“No. I’m keeping it. A lot of that music brings back memories.”
“Good ones, I hope.” Like a magnet, my gaze was drawn back to him.
Mostly,” he smiled. “To be honest, I was kind of pissed at my parents when I found out we were staying here with you guys this summer.”
“I know, I—”
“Don’t interrupt, Grace. You always do that.” He bumped me with his arm.
“Sorry.”
“What I was gonna say is I’m glad we came. I’m having fun hanging out this summer. It’s like old times.”
Relief flooded over me. “I’m glad you came too. I feel like we’ve got so much time to make up for.”
“Maybe, but the thing about time is you can’t go back and change things.”
I swallowed hard, tears welling in my eyes. “I know.”
Silence enveloped us as we stood together, staring out over the beach.
“Do you think you might still want to take that day trip we talked about tomorrow?” I asked.
“Actually, Lila invited me to go help her get decorations for her party on Saturday.”
“Oh. Okay. Maybe I’ll see if Allie wants to go instead.” Disappointment flooded me. “Listen, I think I’m gonna head back in now. I’ll see you later.” I started to walk away.
Sage grabbed my shoulder. “Wait, Grace. I’ll call and tell Lila something came up. Her friend Kristi was gonna go, too, so she won’t be alone.”
“You don’t have to cancel. It’s fine.”
“I want to go with you tomorrow.” He spun me to face him. “I’ve cancelled things a couple of times on you. I owe you one. Besides I had plans with you first.” He grinned.
“Then prepare yourself to be amazed tomorrow.”
“So we’re off to Castle Rock then?”
“Yes. Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox have missed us. We owe them a visit.”
“Hopefully you can make it up all the stairs without having to be carried,” he teased.
“Whatever. I’m probably in better shape than you.”
He flexed his bicep. “Nice try.”
“So your arms are buff, that doesn’t mean you have strong legs.”
“Would you like to see those too?” He glanced down at me.
Suddenly the deck lights became very interesting and I swatted at a mosquito that tried to land on my face.
“N-no, we’ll just prove it tomorrow.” I took a step away from him.
He chuckled. “Night, Grace.”
“Night.” Tomorrow would be awesome. Just me and Sage. Alone. All day. Anything could happen, the possibilities were endless.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Step #9: Plan a day trip for him
Hot maple syrup drizzled over my homemade waffles, as I dumped it from the jar. Steam billowed up from it and I inhaled deeply. I loved breakfast.
“Sage, I want you to be careful driving. Castle Rock is a ways away,” Mr. Castle said. “Make sure your cell phone is charged before you leave.”
“We’ll be fine. I have driven before you know,” Sage said.
“I know. But we worry about you kids.”
“Can we go?” Benji asked.
“No. Let Sage and Grace hang out on their own for a while,” Mom said.
I met her gaze. There was wisdom there. It’s like she knew exactly what I’d been trying to do this summer. She and I hadn’t really talked much about Sage since our breakup. But she knew I’d kept all the pictures I had of him in my photo albums and in frames around my room. She’d also been the one to let me cry on her shoulder when everything went down.
The words she’d said that day still stuck with me. “Honey, you’re young—and who knows maybe someday you and Sage will get back together. The timing’s just not right. This doesn’t have to be the end all.”
I hoped she was right.
“By the way, I packed a cooler for you kids. There are lots of spots you can stop off at on your way home.”
Okay. Now she was being blatantly obvious.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Our parents followed us out to the car, like they were sending us off for prom or something. When we got into the car, I turned to Sage.
“Is it just me or are our parents acting strange today?”
“You mean stranger than usual?”
I laughed. “I know, seems impossible. But my mom packing our lunch was kind of odd.”
“Yeah, well, my dad handed me fifty bucks and said to make sure I got us souvenirs and ice cream.”
Holy frick. Our families were in on it. They wanted to help me get him back. Maybe not directly, but they’d practically shoved us out the door.
Sage popped in a CD, the one I’d made him, before he pulled out of the driveway. As he drove, I watched him. The way his hands held the steering wheel. How the sun streaked right through the window, spotlighting him like a movie star on the stage.
He shot me a quick look. “Do I have food or something on my face?” he asked.
“No. Why?”
“Because you’re staring at me.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and glanced at my hands instead. “Sorry, it’s just hard to believe that I’m here with you.”
“Tell me about it.” He laughed. “If you would’ve told me last year that I’d be spending my summer with you, I’d have told you you were on drugs.”
“So, are you ready for soccer tryouts in a few weeks?” I changed the subject.
“Yeah. I think we have a great chance of making it to the playoffs again this year. Maybe we’ll get further than we did last fall.”
“I think you will. You’ve got Ty Dickerson moving up with you guys. That’ll give you another decent forward.”
We chatted about soccer for a while longer and how it seemed weird that this was our senior year. I reached behind my seat and grabbed a bottle of water.
“Do you want one?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said, rolling down his window. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music. “Are you and Logan getting serious?”
I almost choked on my water and spewed it out. “No. I mean, he’s fun to be around. But we’re only here for the summer, it seems kind of pointless to get too involved.”
He nodded.
“What about you?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not really into Logan.”
“Ha-ha. You know what I mean. Are you and Lila a thing now?”
“I don’t know. We have fun together.”
Fun? Listening to her complain wasn’t fun. Maybe he’d been possessed or someone had erased his mind.
“Well, she’s pretty, I’ll give you that.”
He shrugged. “Looks aren’t everything.”
If he wasn’t with her for looks then I had no idea what he saw in her. Because she had the personality of a fly. Okay, maybe a fly with great fashion sense, but still.
“Then what are you searching for in a girl?”
“Why do you care?” He shot me a quick glance.
“I-I don’t know.” This might be a great time to tone it back. I didn’t need to be so obvious with my feelings.
He sighed. “I want someone who isn’t afraid to be herself. Who has a great sense of humor and doesn’t mind being nerdy. I want a girl who loves me in spite of my flaws.”
My tongue wet my lips. I was the girl he described. Perhaps not to him—but I knew this was the person I’d been trying to get back to. The pre-breakup Grace.
The one who didn’t care what other people thought. Who’d choose a weekend of watching Star Wars over going to the mall. A girl who’d tell Rori and Michelle where they could shove it when they belittled her.
My skin tingled and I felt the last remnants of post-breakup Grace flip away. From now on, I’d embrace my inner nerd. The real me. No more pretending to be someone I wasn’t. If Sage was gonna reject me, it’d be for the real Grace Evers.
At last, we arrived at Castle Rock. My head tilted
upward to the large, looming rocky outcropping that looked like a ruined castle. I’d forgotten how high up it was. Like two hundred feet high.
Sage swung us into a parking spot then shut off the engine. “Ready to relive our childhood?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
Through the fence, I caught sight of the large Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox statues. They loomed larger than life. Just like I remembered.
We went in through the gift shop to purchase our tickets. When we had them in hand, we went out the side door, following the giant footprints on the ground.
Soon we stood in front of the statues.
“You know we have to get our pictures taken with them, right?” I grinned at Sage.
He groaned. “Now you sound like our parents.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“Would you like me to take the picture for you?” an older woman asked.
“Sure, thanks.” I handed her my phone.
Sage and I stood together in front of the monuments. I wrapped my arms around his waist in a hug. To my surprise, he embraced me back. Being here with him felt right. I didn’t want to let him go. But it only took the lady a moment to snap the photo.
When she handed back our phones, I thanked her again and we headed toward the never-ending peak of stairs.
“Ready?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Let’s do this.”
We hurried up the stairs. After a few minutes, my legs felt like jelly. “I think my thighs are burning, I might start a fire.”
“Um, I think you already did that on the coffee table.”
“Hey, you bumped the candle.”
“But you pushed me.” He smiled. “By the way, you never told me why you dressed up like Leia.”
Oh God. I could pretend I didn’t hear him. Or I could tell him the truth.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. I can tell when you’re lying, you know that, right? You always have this cute blush that spreads across your face and ears.”
“No, I don’t.” And of course my bloody, traitorous body decided to prove him right.
“Come on, Grace. Just tell me.”
“No. You’ll laugh at me.” Or worse, he’d reject me.
“I won’t. I promise.” He held up his hand in a Scout’s Honor.
He’s giving you an opportunity to explain everything. Tell him. Tell him you love him.
Right then we reached the top of the stairs and walked across the narrow bridge-like walkway on top of Castle Rock. We were so high up. The wind whipped my hair in my face.
“Maybe I’ll tell you tomorrow,” I said as we leaned against the railing and stared at the view. In the distance, I saw Lake Huron and further out you could just make out Mackinac Island.
“But we have Lila’s party then. Why not tell me now?”
“B-because I’m not ready,” I said.
“Okay.” His gaze held mine for a moment, then he looked away.
We stood there side by side for long minutes, neither of us speaking. White puffy clouds drifted across the blue sky, while cars that looked like toys drove past below. When the breeze picked up, I caught a whiff of Sage’s cologne. Why did he always have to smell so good? Not that I wanted him to stink like B.O. or anything, but it was hard to concentrate when everything about him begged for my attention.
A while later, we headed back down the stairs, stopping off in the gift shop to purchase matching T-shirts before getting back on the road. We drove for about twenty-five, thirty minutes then decided to pull off onto one of the roadside beaches.
Sage parked along a section of beach grass and we climbed out. He grabbed the cooler, while I got our chairs. We traipsed through the sand and away from a family with kids running around, until we found a spot next to a dune. Seagulls already lurked nearby as if waiting for us to drop some food for them.
I set up our seats, and Sage dished up our food.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it up here,” I said in between bites of my cold fried chicken.
“Me either. It’s like every place we go has some old memory attached to it, and now new ones.” He leaned his head back against his chair and peered at the waves.
I took a swig of pop. “Hey, Sage.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive me?” I asked softly.
For a second, all I heard was the sound of the surf and the call of nearby birds.
He reached across the short distance between us and caught some strands of my hair in his hand. “I already have, Grace.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
A weight lifted from my shoulders. If nothing else happened on this vacation, I knew I’d be fine. Because after three years, Sage Castle had finally forgiven me.
Angry clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun. The lake grew choppier.
“I’m gonna put our stuff back in the car,” Sage said.
“Want help?” We both stood up.
“Nah, I’ll just be a minute.” He grabbed the cooler and chairs then headed for the vehicle, where he loaded them in the trunk.
I walked to the shoreline letting the surge of water tickle my toes. When Sage got back, I glanced at him. “It looks like it’s gonna rain.”
“No, it’s not going to. It’s just clouds.”
At that moment, the sky opened up and it started to downpour.
I screeched. “Ah, that’s cold.”
Sage clutched my hand and we ran to the car. He jerked the door open and we piled inside, laughing.
“Guess your inner meteorologist isn’t working,” I teased.
“Oh, you think you’re funny, don’t you?” He ruffled my hair.
“As a matter of fact, I’m hilarious.” My fingers tickled his side.
He caught my hand in his. In that second, he was all I saw. We stared at one another, both breathing hard. His gaze softened. My heart pummeled my insides like a rockslide. Rain pounded against the roof of the vehicle.
We went still. Heat coursed over every inch of my body. My hands trembled.
“You’re shaking,” he whispered. “Are you cold?”
No. I wanted to say. It’s because I’m sitting so close to you and I’m scared that if I speak, I’ll ruin this moment.
“Yeah, a little.”
“I’ve got a sweatshirt in the back.” He let me go and reached behind his seat. He handed me his purple soccer sweatshirt.
Without hesitation, I tugged it over my head. It smelled just like him. I buried my face against the sleeves and inhaled deeply.
“I-it smells good,” I said.
“It smells like me,” he teased.
“Yeah, I know.”
The rain finally let up. “We should probably head back home before it starts up again.”
“Sounds good.”
When he turned the car on, the music blared back to life and we sang along with the CD until we pulled into the driveway.
Before we went in, I turned to him. “Thanks for going with me today,” I said.
“Anytime, it was nice. It was like old times.”
“Yeah, it was.”
For the first time in a long time, I felt as if things might really work out.
Chapter Twenty-Five
As soon as we got inside, a rumble of thunder shook the house. We’d made it back just in time. The scent of popcorn wafted in the air, and we followed it like a trail of bread crumbs into the living room where our families were vegged out on the couch, floor, and in chairs.
“Hey, you’re back,” Mom said. “I hope you two had fun?”
“Yeah, we did. I’m gonna put my stuff away real quick.”
“Sure, why don’t I help you.” She followed me upstairs. “So? What did you guys do?”
“We went to Castle Rock then stopped off for a picnic.” I tossed my backpack on my bed.
She glanced down at Sage’s sweatshirt, which I still had
on. “Nothing else happened?”
My face blazed. Was she asking what I thought she was asking? “No. Was it supposed to?”
Mom chuckled. “No, I just thought maybe you and Sage stopped off at other places.”
At that moment, Sage came sauntering upstairs too. Mrs. Castle joined our little group as well. What the heck were they up to?
“Are you guys going to fill us in?” Mrs. Castle sat on Allie’s bed.
Sage caught my eye and gave me a strange look as if to ask if I knew what was going on. “Um, we hung out at Castle Rock and the beach.”
“That’s all?” she asked.
“Yeah, that pretty much sums up our day.” Sage slid off his tennis shoes and socks.
“Oh.” Mrs. Castle sounded disappointed as she glanced at Mom.
“Why don’t we leave you two alone so you can get your things put away. Don’t be too long, we’re about to have family movie night.” Mom and Mrs. Castle went back downstairs.
“What the heck was that about?” Sage grabbed a different T-shirt from his dresser and proceeded to change his top in front of me.
I tried not to stare at his abs and biceps. The way his shoulders moved when he lifted his arms above his head.
“I-I have no idea. They’re acting weird again.”
He glanced at me. “That’s an understatement. Are you going to change?”
“No, I’ll just grab one of my blankets.” I noticed he was looking at his sweatshirt. “Oh, did you want this back? I can take it off now, if you want.”
“No. You can wear it. Besides, you think it smells good,” he teased.
“Well it does.” To prove it, I lifted the sleeve up and sniffed it again. “Ah, fresh roasted Sage.”
“You’re a dork.”
“Yep, and so are you.”
When we got back downstairs, the lights were dimmed and everyone was crammed into the living room.
“You’ve got perfect timing, we’re just about to watch some scary movies,” Mr. Castle said.
“We definitely picked a great night for them.” Dad gestured to the lightning outside.
“You guys can lay over here by me and Benji.” Allie patted the open space on the floor next to her.
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