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He smiled. “I’m one of those things at least.” He opened his second beer and took a drink. Ember was almost done with her first. “Can I getyou another?”
“No. Water would be nice, though.”
He got to his feet. “I’ll go get you one.”
Ember watched John make his way through the crowd to the bar. Dancing with him had been wonderful, and she hoped he’d want to dance some more. She really wished he get over the age thing, though. So what if he was ten or fifteen years older than her? It meant nothing to her. John was her Mr. Perfect. Compassionate, respectful, loyal, and heart-stoppingly good looking. Check, check, check, and an extra big check.
John returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water and a shot of something. He sat, then drank it down, before following it with a couple of swallows of beer.
Ember looked at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. Just getting ready for another round of dancing.”
“You need a shot in order to dance with me?”
“No. I need a shot in order to stop thinking about why I shouldn’t.”
She reached for his hand. “John.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He got to his feet. “Let’s dance.”
They went to the dance floor. They danced three more times before getting too warm and deciding to go outside to cool off. They wentto the table and picked up John’s hat, Bob, the stuffed cat, and their two drinks, then headed for the door.
It was nice and cool outside, with a slight breeze blowing. They went to a bench under a tree and sat down. The sun was nearly down, and it’d soon be time for the fireworks show.
John took a sip of his beer. “Do you have a special spot to watch the fireworks from?”
“Actually, I should’ve thought about this sooner. The best place to watch them is from the middle of the lake.”
John smiled. “Do we have time to get home and go out on the boat?”
“I don’t know. We have an hour.”
“Let’s go.”
Forty minutes later, they were on the boat and moving toward the middle of the lake. The moon was full, so they had enough light to see where they were going. And they’d turned the porch light on at the house, so they’d get back home safely without getting lost on the dark lake.
When the first firework went off, they were about a half-mile from shore. John turned off the outboard motor, and they drifted to a stop, then bobbed in the water for a moment before stopping on the still lake.
John moved to the seat Ember was on and sat next to her. They watched the fireworks while holding hands in the middle of the quiet lake. Itwas perfect and Ember didn’t want it to end. It did though, and after the grand finale, they sat there for a moment in the dark.
Finally, John kissed Ember on the temple, then moved back to the seat by the outboard. “Even though I don’t remember any other firework shows. That has to be the best one I ever saw.”
She turned and looked at him. “I remember all of mine. That definitely was the best.”
They headed back, and using the porch light as a guide, got back to shore. John helped Ember out of the boat and then held her hand on the way to the house. When they got to the porch, he stopped and looked at her.
“Thank you for a perfect day.”
She nodded. “It was perfect, wasn’t it?”
He brushed some hair from her eyes, then took a step back away from her. “We should go inside.” He moved to the door and opened it for her.
She went inside and took Bob to the kitchen. She set the bowl on the counter next to the toaster. “There you go, Bob. This is your new home.”
John stood in the doorway. “I’m sure he’ll love it.” He gave her a smile. “I’m going to call it a night.”
“Okay, John. I’ll see you in the morning.”
