Still The One - Carrie Elks Page 0,70
them felt thick, full of meaning. She breathed in a ragged mouthful of air, her eyes still captured by his. “You make me happy, too.”
He loved her, and it was everything. It was bright like the sun, eclipsing everything that tried to compete with it.
“I’m glad to hear it. Now get in my car and I’ll make you happier still.”
She laughed at his abrupt change in conversation. “Are you talking about car sex?”
“Nope. I’m talking about movies.” He slid his hand around her waist, steering her around the back of the half-constructed ticket office.
She blinked when she saw what was there. An old orange Camaro, white stripes painted down the hood, rust clinging to it like a lover. “Is that what I think it is?” Van asked, not sure whether to laugh. It looked exactly the same as Tanner’s first car. He’d been so proud of it.
“I saw it three days ago in the grocery store car park.” He led her to the passenger door, pulling it open. “Paid the kid who owned it three times what it’s worth.”
She laughed, running her finger over the split leather upholstery. “I can’t believe it’s been in Hartson’s Creek all this time. How many kids do you think have driven it?”
“Since I sold it?” He shrugged. “I guess at least three more owners. I can check.”
“No, don’t.” She shook her head. “I kind of like the mystery.”
He tapped his hand against the wheel. “She still drives like a dream.”
“A nightmarish kind of dream?” she teased.
He grinned and started up the engine, both of them holding their breath in the long second between his turning of the key and the motor catching. He pressed his foot on the gas, a loud growl rumbling from the hood.
She leaned forward to turn on the radio. It crackled and hissed, but no music came out. “The stereo’s still kaput. And it still smells like the creek. But god, it’s good to see it.”
“Buckle up,” he told her as the Camaro lurched forward, the complete lack of suspension flinging her body up and down as Tanner steered it across the freshly cut grass toward the gravel drive. “It’s movie time.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tanner unlocked the Camaro’s trunk, tugging at the stiff lid until it finally gave way and opened with a groan. Lifting the box he’d hurriedly put together before leaving the house, he carried it back to the driver’s seat, laying it on the torn leather. “Stay here,” he told Van, who was watching him with an amused smile. “I just need to start the movie.”
“What are we watching?”
“Wait and see.” He winked and closed the door. He walked across the gravel parking lot toward the projection room, following the directions the audio visual team had given him, starting the digital screen and loading up the movie. As he sauntered back to the car, his cap pulled down low on his brow, his hands pushed into his jeans pockets, he looked at the Camaro, feeling a flash of warmth as he saw Van’s blonde hair spilling over the cracked leather seat.
He’d meant every word he said to her when he’d held her in his arms. He was in love with her. And if she hadn’t said it back yet? Well he could wait. He’d been waiting for ten years, after all.
Ten years of being without her and he could barely remember how that even worked. How had he woken up without her being the first thought in his mind? How had he slept without her curling her warm body against his?
The opening credits had started. Production companies’ logos flashed on the screen, one after another. He’d parked the Camaro in the front row, around thirty feet from the screen. To the right was the playground that kids could use whenever they got bored of what was being shown that night. To the left was the refreshment stand, though it hadn’t been completed yet. When it was, it would have state-of-the-art equipment to make popcorn, burgers, hot dogs, and fries.
Pulling the car door open, he lifted the box of food and slid inside.
“Is this the movie I think it is?” Van asked, as a big globe came on the screen, along with a little satellite orbiting around it.
“Almost certainly.”
“Jerry Maguire?” She looked at him, smiling. “What made you choose it?”
“It reminds me of Cam.” He shrugged. “And we watched it back when we were kids, remember?”
“The Tom Cruise summer series. I can’t tell you how many people complained that year.”