Page 21 of The Road to Finding Us

We arrive at the food truck and sure enough I see Judas with a sly smile on his face. The man has got to be pushing ninety, but he still looks healthy as a horse.

“Lily! There’s my girl. I knew you had to be coming soon. It’s been awhile since you last had your pancake fix.” Just then, he looks away from me and notices Blaine. “And who might this young fella be?”

“My name is Blaine. I’m a friend of Lily’s.” Blaine draws me to him as he says it.

I look up at him, finding his eyes already on me. Man, that smile is a lady killer.

“Nice to meet ya.” With that, Judas starts to mix batter. He adds chocolate chips to it—my favorite. I love how he doesn’t even have to ask what I want. I’ve had the same order ever since the very first time we stopped at his food truck last year. “Can I get you anything, young man?” He briefly looks up from mixing before his head goes right back down so he can focus on his task.

“I’ll have whatever she gets,” Blaine says, leaning on the counter next to me. “So, what’ve you been up to, Lily? I saw Aspen the other day, but when I asked how you were, he didn’t have much to say.”

I listen to Blaine’s words as I watch Judas pour the mixture onto the griddle. My stomach starts to grumble, and I realize I’d been too nervous before the date to eat a decent lunch. “Not a whole lot. I’m afraid I’m kind of boring, to be honest. But my life just got a lot more interesting with this whole finding out you have a crush on me thing…” I look over at Blaine, playfully nudging him with my shoulder.

“I remember my first date with Arabelle. It was love at first sight,” Judas says.

I love when he talks about his wife. He gets a certain loving look on his face when they’re together or when he’s talking about her. They’re the cutest together—legit goals. “Where is Arabelle today? She’s normally here causing mischief.” At that, Judas and I both laugh. She loves to play pranks on him and their customers.

“She’s at the house gardening. You know her and that garden. It’s her happy place.” He takes our pancakes off the skillet, placing them in Styrofoam boxes. He then puts my normal toppings in a container along with containers of his homemade syrup. Blaine reaches for his wallet to pay, but Judas stops him with, “This is on the house. Happy birthday, Lily. Come back and visit soon.”

I run around the counter, climb the stairs to jump into the food truck, and give Judas a big hug when I reach him. When I’m tucked tightly into the crook of his neck, I whisper, “Judas, it isn’t my birthday.”

He gives my head a soft pat and says, “I know. But you should be spoiled like it is your birthday.” Judas gives me one last squeeze before slowly letting go. When I make eye contact with him, he winks.

As I fully detach myself from Judas, Blaine gives him a firm handshake. “Thank you, sir. I think we’ll be seeing you a lot. It seems like the girl I want to date really likes pancakes.” His words cause blood to creep to my cheeks, warming me all over.

“You know you aren’t getting out of here without a birthday song.” Judas reaches into my box and pulls out an extra pancake. I narrow my eyes at him, knowing full well he’s aware it isn’t my birthday. Or even close.

“For the birthday girl,” he continues.

I look down to see a double chocolate chip pancake. He knows my love for the double chocolate is real, I just don’t get it anymore because it puts me in a chocolate coma.

For my actual birthday months ago, I had three of those giant pancakes. I had to listen to Aspen insult me for a straight hour while every bite of those pancakes came right back up, his fingers tight against my scalp as he held my hair back.

One little false birthday pancake can’t hurt though, right?

Judas spoons whipped cream on it, sticking a birthday candle right in the middle. He sets the plate down in front of me before he and Blaine start singing a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday. I try not to look too guilty when I blow out the candle, making a wish even though it isn’t my birthday.

“Thank you so much, gentlemen! That was stunning.” I pluck the candle from my pancake before tossing it onto the food truck’s counter. Then I lift the pancake in front of my mouth and fold it hotdog style. My eyes roll to the back of my head as it hits my mouth. I forgot how delicious the double chocolate chip pancakes are.

Before I know it, I’m taking the last bite. I may be slightly embarrassed at the record time I’ve finished, but I’m hoping the guys didn’t notice since they’ve started a conversation of their own.

In my defense, Selma almost kicked my ass at the gym today.

I tune in to hear Blaine talking to Judas about what courses he’s taking this semester. When he looks over at me, he lets out a small chuckle. “You’ve got a little something on your cheek,” Blaine points out, his eyes zeroing in on something on my face. Before I can get it, he reaches over and removes it himself. “Whipped cream,” he explains, showing me the evidence on his finger. Just when I think he might ask for a napkin, he licks the whipped cream clean off his finger, sending my lady bits into overdrive.

Okay. Hellloooo, Blaine. Why do I want to rewind that and watch it all over again?

He continues his conversation with Judas like nothing happened.

“Beware of that child,” Judas warns. “She’s used up an endless supply of my napkins with her messy eating.” He hands me a napkin and I fake pout as I wipe my face clean. “You two better get going before your food gets cold,” Judas instructs as he exits the truck.

He pulls me into another big hug, one I gladly return all over again. I take a deep breath in of his familiar syrup scent before letting go.

He and Blaine exchange another handshake as a goodbye. While Judas is busy climbing back into the truck, Blaine slips some dollar bills into the tip jar on the counter. He grabs the food bag from me as we start to walk to find a spot to sit.

As we’re searching for an empty table, Blaine grabs my hand, surprising me with how comfortable it feels.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” I say, narrowly avoiding a toddler with a very sticky funnel cake in their hands.

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