Page 29 of Into the Mountains (Blue Grove Mountain #3)

A comfortable silence settles over the camp, the crackle of the fire the only sound along with the nighttime wildlife and the sound of the water nearby. “You know that’s the hoodie I tried to steal once,” Charlotte speaks up.

“I know,” is all I say, because that’s the exact reason I brought it with me. To taunt her with it. Instead, I see a small smile almost reach her eyes, like she’s remembering the time she almost got away with stealing it.

MAY - FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

The Second Date

“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“No way, Elias. It’s my turn.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had someone take me on a date before.”

“From what you’ve told me, you’ve never actually dated before.”

“Ouch.” I place my hand over my heart like I’ve been mortally wounded. Charlotte just laughs at me from her place in the driver’s seat. “You’re right though,” I admit. “You’re the first one. And most likely my last.”

The car swerves slightly and I grasp the handle above me, my heart picking up speed. “Your what now?”

“I was kidding, Charlie, please don’t kill us.” She puffs out her cheeks and breathes out a long sigh.

“Would that be so bad though?”

“What?” she asks.

“A life with me?”

She hesitates like she’s searching for the right words. “This is only our second date. I think that kind of thinking is a little too serious.”

She’s right. It is, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about a future with her.

Little red-haired babies of ours running around somewhere with land, a lake or a pond nearby to take them fishing when they grow up.

Then again, that’s a fantasy I’ve had since high school.

I’ve pictured my life with her for years.

If I were to admit that now, I’d definitely solidify my social standing as her stalker.

“But in the general sense with no other specifics, yes. But that’s all I’m saying right now.”

“Okay,” is all I can think to say. “So, where are we going?” I ask for the millionth time and am answered with an eye roll.

It’s late afternoon and the sun isn’t as hot as it was earlier today.

It would be the perfect time to swim in a nearby lake, fish, or do any other activity you can that involves water.

As if she read my thoughts, she pulls into the parking lot of the local marina. “You have a boat?” I almost scream.

She laughs. “I don’t. My parents recently bought one when I left for college. Apparently they decided to do more fun things with me out of the house, which is completely unfair.”

“And you know how to drive it?”

“I do. When I came home for spring break, Dad helped me get my boating license. So you’re safe with me.”

“I never would have doubted that, red.”

I search through the files in my brain, trying to think of a scruple of information I know about boating and ships from research I did in grade school when I went through my pirate obsession.

“Did you know a treasure hunter, Tommy Thompson, found a sunken ship, the SS South America that carried over $1 billion worth of gold?”

“It was the SS Central America actually,” she responds with no hesitation.

“How did you know that?”

“I was consumed with treasure hunting and ships when I was in middle school. I thought it was really cool and when I think something is really cool, I tend to fixate on that subject and find out everything I can on it. I spent a lot of time in the library that year.”

“So, that’s how you have so much knowledge crammed into that brain of yours.”

“My mom always said I had an eidetic memory and it wasn’t until later that I figured out it’s somewhat true. I can recall pages of texts days after I’ve seen them even if I’ve only seen them once.”

“That’s… really cool.”

She turns her head to look at me. “It is?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I didn’t know about it.”

“A lot of kids did in grade school, but I was bullied a lot because they accused me of cheating. They always thought it was unfair that I could remember so much and assumed I only had the answers because I must have cheated somehow.”

“They were just jealous they weren’t as smart as you.”

She shrugs. “Probably. But it still sucked. And it quickly became really lonely. It wasn’t until seventh grade that I found a friend in Andy. She thought it was cool too how I could remember things.”

“Andy from the coffee shop?”

“Yeah, she didn’t want to seem like she knew me in case you thought she was there to spy on our date.”

“I never would have guessed. But she did spy a bit, didn’t she?” I accuse playfully.

Red spreads through her cheeks. “Yeah, she couldn’t help herself. She’s really protective of me. I was in the library one day reading up on my newest mermaid fixation and some girls were whispering about how they thought I was weird and would probably grow a tail if they threw water on me.”

“They didn’t.” I exclaim, imagining a young girl just trying to read in the library and being accosted a cup of water she didn’t deserve.

“They did. Dumped a whole bottle of water on me and ruined one of the library books. Thankfully, the librarian saw the whole thing and put the damaged book fine on their accounts instead of mine. But Andy saw everything too and yelled at them, pushed them away from me before they could say anything else.”

“What did they do when she stepped in?”

“They tried to go after her too with their words, but she was different. So sure of herself like she really didn’t care what anyone else thought of her. She just laughed in their faces as the librarian carted them off to the principal’s office. Called them bitches on the way out.”

“They deserved it.”

She chuckles slightly. “They did.”

“We’ve been close ever since. She asks me obscure questions all the time just to see if I know the answer.”

“Do you care that she does that?”

“No. It challenges my brain. Makes me think.”

“So, what do you know about boating?”

We’re walking down the dock now, passing boat after boat, some people docking their boats, others getting them ready to go out on the water. I grab her hand and lace my fingers through hers.

“You’ll have to narrow down the question, because that one is too broad. I know a lot about boats. I did tons of research on them when my dad told me they bought ours.”

I think about it for a second before asking, “What’s the craziest thing to happen on a boat in recorded history?”

“It depends on your definition of crazy.” She pulls out a ring of keys from her pocket and stops in front of a large cabin cruiser with Annie scrawled on the side.

“What’s the meaning behind the name?”

“My dad was all sentimental when he bought the boat. He said it was something him and Mom always wanted to do. They just never did. And then all of a sudden, when I came home for spring break, here it was.” Her voice gets quieter near the end as she gets lost in her thoughts for a moment.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” she hesitates. “They’ve been acting weirder since I’ve been home this time and I wonder if it’s actually been going on longer and I just haven’t realized it?” she says like she’s asking a question.

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know.” She tries to busy herself with setting things up around the deck, setting down the small cooler she brought along and storing it in one of the bench seats.

“It’s like we’d be having a good moment one second and the next, they’d look at each other or I’d catch them looking anywhere but at me. And then they just get this look.”

“A look?”

“A sad kind of look and I know there’s something they’re not telling me, I just can’t figure out what it is.”

I contemplate her words for a minute before responding. “That must be really frustrating.”

She looks back at me with a shocked expression like she’s surprised anyone would ever validate the way she’s feeling. “It is.”

Busying her hands, she points to the rope secured around the cleat connected to the dock. “Take us away?”

I nod and start unwrapping the rope. Once I’m done, I climb into the boat with the rope and set it aside.

“So, what will you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will you stay frustrated or will you ask them about what’s going on?”

Instead of answering, she puts the key in the ignition and starts the boat, muffling out the sounds around us. She’d have to yell at me if she wanted to answer and by the way she started the engine as quickly as she could, she’s avoiding it.

I watch from her side as she carefully backs out from the dock.

Once she’s clear, Charlotte puts it in gear and starts easing out of the marina.

The air has gotten a few degrees cooler since we left the car and I’m glad I decided to wear my favorite soccer hoodie.

It’s faded from years of use, but it’s still a good fit for me and it’s always my go-to.

The wind whips Charlotte’s hair around so much, I’m amazed she can even see where she’s going, but she keeps the boat steady and steers around two logs just fine.

We both enjoy the ride in silence, but I put my hand on her shoulder to let her know she’s not alone.

I want to be here for her. For whatever it is she’s about to go through with her parents and for whatever she has to go through in the future.

It’s like when I saw her on that app, the old crush of mine came out of its hibernation and by the way it has clawed its way out, I don’t think there’s any chance it’s going back to sleep again. Ever.

Charlotte starts slowing the speed as we come to a beach I’ve never been to before.

It’s secluded and a few miles away from the marina.

A few boats are already anchored a few yards away from shore and there’s loud music coming from the beach.

A group of people are crowded around a fire with red cups I’m assuming are filled with alcohol and I’m just hoping these are college kids and we aren’t about to come into a party with underaged drinking. That’s not my style.

“We aren’t going there, are we?”

“Oh, hell no. This is the way we have to go to get around.”