“All right, Em, I think you have given the young people a good enough life lesson.” Ralph cut in.
“Yeah, don’t use the F word or you will have little old ladies chasing you around with bars of soap and wooden spoons,” Landon finished and took off out of the room when Emma turned to look at him, throwing a ‘thanks for the food’ over his shoulder.
Jessi and I thanked Kane’s grandparents for having us and told them goodbye, but as Jessi walked out the door I felt a hand touch my arm and I stopped.
“I don’t know what pain you have gone through in your life, but I can see it all over your face.” It was Ralph that had stopped me. Kane was still in the kitchen with Emma. “Kane used to have the same hurt about him. There is nothing anyone can say to make that kind of pain go away. You either learn to deal and move on, or you let it consume you and you shut down. I don’t think its just coincidence that you and my grandson have found each other. Maybe he is what you have been needing all along to finally let go of the things that haunt you.”
I looked into his eyes and noticed they were the same gray as Kane’s; they just didn’t shine as bright. His looked duller from age and sadness. All the thoughts of Kane losing his parents had made me completely overlook the fact that these people had also lost a son. I found myself flipping the charms on my bracelet and Ralph gently took my hand to stop my nervous habit.
“All I am saying is when the time comes for you to finally let it all go … let it. Let Kane be there for you. We will be there for you too, Kelsey. It doesn’t take an idiot to see you are a special young woman. Even my grandson who can be a complete fool was smart enough to see it and scoop you up.” He smiled, which made me smile.
“Thank you. For … everything.” I meant more than just his hospitality and for welcoming me into their home, but I think he knew exactly what I was thanking him for without me having to say the words. He nodded and Kane came out of the kitchen with a bag of the leftovers Emma was sending him home with.
“You ready, beautiful?” he asked me and I nodded. He then gave his grandfather a quick hug. “I’ll be back over in a day or two to change the oil in Maw’s car.”
Ralph nodded. “I told you I can handle it but if you insist, go right ahead. You can be the one to get your hands dirty and I will just stand back and boss.”
“What? Like you don’t do that already?” Kane joked back and they both laughed.
“You’re exactly right, boy. Now get this pretty girl home before it gets any later.”
I gave Ralph a quick wave and Kane and I headed down the sidewalk. We were making our way to Landon’s truck which was still waiting on the curb. I figured since I rode over here with them I would just catch a ride back since he was taking Jess back to the dorms anyway; but when we got to the truck, Kane handed his bag of leftovers through the window to Jessi.
“Can you drop this off at my apartment for me after you take Jessi to the dorms?” he spoke to Landon. “There is somewhere I want to take Kelsey before the weather starts to get too cold.”
“Sure thing. See ya later, bro.”
“Thanks, man.”
I watched as Landon’s taillights disappeared into the distance.
“Um, Kane?” I turned to face him.
“Yeah?”
“I am in a dress you know. How in the world am I going to ride on the back of the bike?”
His smile beamed and he walked over to the garage door to his grandparent’s house. After putting in the code, the doors slowly crept open. Sitting inside was an older model blue pickup truck.
“It was my dad’s,” he said. “He was in the process of restoring it when he died. When I got old enough and pulled my head out of my ass, I finished it. It’s what I drive when it’s too cold for my bike.”
He walked to the passenger’s side and opened the door for me, then took my hand in his and helped me hop into the truck. Once I was in I watched him walk around the front and couldn’t help but be amazed that I was here now. That I was with someone as attractive as Kane and that I was finally learning to live life again.
“So, where are you taking me now?” I asked.
Kane turned the key and the truck roared to life. “You will see.” He smiled and slowly pulled us out of the garage and onto the street. I knew better to even question him any further. He wasn’t going to tell me anything so I might as well just enjoy the ride.
We had been traveling for what seemed like thirty minutes before he cut off the main road and onto a small dirt road. It looked like it had been cut right through the middle of the forest because thick trees and darkness lined each side. We slowly crept down the small path a short ways before he pulled the truck into a clearing. It was simply beautiful. The moon was full and reflecting off some form of water in the distance. We had the windows down in the truck and the warm nightly breeze filtered into the cab. It was quiet even though we were out in the middle of the woods. My guess was the loud noise from the truck’s engine had scared off all the wildlife.
It was a clear night and you could see every star in the sky. There were obviously no lights around, but everything was lit up due to the full moon and all the stars. I never thought places like this even really existed in real life. You only read about places like this, or saw them in some movies. But then you knew it was all staged and they are probably really in some studio with a green screen behind them and all the stars and sounds were edited in later. But not here, this was the real deal.
Kane stopped the truck, put it in park and shut the engine off.
“Another secret spot, huh?” I asked and tuned on the bench seat to look at him.
“I found this one after my parents died. I like to come here when the memories from the other spot are just too much. This spot is just mine.” He paused. “I had been out driving around for hours when I found it. I had been having a bad day, back then it didn’t take much to set me off. I was so angry all the time that if I thought someone was looking at me wrong, my first instinct was to connect my fist with their face to stop the stare.” I sat and silently listened to him. “I had just been kicked out of school for another fight and had gotten into a huge argument with my maw about it and I just took off. I had been driving down that road when I caught out of the corner of my eye the path that led out here. And have been coming here since. It’s actually a good place to fish and swim when I’m not here thinking.”