Page 47 of Watercolor Skulls

“Nope but Dirk and Rachel are like siblings to me. Where was your favorite place to go as a child?” he asks, digging in the box for a handful of popcorn.

My eyes scan the horizon as I try to think of something, anything to tell him. “I liked to go to the bay.”

“San Francisco Bay?”

“Yeah, my aunt and I used to hang out at the bridge.”

“I’ve never been there. Maybe we should make a date of it.” He squeezes my shoulder lightly.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever go back there,” I tell him sadly. I decide to change the subject before I spoil the day. “What’s your favorite color?”

He laughs. “Black.”

I wrinkle my nose up.

“What’s yours?” he asks.

“All of them.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” He chuckles. “I thought you would say blue.”

My hand pulls at a stray hair, I curl it around my finger. “What is your favorite food?”

“Easy. Steak. You?”

“I don’t have a favorite. I’m still looking.” I grin at him as the sun dips lower, making his eyes glow so much it warms me up.

“Interesting,” he says, staring out at the fields. “It’s good to be back here. I’ve missed it. My mom used to bring me here every year. She would have loved you.”

“I’m sorry.” I lay my hand on his leg.

“She’s not gone. Well she is and she isn’t. She has early onset dementia.” He stares out at the fields, the sun kissing the flowers with pink and purple highlights. “The last time I was here she sat with me on this very bench and told me about her condition. I was so upset, so lost.”

He pauses, clasping his hands in front of him. “Anyhow, she told me a story about sunflowers and how they always face the sun. I asked what happened when it was cloudy. She didn’t hesitate. She said they face each other, becoming one another’s sun.”

“Oh, that’s lovely.” I place my hand over my heart.

He stares straight ahead. “You are my sunflower, Lily. When you walked into my shop you turned my cloudy day into a bright sunny beautiful one.”

My heartbeat slows in my ears as I stare at the side of his face. When his amber eyes turn my way, I hold my breath. The amber color reminds me so much of the sun that pulled me from the murky depths of the bay. “Dan,” I whisper.

He runs his fingers through his beard and then looks at his hands. “You must think I’m a goddamn lunatic.”

“No.” I place my hand on the side of his face, pulling it towards me. “I don’t think you’re a lunatic at all.”

“Are you sure because I feel like one. Goddammit, Lily, I’m so fucking high on you right now.”

My hand falls away from his face.

“I’m sorry, shit, I shouldn’t have said that.” He stands ready to walk away.

“Well, if you’re a lunatic then so am I. Last night after we said goodbye, I missed you terribly. But there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” I bite my lip and turn away from him.

He sits back down, pulling me into his lap, not giving a care who might see us. “I want to know everything about you.”

“I don’t know, Dan. I want to forget everything before coming here.”

“That can’t be true. You wouldn’t want to forget about your aunt would you?”

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