“And you should ask Chrissie. Maybe we could even go together,” Brad said, pulling into the town square. “We could go in together for a limo or something.”
“Sounds good.”
As soon as Brad pulled into a space outside Murphy’s Diner, Tanner opened the door, climbing out of there like the car was on fire.
His body felt weird. Like every muscle inside of him was coiled up tight, and the only way to get some relief was to hit something.
Or someone.
Watching Brad swagger into the diner like he was king of the damn hill made him realize exactly who he wanted to hit.
But he had a plan. And getting suspended from school for fighting another student didn’t figure in it all.
Damn, he hated this. As far as he was concerned, graduation couldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter Twenty-One
Van crossed her arms and looked at the field in front of her. It was a complete mess right now. Where grass had once grown was overturned earth criss-crossed with deep tracks thanks to the heavy construction vehicles the team was using. But even through the devastation, she could see things starting to take shape. The screen was half-constructed, along with the building to the left that would house the refreshment stand on the ground floor, and an office above it for the general manager.
For her. It was still strange to think that. It was like a circle that was finally closing itself. She was back here, in Hartson’s Creek, working at the drive in. And at night she lay in Tanner Hartson’s arms.
“I got a couple of things for you to sign off on,” Rich called out when he spotted her. “The audio visual equipment should arrive next week, so we’re concentrating on the screen and the projection room. Once that’s all in we can work on the field and finish the buildings. You okay with that?”
She was impressed at how much was getting done. Not that it surprised her. She’d seen how much Tanner was paying Rich’s construction company for such a short deadline. He really was keen on getting this up and running.
“I’m good with that. Is everything still going to plan?”
“Yes, ma’am. No glitches so far. Even the rain two nights ago didn’t cause any problems. And I’ve checked the forecast for next week, it should all be good.”
“So the completion date is still achieveable?” she asked him.
“Yes. For sure.”
Van nodded, her lips pressed together. She and Tanner had already agreed that Saturday July fifth would make the perfect opening date. It was a holiday weekend, everybody would be in a party mood, and she had just enough time to organize an opening gala before they showed the movie. Hopefully that should get them some publicity and bring the movie-lovers out.
She’d held off sending out invitations until she checked with Rich. She’d been burned too many times planning events like this. But she knew Virginia summers. They were hot and humid, with only the occasional storm that passed almost as soon as it arrived. It would rain thick and heavy for an hour at the most, then the sun would come out and dry it all up again.
If the construction was finished on time, that gave them some leeway to have a rehearsal where they could run all the systems and the refreshments, inviting a few friends to try the drive-in out, before the gala. She made a quick calculation. They could have the rehearsal the weekend before the opening. That would give them a week to iron out any issues.
“Oh, hey, Tanner,” Rich said, looking over her shoulder. Van felt her skin warm up, the way it always did when he was around. She turned to see him walking up the field, his jeans low, his t-shirt tight against his muscles, with a blue football cap pulled low over his thick hair.
Her stomach gave a tug as he smiled at her, his eyes crinkling. It felt new and old at the same time. She smiled back, glancing carefully at Rich, hoping he didn’t know what was going on between her and Tanner.
Right now she was happy keeping things on the down low. Gossip still hadn’t died down about her mom’s appearance at the Moonlight Bar, and she certainly didn’t plan on adding any fuel to the fire.
Her relationship with Tanner wasn’t anyone’s business. It was too precious to be tainted by wagging tongues. Too new for her to do anything but protect it. Even if she did want to go and shout about it to everybody, she was too busy anyway. With the drive-in, Zoe, and Tanner, of course. The perfect triumvirate.
Tanner skimmed his fingers across the top of her bare arm, then reached forward to shake Rich’s hand. Even that briefest of touches was enough for the goosebumps to rise on her skin. Van swallowed hard, trying to slow her heart down. Why was it so difficult to keep a poker face?
“Everything under control?” Tanner asked.
“All good. I was just telling Van about the audio visual installation next week. Once that’s done, we have a couple of weeks to finish up the parking area, buildings, and the playground. We should be good to go by completion day.” Rich shrugged. “Of course it does mean working weekends.”
Tanner lifted a brow. “Whatever it takes.” He gave Rich a nod then turned to Van. “You got time for a meeting?” he asked her. “I have lunch in the truck. I thought we could go over the opening plans while we eat.”
/> “Sure.” Van nodded. “Let me sign these papers and I’ll be with you.”
Five minutes later, she was climbing into Tanner’s rental car, an oversized beast of a truck that probably ate fifty gallons of gas for breakfast. He was still trying to decide which new car to buy, since he’d had to give up his old one when he sold the company in New York. “I see your taste in cars hasn’t improved,” she said, biting down on her lip as he started up the engine.