Page 47 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
“It takes me back to those vinyl booths, where we’d share fries and kiss like weweren’tsneaking around.” He leaned in and stole a salty kiss. “Sneaking around was hot, but…” He kissed her again, deeper and longer. “Kissing you whenever I want is freaking insane.”
“Is that what we’re celebrating? That we’re not hiding?”
“Nope.” He took a bite of his burger as the movie began. “But if I owned this place, I’d be sure to serve salty fries just so I could get your salty-fry kisses.”
They snuggled as they ate, watching the movie. Every so often Grace would lean closer and guess at what they were celebrating. “Our one-week anniversary?”
“No, but that’s worth celebrating,” he said.
A short while later a group of teenagers came out of the darkness from the direction of the parking lot.
“Hey,” one of the kids called over. “Mind if we watch from the field?”
“Not at all,” Reed said.
They continued walking deeper into the field, fading back into the darkness. Reed noticed that cars were slowing to crawls as they drove past, and he imagined the people inside craning to see what was going on behind the theater. He and Roy had checked out the interior together, and Roy had captivated him with stories of his youth and the good times he and Ella had at the Majestic. Reed found himself wondering if any of the people in the cars had been around long enough to remember when the theater had been open, more than thirty-five years ago.
A little while later, Grace tipped her face up to his and said, “It’s not your birthday; that’s in October.”
He kissed her softly. “I’m glad you remembered.”
She was quiet for the longest time, and he was anxious to tell her, but it was fun letting her try to guess.
A few more people meandered past, some asking if it was okay to join them, others simply assuming so. Reed didn’t mind the intrusions. They kept their distance, and he had everything he needed right there in his arms. The world could explode around them and he’d go out a happy man.
Grace finished her fries—before her burger, just like he remembered—and said, “I’ve thought about you a lot over the years, even when I tried not to; you were always there.”
“And I always will be.”
He set his drink down and moved behind her, leaning her back against his chest so he could hold her closer. She cuddled into him and they watched in comfortable silence.
When the woman in the movie found out she’d inherited the theater, he dropped another hint. “It’s so weird how theaters sort of drop into people’s laps.”
“Mm-hm.”
A little while later, they were engrossed in the film, laughing at a scene, when Reed became aware of someone else’s laughter in the air. Several people’s, in fact. He glanced up at the road and saw a line of cars parked along the curb and people sitting on the grass.
He looked over his shoulder at the field behind them, where throngs of people were watching the movie. “Holy cow, Grace. Check this out.”
She leaned around his body. “Oh my gosh. There must be more than fifty people here. How did we not hear them? This is awesome! Can you imagine what this would be like if your deal on the theater comes through? You could do this—” She sat up on her knees, and her eyes widened. “That’s it, isn’t it? Is that what we’re celebrating? Did your deal on the theater come through?”
He laughed and pulled her into a kiss.
“Finally, baby. I’ve been trying to give you clues all night.”
“Oh my gosh! Reed! This is going to beyours? Can you imagine all the things you can do with it? Outdoor movies, community plays! Can we go inside? I’ve never been inside. You’ve been inside, right? You had to if you made an offer.”
She was talking a mile a minute. He spotted her sisters, a few of the Jerichos, and a handful of other people approaching, but he didn’t want to slow Grace down.
“I can’t believe you held this in all this time, and here I was missing every clue. Theaters dropping in people’s laps!” She laughed. “I’m so thickheaded. I was too into the movie andyouto even think of anything like that.”
“I can’t believe you set this up and didn’t even invite us,” Sable said.
Grace spun around as their friends converged on them.
“Dude, what the…?” Trace turned his palms up to the sky. “You’ve got a whole theater going on out here with all these Meadowsiders? What are we? Chopped liver?”
“No, man,” Reed answered. “This was a date that got overrun.”
