Out of all of them, he was the quietest and the hardest to get a read on. Sometimes I’d spot him at the edge of the group, staring off into space like he was searching for something.
“Three and a half weeks of pure and utter relaxation,” Ozzy replied. “You will find me in one of the hot springs when I’m not in a food coma.”
“I’ll either be on a snowmobile or in front of the fireplace with my guitar,” Rebel declared.
Now that caught my attention. “They’ve got snowmobiles?"
“Yup.” Rebel replied, “Why, are you interested in joining me?”
“Hell yeah! Think we can find a few thermoses for hot chocolate?”
“I never ride without one,” Rebel said. “We can throw a couple in a backpack and see where the trails take us.”
“Bet!”
The bus rocked gently over what felt like a speed bump, and not long after, we parked, and Rebel took my arm.
“Almost there,” Rebel said as he escorted me off the bus.
What hit first was the scent of fresh air tinged with something slightly fishy, then light, when Rebel tugged the bandana off my face.
“Surprise!” Rebel said. “And seriously, welcome to the band; we’re lucky to have you on the road with us.”
Rebel pressed something into my hands as the guys cheered. When I finally tore my gaze from the empty stretch of beach, I looked down to see a giant popcorn bucket with Stitch’s face all over it.
“Hell yeah we are!” Johnny said.
“You’re cool,” Dash said. “I can rock with you.”
High praise coming from him.
“Thank you for saving my dream,” Ozzy said. “Getting to watch you guys soar to greater heights will be my pleasure.”
Words caught in my throat, so I just hugged him in response.
“Come on, you’ve got sea glass to find,” Rebel said, draping an arm over my shoulder as soon as I stepped away from Ozzy.
“Did you do this?” I asked as we headed for the water.
“It was a group decision. All I said was that a day at the beach would be the perfect band bonding experience to officially welcome you.”
“Really?”
“Okay, so I might have reminded them of what you said about hobbies, but Ozzy was already thinking beach too. We’ve got a cooler full of things to chuck on the hibachi and some frisbees and things for later.”
“Thank you. I knew there was a big softy under all that snark.”
“And hair, don’t forget the hair,” he replied, twisting a lock of those red-gold waves around his finger.
“Yeah, the hair is pretty cool too,” I conceded as I bent to poke at a sliver of something aqua in the sand.
Score!
Into the bucket it went.
“Where are we anyway?” I asked, eyes glued to the sand, shoes and socks discarded, and legs of our jeans rolled up as we walked in the surf.
“Lake Superior, I hope it will do until we reach the coast.”