Judging Books

I couldn’t help but smile, and all thoughts of my overbearing, controlling father vanished from my head as visions of Ethan’s sparkling eyes took their place. I imagined a lush, green park full of trees and a pond full of ducks. A quiet walk in the park actually sounded like a fantastic idea. I had never been to the one he mentioned, but I found it on my GPS when I got to the car. I drove past a few abandoned warehouse buildings until I finally pulled into the little parking lot indicated by the woman’s voice on the GPS.

As I looked around, I realized Ethan and I had different definitions of a park.

Chapter 23—Expectations

A chain link fence enclosed what looked like an old tennis court. Instead of nets and the like, there were two curved structures painted with graffiti. About a dozen guys and girls on bikes were zooming up and down them, flying into the air when they got to the top and then twisting around so they could land without killing themselves.

Even though his head was covered with a helmet, I immediately spotted Ethan on his dark green bike as he flew past a couple other riders and up one of the slopes. He soared high into the air, twisted in a complete back flip, and landed easily on the ramp below to the cheering of some of the other kids in the park.

My Saab chirped as I locked it, which caused a bunch of the kids to turn around and take notice. I could feel the heat rise into my face as I started walking up to the gate.

“Hey, chickie!” one of the guys called out. “That’s a sweet ride. Do the seats go all the way back?”

The group around him started to laugh until Ethan rode straight through the whole pile of them and put his hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Be polite,” he said softly. “I invited her here.”

“This your girlfriend, E?” The guy laughed as Ethan blushed. “My apologies, pretty lady. Welcome to Gibbs Park.”

“Ashlyn, this is Otis.” Ethan jumped off his bike and reached for my hand. “Otis, this is Ashlyn.”

He introduced me to about nine other kids, but there was no way I was going to remember all the names. I greeted the group and allowed Ethan to lead me over to a rusted bench with a good view of the ramps. I spotted CeeCee’s huge form almost immediately. Faith was right behind him as they twisted and turned, crossing each other in the air before landing neatly on the ramp.

“CeeCee, Faith, and Gwen are still riding,” Ethan said as he pointed out each person in turn.

“Who’s Gwen?”

“Oh, sorry,” Ethan said with a slight blush. “Gwen is Faith’s girlfriend. She was there when you came to, um, talk to me last night. I’m sorry I didn’t really do any formal introductions.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I don’t think that was at the top of my list of things to accomplish yesterday. I’m glad there will be other opportunities.”

“Me, too.”

“Is, um,” I glanced around, “is Andrea here?”

“Andrea had to work today.”

“Where does she work?” I asked, trying not to sound as relieved as I was.

“She’s a waitress at the IHOP over on Cox Road,” Ethan said and then started to laugh hysterically.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Well, she started there when they first opened the restaurant,” Ethan said. “They were all told that when they answered the phone, they should say, ‘IHOP on…’ and then the name of the street where they’re located. So for the first week, they kept getting phone calls constantly, with people just calling, listening to their greeting, and then hanging up, usually laughing.”

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Think about it,” Ethan said with a sly smirk. “It’s on Cox Road. So when they picked up the phone, they would say, ‘I HOP on Cox.’”

I started laughing with him that time.

“So what did they do?”

“Now they answer with IHOP only.” Ethan shot me his double-barreled smile, and I shifted a little in my seat. Ethan gripped my hand and nodded his head toward the bicyclists. “Check that out.”

I looked to where he was pointing and saw CeeCee flying down one of the ramps, going airborne and spinning the bike around and around on its frame—at least three times—before landing on the other ramp and riding back down again. I recognized the lanky blond woman from yesterday—Gwen—as she followed suit, landing on just one wheel a

nd reaching the bottom of the ramp before the other wheel even touched the ground.