Page 50 of Three Not-So-Little Words (The Lawson’s #3)

fifty

Wait until You see my Next Trick

Drew

“ Y ou sure you aren’t going to tell me where we are going?” I ask Ronnie. She’s been giving me step by step directions on where we are going and wouldn’t let me put anything in the GPS.

“Nope. Told you it’s a surprise.”

I sigh. “You’re going to pay for this later.”

Still staring at her phone, she pops her gum and says, “Don’t threaten me with a good time, pony boy.”

I look at Colton in the rearview mirror. He has his headphones on and is playing on his tablet. He doesn’t seem phased at all by the fact that he doesn’t know where we are going. He’s just happy that he got to skip school for a day.

Trying to make time pass quicker, I ask Ronnie, “How are things going at the inn? Getting some good shots?”

“I actually finished up everything yesterday. Even got the website redesigned and some new marketing materials made.”

“Geez, that was fast.”

She groans. “Yeah. I’m efficient, but I kind of shot myself in the foot. Now, I’m going to need to find something else to do.”

“Any ideas?”

“I’m thinking about doing some volunteer work around town. See if anyone needs any help with anything.”

“Really?” I ask, trying not to sound too surprised.

“Yeah. Maybe over at the animal shelter. I used to do that a lot when I was a teenager.”

She never ceases to amaze me. Most would look at Ronnie and see a woman who lives a wild life for only herself. But she’s so much more. She has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever encountered. She just doesn’t let everyone see it.

I’m one of the lucky few who gets that honor. And I won’t take it for granted.

As we drive a little further, I start to figure out where we are going. All the signs that we pass are giant advertisements for the Portland Zoo. I assume that’s our destination, but it isn’t until we are pulling into the parking lot that I know for sure.

“The zoo?” I ask quietly enough to make sure that Colton can’t hear…even though I’m sure he will figure it out when we get out of the truck.

“You’ll see.”

I get Colton’s attention and have him take off his headphones and put down his tablet. He doesn't ask a single question until we are at the front gates.

“Is this the zoo?”

Ronnie says, “Yeah, have you ever been to the Portland Zoo?”

He looks at me because he doesn’t know the answer, so I say, “He’s been to zoos in Florida, but we have never been to one anywhere else.”

“Well, you are in for a treat,” she says.

We get up to the ticket booth, and I pull out my wallet to pay, but Ronnie says to the employee, “Hi, we should have some tickets waiting. It’s under the name Veronica Lawson.”

The woman clicks a few things on her screen, and some things start printing. She hands each of us a wristband and then a few extra things to Ronnie.

“These should get you into everything. Consider them your all-access passes. Have a wonderful visit, Miss Lawson,” the lady says with a smile.

We step out of the way to put on our wristbands, and I whisper, “You are like magic.”

“Wait until you see my next trick.” She winks.

I take Colton’s hand, and we start walking through the zoo. It’s a bit of a chilly, damp day, but I’m starting to realize that’s pretty normal for Oregon. It’s a far cry from sunny Florida, but I'm not complaining.

First, we hit the elephants and then the giraffes. Colton is having fun seeing everything, but I notice that Ronnie keeps checking her watch.

“You okay?” I whisper. “Do you have a hot date?”

“No. Just trying to keep us on schedule.”

“Alriiiight,” I say, having no idea what the hell she’s talking about.

Soon enough, we are walking into the aquatics building. Before we go very far, Ronnie tells us to stay put. She goes and says something to one of the employees. The employee hurries off, and Ronnie comes back to us and says, “Alright, we have to wait here for just a second.”

“Is there a line to see the fish?” I ask.

The look she shoots me tells me my sarcasm isn’t appreciated. Less than a minute later, a guy comes walking out.

“Ronnie!” He says giving her a quick hug before turning his attention to us. Shaking my hand, he greets, “And you must be Drew. I’m Leon, and this big guy must be Colton.”

Colton nods, appearing to be just as confused as I am.

“Well, follow me right this way. We have something super cool planned for you guys.”

We follow Leon through a door and down a long hallway before he walks into a room. It looks fairly normal with a tile floor and light blue painted walls. There’s a couple of chairs along one wall but not a whole lot of anything else.

Leon leaves again, and I look at Ronnie, “Are they going to feed us to the dolphins or something?”

“Like a dolphin would want to eat you,” she quips.

“I’ll have you know a dolphin would love me.”

Before we can take his conversation any further, the man returns. This time, he has a surprise with him. Behind him, in a wagon, is a penguin.

A fucking penguin.

Colton’s eyes get huge when he sees it. He starts tugging on my shirt to make sure I see it too.

Leon says, “This is Sunny. She is one of our penguins here at the zoo.”

He then goes on to give some fun facts about penguins, but truth be told, I don’t hear a single one of them. I’m too busy watching Colton. He is hanging on every word while still watching the penguin with intrigue and awe.

Leon asks, “Do you want to pet him?”

“Yeah!” Colton cries.

He takes a minute to show Colton exactly how to do it without scaring the penguin or hurting him in any way. Moments later, my son is taking two fingers and rubbing them along the penguin’s back.

Eventually, the man lifts the penguin and lets him walk around the floor. He tells Colton that he can get on the floor with him but not to crowd his space. Both Colton and Ronnie slide onto the floor and pet the penguin as he walks by.

I look at the two of them, and my heart swells with joy. This woman who claims she isn’t very good with kids has made my son the happiest I’ve ever seen him. If I wasn’t sure I was in love with her before, this sure as hell cements it.

She’s fucking incredible.

I pull out my phone and start snapping as many photos and videos as I can. I know Colton will want to have proof of this whole thing.

Hell, even I want proof of this whole thing. How many people can say they have had a one-on-one encounter with a penguin? It’s not something one gets to do every day…well, unless you’re a zookeeper I suppose.

My attention is drawn to the man who brought in the penguin. I can’t help but notice the way he looks at Ronnie. I’ve seen it before. Most guys who look at Ronnie have that same one. They look at her like she’s gorgeous and they would love to have a chance with her.

I don’t blame them. They can look all they want. She’s all mine.

When we finish up our penguin visit, we walk through the rest of the zoo, but honestly, nothing can compare to what we just did.

For Colton, that was the highlight, and he can’t stop talking about it.

To remember the trip, Ronnie buys him a stuffed penguin from the gift shop–even though there is no way he’s going to forget this.

He goes on to talk about it the entire way home. I don’t care. I’ll listen to him talk about it all damn day. It’s a good exchange for seeing him so happy.

When we finally make it back to my place, we go inside, and Colton takes off his jacket and shoes and starts to head for his room.

“Hey, bud,” I call. “I think you need to come say something to Ronnie.”

He comes sprinting back in, hugging her so hard he almost knocks her down. “Thank you, Ronnie! You were right! The wish came true!”

She smiles at him. “I told you.”

As soon as he runs off, I pull her in for a kiss. My hands hold onto her face as we make out for a minute. When I pull back, I say, “I’ve been wanting to do that all damn day.”

She grins. “It’s about damn time.”

“Okay, I have to ask. How the hell did you pull that off? You brought in a fucking penguin.”

“I did some photography work for the zoo a couple of years ago. Leon was my point of contact. He got me up close and personal with the animals to get some good shots.”

“He sure seems to like you,” I say, realizing I kind of sound like a dick. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

She smiles. “It’s alright. I never slept with him if that’s what you’re angling for. I may enjoy a good romp in the sack, but I don’t like to mix business with pleasure.”

“I didn’t mean to sound like a jerk.”

“Don’t worry. You didn’t. Leon has asked…more than once, but I’m not going down that road.”

“I just want you to know that this is the best surprise that you could have given my little boy. He is so happy.”

“Good,” she says. “That was the end goal.”

“What did he mean by his wish came true ?”

She looks away from me as if embarrassed.

“The other day, when we were making cupcakes on his mom’s birthday, he asked what he should wish for.

I told him he could wish for whatever he wanted, and he asked if he should tell me.

I said if he did, maybe the spirit of his mom would help me make it come true. ”

“You’re incredible,” I tell her. And without thinking about it, I blurt, “I love you.”

She looks at me as her jaw drops open.

“Oh, uh–”

I stop her before she can stammer even more. “Ronnie, stop. I don’t need you to say it back. I don’t want you to say it back until you’re ready…and when you mean it.”

She looks completely shocked. “You love me?”

“Yes. I know that probably freaks you out. I mean it when I said I don’t expect anything from you. This isn’t me trying to trap you into something you’re not ready for. This is me just telling you that you’re incredible, and I love you.”

She thinks for so long that I wonder if she even heard the last things that I said, so I say, “If you want to pretend like I never said anything at all, we can.”

“No,” she finally says. “We don’t have to pretend like you never said it. I just don’t know if I’m ready to say it back. That’s a pretty big thing for me.”

“I know, baby.” I pull her in for a hug. “You don’t need to say it back. I just kind of blurted it out. I wanted it to be way more special than that when I first said it to you, but you have to be so damn wonderful that it just came out.”

I feel her relax against me, and I’m grateful that I calmed her down a bit.

Thank God.

I fucking love her, and I don’t want to do anything to mess that up.