Page 39 of Happy Trails & Honey Pots

“Do you have your toothbrush?”

He nodded as he dropped his bag and walked past me to the kitchen.

“Your underwear?” I asked as he grabbed a piece of cold fried chicken from the fridge.

I’d made it last night again because Walter scarfed it down the night Miles had shown up on the doorstep, and I needed to make sure he had some calories in his body to fortify him on his trip to Florida.

“Yes,” AJ replied with a mouth full of chicken.

“Shampoo.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded.

“Bug spray.”

“Yes. I haveeverything.” He brushed past me and grabbed his bag again.

“Phone charger.”

He froze, dropped his bag to the floor with a thud, then ran back upstairs.

While I waited, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw it was a message from Miles. He’d been hanging out in town, but I hadn’t seen him. He’d taken Walter out for luncha few times, and he was spending time with Harlan and Dawson. He’d even visited Austin’s football and baseball coaches.

Miles:I have meetings today, but tonight I’m going to go over the tapes for your character and was wondering if you’d like to see them.

“Who’s that?” AJ asked as he hopped off the last step, his charger in hand.

“Um, it’s Miles.”

AJ’s face lit up. “Is it about my part?”

Ever since Braxton had called and told him he got the role, he’d barely talked about anything else. I knew he was excited because it was a movie about his dad, but I had a sneaking suspicion his enthusiasm might have something to do with Kendall being in the film. too. He told me they were going to work on their scenes at camp together.

“Um, no.” I put my phone back in my pocket.

“Why do you look like that?” His face scrunched up.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Your cheeks are all red.”

I lifted my hand and touched my face. My cheeks were hot. I was flushed.

“I don’t know. I’ve been running around trying to get you ready.”

He stared at me for a second before shrugging and then heading out to the car. The whole ride to the school was spent with him on his phone texting. When we pulled up to the curb, I expected him to bolt out before the car even came to a complete stop. Instead, he sat for a second silently, then turned to me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, wondering if he might be nervous about going away. He’d been to baseball camp before and gone on camping trips and never had any problem with leaving home before.

“Is it weird for you that some other person is going to be pretending to be you and dad?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Um, I don’t really; I guess I’m not thinking about it like that. I just think of them as characters.”

“Well, I’m gonna tryreally hardto do a good job at being Dad.”

Tears filled my eyes. Every time I didn’t think I could love AJ any more, he did or said something that proved me wrong. The fact that he was going to be playing his dad and wanted to do a good job filled my heart with so much love. I leaned over to hug him.

He allowed it for a second before pulling away. “Okay, I gotta go.”

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