The sun is low in the sky when we get back to the farm, and I ask Hattie to stay in the truck. I know Pop will make himself scarce, but I want real privacy. I head inside and grab a few supplies. Then I drive Hattie all the way across the fields to the line of trees at the south end of our farm. Javier and his crew have left for the day, so it’s just us and the gathering sunset.
As soon as I cut the engine and open the truck’s door, all we can hear is the wind.
“We’re gonna have a sunset picnic.”
Coyness tilts the corners of her hazel eyes. “So that’s why you brought the sleeping bag,” she teases, eyeing the bed of the truck through the back dash.
I shrug, playing along. “I mean, the sun’s going down. The temperature will drop soon.”
“And is that—” she eyes the cardboard box I tossed into the truck bed “an air mattress?”
I pin her with my stare. “Only if you want it to be.”
Hattie visibility swallows. “Oh, I want it to be.”
“Hang here a sec.” I fire up the truck’s engine again and leave it running when I get out. Hattie’s bags get relocated on the ground. At least it’s dry. After I open and shake out the new air mattress, I spread it out. Then I slide open the cab’s rear window and hold up the power cord. “Care to do the honors?”
Her eyes shine. “Sure.”
She takes the plug from me, and in about five minutes, we have a bed for two.
“Any objections to pizza in bed?” I ask.
“Pizza in bed sounds like the best thing ever.”
I put her in charge of the Bluetooth speaker while I spread the sleeping bag over the mattress, Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving settles gently around us.
I set the box of pizza and the mini cooler I packed onto the sleeping bag and beckon Hattie to me.
“I love this part,” she mutters as I bracket my hands around her waist and lift her onto the truck bed. She scrambles onto her knees and then climbs onto the mattress. “It reminds me of the day we met.”
A smile splits my face as I climb up beside her. The air mattress is surprisingly firm. “I just hope you’re happier now then you were that day.”
Hattie rolls her eyes. “Oh, man. Everything has changed for me.”
I grab the pizza box and open it between us. “Yeah?”
She helps herself to a slice before taking a bite, shutting her eyes, and moaning softly.
God, I missed her so much.
Then she opens her eyes and balances the slice in one hand while counting off on her fingers. “I have you?—”
“Pretty sure you already had me then,” I confess. Because it’s the truth. She had me the moment I laid eyes on her.
Hattie smiles, but she doesn’t stop counting. “I have figured some things out—like what I want a career to look like.”
I serve myself a slice but give her my full attention. Hattie and I talked a little more last night on the phone, and she told me how the time at Summit House had been good for her, but she hasn’t shared any details about what comes next.
She keeps counting. “I’m learning how to better communicate boundaries with others—especially my family.”
Confidence and resolve. That’s what I find in her face.
The swell of pride in my chest is sudden and fierce.
Then she shrugs, but it’s not the shrug of uncertainty. She looks happy. “I don’t know. I just… feel more like me.”
“Feeling more like you.” I nod. “I like the sound of that. You being my favorite person and all.”