Page 30 of The Road Sometimes Taken

“No, not even one bit,” he quips, smiling softly at me and maybe I misread that situation because he looks at me with what seems like pride. “Do you want my leaves?”

“Nope, you can feed the giraffes. Look how cutethey are,” I add, pointing at the one currently trying to reach Manny’s leaves.

“Here,” he says, handing me what he has left. “You looked so happy feeding them, just do it. I’m good here.”

I grab the leaves, jump off the seat and feed the softest giraffe ever. She sticks her long dark tongue out, and in one quick lick, she takes them all from me. We’re only five days into this trip and I feel like it’s Christmas. I still can’t believe it’s actually happening. Every time I talked to Cole about doing this with me it was excuses after excuses.Just go to a regular zoo, Cara. Aren’t you too old for safaris? That’s too long to be on the road. Don’t you have better things to do, Cara?It was never yes with Cole. ‘Because I want to’ was never a good enough reason. And it’s so damn refreshing to actually get what I want without having to beg. Sometimes without even having to ask because Manny’s taking the time to watch, and to notice.

We leave the giraffes and finish the safari before heading back to the visitor’s center. We laugh and smile at every experience from birds to rhinos and everything in between. We’re stepping out of the tram and Manny offers me his hand to help me down.

“You guys are so cute. I hope you have many years to come together. You should put a ring on it,” one of the ladies from the tour says, walking past us and leaving me speechless.

“I should put a ring on it, huh?” Manny asks, smiling and wiggling his eyebrows, taking away the awkwardness of the moment.

“Oh, be quiet. Let’s go, we have places to be,” I say, pushing him slightly with my hand and turning on my heels to head back to the van. I don’t want to talk about the jitters I got when he said that. It’s probably just me crushing over the fact that he’s making my dreams come true with this trip.

We’re leaving tomorrow for our next stop so I want us to take advantageof our day in this area. The Wilds was everything I wanted and more and I wouldn’t be here if Manny hadn’t come on this trip. At least, not this summer.

“Hey,” I say softly, stepping into the van after he opened the door for me.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. This was a dream,” I add.

“Siempre, lindura, siempre.?1”

Manny walks around and settles into the driver's seat with ease. I’m sure he can feel the leather warm against his skin just as I did a second ago. As he turns the ignition, a low rumble fills the air, mingling with the faint scent of wildflowers and gasoline.

“Can I take you somewhere?” he asks, a hint of warmth in his voice, his eyes sparkling with a blend of mischief and happiness. He points the AC vents toward himself, feeling the cool breeze that brushes against his face, a momentary escape from how hot today was. His fingers move slowly over the buttons on the dash as he hits play and waits for me to answer.

“Ooh, you have more of your own stops planned now?” I ask, taking my shoes off and rolling the window down to put my feet on the sill.

“Something like that,” he teases, winking at me before putting directions in his phone and leading us out of the parking lot.

1 Always, Cuteness, always.

13

CRAWLING BEAR

DRIVE, HALSEY

Cara

Stop 6:Big Muskie Bucket

Leaving behind the expansive fields,the winding roads take us into a small downtown area. It’s quaint and beautiful, giving the “everybody knows everybody” feel. Manny parks in front of a small cafe and after telling me to wait in the bus for him, he comes back out with a couple of bags. He doesn’t say anything though, he just smiles and gets the bus rolling back on the road.

“Crawling bear!” I shout after we pass more wooded hills and greenery slowly turning into smaller hills with creeks in between.

“Where?!” Manny screams, slamming on the brakes and looking panicked.

“Oh, just the sign—” I point at the side of the road to the bear crossing sign we just passed “—a littlebear crawling.”

“Cara, you scared the shit out of me. I thought there was an actual bear crawling?” Manny laughs and continues driving, the silence broken with the sign. “Why crawling, though? That looks just like a bear walking.”

“There are different types of bear signs. When I see a bear walking, I’ll shout it out,” I say and smile big, laying my head back and watching the road.

The sun is starting to lower and the whole atmosphere has a warm glow. Holding my hand out the window, I feel the gentle breeze under the warm sun, which reminds me of toasted croissants and hugs. Cozy, calm. Exactly what I want to feel. We pass an area that looks like an industrial museum and he parks right next to a giant machine-looking thingy.

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