Shadow and Stars

Twenty-Two

Dad agrees to let me go to Little Rock, but only after at least thirty minutes of begging, laying out an entire itinerary that gets us back to Eureka Springs by ten p.m., and even promising to let him track my phone.

"That won't be necessary, ladybug. I trust you." Dad eyes Julian next to me on the couch, and I can tell he is noting the lack of space between us. "But I have to ask the obvious question."

I close my eyes and wait for the humiliation to wash over me.

"Who's driving?"

I let out a short, relieved sigh and Julian's voice is light when he replies, "I will. My aunt's Mustang is brand new, and she lets me drive it on the weekends when she takes her sensible car to work."

Dad's eyebrow seems to raise halfway up his forehead. "Mustang?"

"I promise I won't speed."

Yeah right, I think with silent laughter.

Dad isn't clueless to the driving habits of young men in sports cars, but he must trust Julian anyway because he just nods. "Keep my daughter safe, okay? I know I may seem a little overprotective here, son, but she's all I have left."

My heart constricts, and I squeeze Dad's knee. "Don't worry, Dad. We will be fine."

The sun is breaking through the clouds on Saturday morning, and I am waiting outside my house with the book, Luna's journal, the photo, and printed copies of the newspaper articles I'd read packed neatly into my backpack. I am eager to get to Little Rock to translate this book, but I must admit that I am even more excited to spend the entire day with Julian.

If someone had told me last year that I'd have a massive crush on Julian Byrne, first, I would've said, "Who?" And when I figured out who they meant, I'd have said they'd lost it. Julian and I are hardly from the same social circle; in fact, he never really had much of a circle, and me...well, since breaking up with Levi, it's become abundantly clear that I never really had one either.

"Somebody's eager to get going," Julian says as he pulls up in the driveway, leaning over to open the door for me.

I sling my backpack in the backseat and buckle my seatbelt while saying, "You promised me a bite to eat...at a place that isn't in Eureka Springs. That alone is enough to be excited about."

He shakes his head as we drive toward the interstate. "And here I thought you were excited to see me. It turns out you're only in this for the food."

I steal a glance at him and when I catch him staring at me, I flush. "Julian, if you don't know I'm excited to see you after the other day, I don't know what to tell you."

He slides his hand from the steering wheel and laces his fingers with mine. "I knew it."

"What?"

"I knew when we were paired together for this project that we'd end up in this situation."

I throw my head back and laugh. "Is that right? And what situation would that be?"

He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it, his lips clinging to my skin for a couple of seconds. "The one where you have utterly captivated me."

I'm certain my heart is going to fly right out of my chest as he grins against my skin and rests our hands back on my knee.

The silence between us is comfortable, and I communicate my feelings without words; I run my thumb over his in steady, gentle strokes. We sit that way for miles until I finally sit up straight in my seat and point at a blue interstate sign. "Hey, there's a Chick-Fil-A. I could really use some Lord's Sweet Tea," I say, and he laughs.