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“I’m gonna load up on candy,” Shelby said, and that made Bea laugh again.
“Just as long as neither of us gets sick.” She nodded like she could keep viruses and bacteria out with that simple gesture. She and Grant had worked hard to be able to take the next three and a half weeks off from the management company Grant owned and Bea organized. He’d brought in someone six weeks ago to train them, and Bea’s stomach swooped as he pulled out of the driveway.
Their trip had officially begun.
“All right,” Grant said, his voice a little too loud. When he got excited about something, it was hard to rein him in. “First stop, the gas station for drinks and treats.” He looked at his daughter in his rearview mirror. “Second stop, Aunt Julie’s for some of the best on-the-road food.”
“What’s she making this time?” Shelby asked. “Bea, one time when my dad was taking me back to my mom’s, Aunt Julie made these pimento cheese swirls. I’ve never tasted anything so good.”
Bea grinned as Grant picked up speed on the main highway that led off the island. “I hope it’s that, then.”
“Oh, no,” Grant said with a laugh. “Julie never makes the same thing twice.” He scoffed like the idea was absolutely ridiculous. He glanced over to her, and Bea leaned back and simply smiled at him. He’d introduced so much joy into her life, after such a rainy season. “I told her we were doing a National Park trip, and we’d need somegood sustenancefor the outdoor adventures we’re about to have. She’ll make the exact right thing, I’m sure.”
“Dad usually gives her a theme,” Shelby said.
Grant pulled over and into a spot, and they all piled out of the car. Bea went her own way inside, because she wanted one of those Glacier Cherry Gatorades and plenty of red licorice. “Oh, and those peach-O’s,” she muttered to herself. She located all of her candy, passing Shelby a couple of times as her hands got fuller and fuller.
“Oh, baby.” She found Grant over by the doughnuts. “I want some of those boiled peanuts.” She looked down at her full hands too. “Can you get them for me?”
He looked at her wares too, his grin growing. “Well, we’re certainly not going to starve.”
Bea grinned, giggled, and gathered her stuff with all of the things Grant and Shelby had gotten. Once they’d checked out, Grant got going again. Bea started to play games on her phone, as Shelby had put her earbuds in once she’d had her truckload of candy and Grant had commanded the radio and currently had it on a station that played only music from the nineties.
Bea didn’t care what she listened to, because she could solve puzzles to anything. She could remain present, and after only ten minutes of driving, Grant said, “Blake said they might name the baby Daisy.”
“Oh, that’s cute.” Bea looked up. “I’m so excited Lauren’s having a girl.”
“Girls are the best,” Grant agreed, his smile appearing quickly. “Did you decide what you wanted to do first when we get to Congaree?”
“I thought we were doing the Boardwalk Loop Trail,” she said. “Isn’t that still the plan?”
“Yeah, sure,” Grant said, his voice pitching up.
“Oh, boy,” she said, grinning at him, her games forgotten. “I know that tone of voice.”
“No,” he said. “There was no tone of voice.”
“There so was.” Bea watched him, and he kept his eyes on the road like he’d never driven it before. “What did you look up on the internet?”
“I just think it might be fun to do some fishing, that’s all.”
Bea grinned. “Fishing? Grant, baby, have you ever been fishing?”
“Of course I have,” he said. “Just because I haven’t beenlatelydoesn’t mean I’ve never been.”
“What are we going to do with fish?” They’d be staying for two nights in Congaree, and they’d be there all day tomorrow. Bea had specifically not wanted to make plans, because Grant thrived with spontaneity—thus the fishing.
“You just throw them back, Bea,” he said with a laugh. “We’re not going to keep them and then fry them up around a campfire or anything.”
Bea didn’t mind the teasing, and she shook her head as she looked back at her phone. “I don’t even know how to hold a fishing pole.”
“Maybe you should’ve put something else on your love list,” he said.
“Hey.” Bea reached over and swatted his shoulder.
“What?” He laughed. “You realize National Parks are outdoors, right? You hike and camp andfish.”
Bea shook her hair over her shoulders, but it was barely long enough to do that, though she’d been growing it out. She’d done it her whole life, and old habits were hard to break. “When I went with my friends, we just drove to lookouts.”
