“And true.” Van winked. “Come on, let’s finish sorting through these, and then I’ll take you out for ice cream. It’s too nice of a day to stay inside for long.”
“Can you meet me at the drive-in in twenty minutes?” Tanner’s voice echoed down the phone line, like he was on speaker.
Van lifted her head from the book she’d been reading. Zoe was playing a game on Van’s laptop, and their mom was staring at Alex Trebeck on the TV, her hands curled around a cold mug of coffee. She showered today, and washed her hair. With no make-up on, and just a cute top and jeans, she looked young and beautiful. It made Van’s heart ache.
“Sure. Why? What’s happening?”
“They installed the audio visuals earlier. I want to check them out.”
Van caught Zoe’s eye. “I need to head to the drive in,” she said, covering the mouthpiece. “Will you guys be okay if I’m gone for a couple of hours?”
Zoe bit down a smile and nodded, her eyes never leaving the laptop screen.
Their mom looked up from Jeopardy. “Fine by me.” She lifted the remote control and turned the volume up, curling her legs beneath her on the sofa.
Ten minutes later, Van pulled her car up at the entrance to the drive-in. It was still unpaved – that would be the last thing done once all the heavy vehicles no longer needed access. The construction team had started to erect a brand new overhead sign that could be seen easily from the road. She and Tanner had gone back and forth about whether to change the name or not, but in the end nostalgia had won out.
The Chaplin Drive-In Theater, Virginia’s First and Best was outlined in bulbs on the pale-blue painted wooden sign. Once the electrics were finished, they’d illuminate the way they had back when she’d worked here as a kid. Looking up at it made her chest feel all tight.
“You staying in there all day?”
She looked up to see Tanner walking toward her, wearing jeans and a black Henley, his dark hair hidden beneath a grey Boston Bobcats hat, no doubt given to him by Cam.
“I was just admiring our handiwork.” She grinned at him, climbing out of the car. “I can’t believe we’ve got so much done in such a short time.”
He pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips against her brow. “Everything okay at home?”
She knew what he really meant. Is your mom sober? “Yeah, it’s all good. Mom and Zoe are in the living room watching a Jeopardy rerun.”
“Here’s your question for two hundred. What’s the most boring program on television?”
“Stop it.” She smiled up at him. “Just because you never get any of the answers right.”
“They’re not answers, they’re questions.” He pressed his lips to hers, making her toes curl in delight. “And for the record, I always beat you in quizzes.”
“Because I let you.” She kissed him back, already breathless at his touch. “Otherwise you’d cry like a baby.”
“I don’t cry.”
“You did when you lost that chess tournament.”
He slid his hands into the hair at the nape of her neck, tipping her head back. He had one eyebrow raised, his expression amused. “I was seven years old, Van. And that other kid cheated.”
“It’s okay,” she told him, tracing her finger along his bottom lip. “You’re allowed to cry. Just not over stupid stuff like chess.”
“Did I tell you I’ve been playing against Becca?”
“And how’s that going?”
“She pretty much hates me and wants me to move out. Which is a good thing, since I paid the deposit for the house on West Street this evening. I can’t wait to get the keys and take you there.”
She loved the way he was looking at her. There was wonder in his eyes, as though he couldn’t quite believe his luck that she was standing there in his arms. But right now she felt like the lucky one. As though she’d spent the last ten years in some kind of hazy limbo, unwilling to build the bridges back to him, yet standing on the other side, staring longingly at the life she once had.
“I have to pinch myself everytime I realize you’re mine,” he told her. “You were the wisp dancing in the wind. I’ve spent most of my life trying to capture you in my hands.”
Her mouth felt dry. Every time she looked at him, emotion flooded her body. Not just because there was all this history, but because he was everything she’d pretended she didn’t want.
A man who looked inside and saw the real her. Who knew that sometimes she would smile even though she wanted to howl. He peeled away the masks she wore and still liked what was underneath.