I hadn’t been there, but the whole town had heard when Willow decided to go swimming in the fountain in the hotel lobby where her prom was held. I’d thought it was hilarious, but I was the only one.
Most people called Willow irresponsible.
I called her lively.
Our food was brought to us and we grew quiet.
Eventually, Willow said, “You’re right.”
“’Bout wha?” I asked around a mouthful of food. Swallowing, I added, “I’m right about most things.”
“Don’t gloat,” she rolled her eyes, fighting a smile, “but you’re right. I’ve never let fear stop me from living my life before. Why am I doing it now?”
I shrugged and shoveled a forkful of food into my mou
th. “I don’t know.”
“I want to do something crazy while we’re on this trip.” She nibbled on a piece of bacon.
“Like what?” I prompted, chewing on a piece of toast.
“Swim with sharks.”
I choked on the bread. “That’s the first thing your brain goes to?”
“Well, I went skydiving for my eighteenth birthday,” she shrugged.
“So, of course the natural escalation is to swim with sharks.”
She shrugged innocently. “Why? Are you afraid?”
“Well, yeah,” I admitted. “They have sharp teeth that can tear me apart within a second.”
She grinned and snapped her teeth together. “I have sharp teeth and you’re not afraid of me.”
“I’ll…I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Sure.” She smiled, already knowing that I would inevitably cave because I’d do whatever it took to make that girl happy.
We finished our lunch and I paid again, much to her dismay, but instead of getting back on the road I convinced her to explore the store across the street.
We stood in front of the restaurant, waiting for traffic to clear so we could cross the street.
Once it cleared we jogged across.
There were gargoyles and gnomes galore, and the stallion of course.
“Oh my God! Dean! Look!” Willow pointed up, laughing hysterically.
I tilted my head back enough to see some sort of Ferris wheel contraption with stuffed animals strapped to the seats as it went round and round. It was fairly large, not the size of a real one, obviously, but big enough to be an obnoxious eyesore in someone’s yard if some crazy psycho bought it.
“I would totally buy that.” Willow grinned.
I hung my head. Willow would be crazy enough to buy it.
I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans and nodded towards the building that had been hidden across the street by all the crap. “Let’s check it out.”
Willow skipped ahead of me and breezed inside. A second later she poked her head back out and said, “Hurry up slow poke!”