Page 28 of Find Me in California

“All right.” She points southwest. “That way.”

He starts the engine and everything lights up: the dash, the music, her face.

She pushes back into the seat. “Far out.”

“You are so ... unique.” He laughs and revs the engine.

Her eyes go moon size. “What is that?” she asks of the noise.

“Five hundred and two horsepower and three hundred forty-six pounds per feet of torque.”

She stares at him as if he’s speaking a foreign language.

“She’s really fast and her engine’s magical.”

“I’ve never heard anything like it.” Magnolia admires the components on the dash. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like a spaceship.” She strokes the leather seat.

He just shakes his head, amused. She’s more stoned than he realized. “Fasten your belt.”

“My what?” She looks at her waist.

“Seat belt.” He buckles himself, and when she only stares at him, he leans across the console and fastens her belt.

“Oh.” Her finger coasts over the strap. “I never wear mine.”

“We do in my car. I drive fast.”

She tugs at the strap between the valley of her breasts. “This is different.”

“You are odd.”

“Is that bad?”

“Not at all.” He laughs, bemused. “I appreciate the company.”

He makes a U-turn and guns the engine. They fly up the on-ramp, and she throws her head back with a booming laugh.

“Tell me, Magnolia, what do you do?”

“What do you mean?” She’s lit up like a disco ball, grinning ear to ear.

“Do you work, are you in school? Stay at home?”

She scoffs. “My parents would love that for me, staying at home. The happy housewife. That’s why I left.”

“They feel that way?” He glances at her. “What, were they born in the fifties?”

“Twenties.”

“You’re joking?” She’s being facetious. But she stares at him, unblinking, and an uneasy laugh escapes him. “Why are you going back if they’re like that?”

“Been away too long. Don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“There’s always someplace to go.”

“Not when you’re lost.”

He frowns at that. “Where were you before this?”

---