Page 40 of A Fowl Match

We are so caught.

His grandma looks up from the dishes and it’s gone. “What’s wrong honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No! I just feel really bad about your plate.” That’s true, I do, but I’m so glad she didn’t see that cord.

After cleaning up the mess and finishing up the rest of the dishes Dustin comes strolling in with a grin on his face. “It was a success,” he whispers.

“No, it wasn’t” I mumble under my breath.

“What was a success?” his grandma asks.

“Oh, I was able to build Violet a wooden sign for her shop in the garage, you probably heard me drilling it.”

“That’s what that noise was! I thought I was hearing things,” his grandpa says over the chatter of the game in the background. Dustin looks at me with pleading eyes.

My lips are sealed.

“That’s so sweet of you! Can I see it?”

“Could we show you another time? I'm feeling really tired,” I say quickly because I know damn well there isn’t a sign anywhere. And once the cat is out of the bag neither of them are going to be happy with Dustin or me.

“Of course, honey, I’ll let you two love birds go for the night.”

I smile sheepishly as Dustin’s gaze meets mine. Gram’s beaming with a huge grin as we say goodbye. She even invites me over for dinner whenever I want. The thought almost brings me to tears. Dustin walks me to his house. Once we are far enough from his grandparents’ house I say, “You are ridiculous, you know that right?”

“Why, what did I do?” His eyebrows shoot up.

“Don’t look so innocent. You made me break a dish. A plate that has been in your family for generations. It’s over a hundred years old. I felt so bad. And she almost saw the cord swinging by the window for five minutes.”

“Shit. Was she upset?”

“No, she didn’t mind at all. Apparently, she's broken a couple over the years.”

“I’m sorry I put you in that position, but now if they never need anything they can call someone.”

“That’s true. At least one good thing came out of breaking that and giving me heart palpitations.” I chuckle. He grins back.

“Can I take you somewhere?” Dustin asks, looking shy for the first time.

“Yes. I don’t have anywhere to be,” I say.

“I thought you were tired.”

“You know I was just trying to save you.”

We stop at his house, and he starts up his Grandpa's truck. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

He comes out the door a few minutes later holding a huge bag and throws it into the back with a thud. Dustin climbs in the driver's seat and starts to head to a dirt road at the beginning of the pasture. He gets out to open a large gate and closes it once we pull through.

“Are you going to murder me and shove me in that bag back there?”

“No!” he shouts. “I’m trying to do something nice but failing miserably. Just entertain me?” I nod, pulling my hair out of the ponytail and letting it fall over my shoulders.

He parks the truck in the middle of the field. A picturesque sky meets the green grass. Trees scatter around like little dots in the distance. The hillside slopes around the valley we are parked in. There aren't any buildings or lights in sight.

He unzips the bag and pulls out two huge comforters and pillows and sets them up in the back of the truck. He pulls out two old-fashioned battery powered lanterns, arranging everything up nice and cozy for us to lay down in. I watch him in awe.

No one has ever done anything like this for me. I feel like I’m living a scene out of a movie.

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