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“Blue. The goat. He’s small but persistent.”
Gigi raises her eyebrows. “My goodness! And the teacher didn’t mind?”
“She said she has to patch those walls all the time, and it’s easy enough to sew the panel with her industrial machine. She asked me for a couple hundred to cover the cost of the patching material, and I agreed.”
“What a doll! Blue didn’t get out through the hole, did he?”
“Oh, he sure did. Me and Cole had to trek across the desert for hours. Oh my gosh, I actually fell onto a cactus. It was oneof those moments of my life where my clumsiness really got the best of me. I toppled right over. But Cole had tweezers.”
I go on painting the picture for her: how the sun sank down and Cole chopped wood and built us a fire. We fell asleep under the stars and watched the sun come up, and he heated water in a pot over the flames the next morning.
“Did you know cowboy coffee that’s made just with water and grounds, no machine, is actually kind of tasty?” I say. “I mean, maybe it has something to do with being out in the fresh air and seeing the sky turn pink and gold. I guess even a cup of hot water would taste good, with that view to go along with it.”
“Sounds like you had quite the time!”
“I didn’t even get to the best part. Cole borrowed a helicopter…”
Gran listens as I describe our flight to Silver Creek. “I wish I was outside in the yard! I’d have looked up to blow you a kiss.”
I smile, thinking about the way it felt to be up there, hovering above this very house.
“It was really special, seeing everything from up at that height. It sort of made me appreciate this cozy little town even more. I’ll probably write about it, for this next assignment I have due, for my dating class. We’re supposed to write about what makes us unique. I think for me, it’s my upbringing here in Silver Creek.”
“Dating class?” Gran asks.
“I haven’t told you about it? It’s a new class I’m taking, with this brilliant relationship expert named Julienne Reed. It’s all about etiquette for online dating. There are a bunch of rules to learn. It’s all pretty common-sense stuff, but it’s been really good to review it so I can keep it in mind.”
She pins her clear, blue-gray eyes on me. Her face is the same shape as mine; round and soft. Her hair’s a white halo aroundthe top of her head. One day, I’ll probably have white curls like hers.
“Now, what do you think you need online dating for?” she asks.
“It’s one of the best ways to meet people these days, Gigi. I know it probably sounds strange to you, but honestly, it makes perfect sense. I mean, there are lots of single guys out there looking to meet a partner, and I can look at profiles this way, and they can see my profile, and—”
She flaps a hand my way.
The gesture’s familiar. I learned it from her.
When she leans in toward me, it’s with a quizzical look. “Meetsomeone? Olivia, listen to yourself. Surely you see that you don’t need to meet someone new.”
“But I do, Gigi. I’m thirty-one, and I’m tired of being alone all the time. I want to meet a guy I can go on adventures with. Build a life with. Maybe start a family with.”
“Of course, you do, but you don’t have tomeethim. He went on adventures with you all week, and from the sounds of it, he wants to go on many more. A man doesn’t borrow a helicopter and fly it into the desert on a whim. That was him spelling out his intentions. He wanted you in the co-pilot seat.”
I scrunch my brow as I try to think that through.
She laughs and pats my hand again. “Don’t worry. It always feels like this at first… Falling in love’s scary business. I remember when your grandfather first asked me out, I almost wet my britches, I was so terrified.”
I can’t help but dissolve into giggles. “Grandma, you’re not supposed to say things like that.”
“But it’s true!” “I know, but—”
She laughs, too. “If I can’t tell my own granddaughter these things, who can I tell?”
I shake my head, more laughter welling up.
She gets up out of her seat, giggling too. “Now, don’t tell your grandfather I told you that. How unladylike of me! He’d never look at me the same.”
She laughs her way to the patio door. “He’s having a ball with this critter. I better go tell him to be careful of his back. Is he letting that thing headbutt his hands?”
