of sugar? That doesn’t sound like the best idea.”
We both start laughing.
“You need a truck,” he says. “Then, you can shove them all in the bed to watch. You can sit back there with them or sit in the cab where it’s quiet.”
“You make some good points.” I smile. “So, what are we going to watch?”
“You pick.”
While we are in line, I look at the list of movies that’s on the old sign at the entrance. “I’m not sure that I’m the best person to pick. I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these.”
“Even better. Just pick what sounds good based on the title. Nothing else known about it.”
“Oh, geez. That sounds even worse than judging a book based on the cover.” Looking a moment more, I pick one that sounds like it will be some type of action movie. Good enough, I guess.
He backs into a parking spot not too close but not too far from the screen. “One second,” he tells me.
He jumps out and grabs a few things from the backseat. He’s so quick I don’t even see what he grabs. A few minutes later, he opens my door for me and leads me around to the bed of the truck. He’s completely transformed it with blankets and pillows, making it the perfect place to watch an outdoor movie.
He even has a small little step stool to help me climb up into it. He’s really thought of everything.
He holds my hand while I step up and kick off my sandals to get comfortable. Before he joins me, he gets the plastic containers out of the bag from the restaurant and hands one of them to me. When he sits down, he opens another bag and pulls out a bottle of wine and two plastic cups.
“Sorry, I don’t have any real wine glasses,” he says.
“Hey, I’m surprised you’ve thought of this much. I would have been okay with some McDonalds.”
He laughs. “You’re an easy woman to please, huh?”
“I have my moments.” I take a bite of my pasta, and it’s delicious. “Holy cow. This is amazing. Why have I never heard of this place before?”
“Most people outside of their town haven’t heard of it. They don’t do any kind of advertising because the owners want to keep the place small. It’s a husband and wife who opened it over forty years ago. They’ve poured their hearts and souls into the place the whole time. You can tell they really love it.”
“Man, I wish I was that passionate about something… anything.” I’m a little surprised by my sudden confession. That’s something I never thought I would say out loud, let alone to another person.
“There’s still time, you know—to find your passion. You’ve got a whole lot of living left to do.”
My phone vibrates, and I check it just to make sure it isn’t anything having to do with one of the kids.
“Everything okay?” Tanner asks.
“Yeah, it’s just my dad. I showed him how to send memes, and now, he sends me a few a day.”
“It’s good that you and him are so close. Have you heard from your brother lately?”
