“Wow. That’s…that’s really generous.”
I shrugged. “I just couldn’t imagine being that sick and not having any options, you know? And maybe one day someone will do it for me. Or someone I love.”
There was a little pause, and she was smiling when she started talking again. “So in this tiny town of three thousand, what kind of things did you do for fun?”
I ticked off on my fingers. “Ice fishing, dogsledding in the winter. Canoeing. I worked as a guide for trips into the Boundary Waters for ten years. My dad owns an outfitting company.”
“And your mom? What does she do?”
“She stayed home. Worked at the outfitters in the summer when it was busy.”
She laughed a little. “You really are a northerner, aren’t you? Have you seen any moose?”
“I’ve seen moose, wolves, the northern lights—”
“Oh, I would love to see the northern lights. It’s on my bucket list.”
“Yeah? What else is on your list?”
She made a humming noise. “I want to eat soft-shell crabs. Oh, and I want to visit Ireland. That’s my biggest one. What’s on your list?”
If anyone had asked me the same thing yesterday, I’d have answered, “Play the Hollywood Bowl.” But today? “I want to take you on a date.”
Chapter 8
Sloan
♪ This Charming Man | The Smiths
Tucker loved PetSmart. He started crying to be let out as soon as we got to the parking lot. He jumped from the car and pulled me into the store, choking himself in the process. His enthusiasm made me laugh, but that wasn’t the only thing making me smile today. Jason had me in a good mood.
We’d talked all day yesterday. All day. When Fight Club came on the TV in his hotel room, I found it on Netflix and we watched it together, talking through it. I drained my cell phone battery three times and finally ended up lying in bed hooked up to my charger until we hung up a little after midnight.
It was official. I had a major crush on him.
He’d grown up stomping around in the woods, and I’d gone to a high school that had a student body the size of his town. He’d worked summers taking tourists on canoeing trips into the wilderness while I did beauty pageants until I was eighteen and worked at the mall. But somehow we clicked. We got along so well, it was crazy.
And it was scary.
Now I hated that he didn’t know what I looked like. What if he didn’t think I was pretty? What if he was like, “Oh” when he finally saw me for the first time? I wanted to just bite the bullet and send him a picture, but now I was too freaked out about it. And all through yesterday’s phone call he’d kept asking me for a date.
It was 1:00 and I hadn’t heard from him yet today, but it was still early in Melbourne. I’d spent the morning stressing about my appearance. I had a newfound urgency to undo two years of neglect.
Jason would be back in California in a week. That gave me seven short days to prepare. I hadn’t cared about my appearance in so long I wasn’t sure where to even begin. I always threw my hair into a bun, my toes went without polish, my skin got nothing except a splash of soap and water twice a day. And now this man was practically extorting me for a picture of myself, and I was in no way prepared to be examined.
“You’re being dramatic,” Kristen had said this morning when I called her in a half panic. “Your hair has never looked better. It hasn’t been heat-styled in years. You’re tan, and you’ve always had a perfect figure. Relax, you’re a knockout. Believe me, I’d tell you if you were a hot mess.”
This did make me feel a little better. She would tell me. She had literally no filter.
This morning I’d plucked my eyebrows and made an appointment to have my hair trimmed. I did a teeth-whitening strip and a mud mask, and afterward I felt slightly less despondent. But I was still so nervous. I hadn’t cared about what a man thought of me since Brandon, and suddenly I was obsessed. I felt like I was shaking out a dusty party dress I’d left balled on the floor of my closet for two years, hoping it still fit and the moths hadn’t destroyed it.
I walked Tucker to the grooming department at the back of the store and stood waiting to check him in at the counter, thinking of Jason and chewing on my lip.
A woman in a dark-blue PetSmart shirt greeted me. “Checking in?”
“Yes, he just needs a nail trim.”
She leaned over and looked at Tucker. “No problem. And who do we have here?”
“Tucker.”
Something flashed across her face. The groomer behind her jerked her head up to stare at me, and the two shared a look.
“Are you Sloan?” the first woman asked.
“Yeeeees,” I said, looking back and forth between them, unsure what was happening.
“One moment.” She grinned, putting up a finger. “Just wait here.” Then she darted into a side door. When it opened again, a giant vase of sunflowers floated out.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “He didn’t.”
The woman heaved the vase onto the countertop. “These are for you,” she said, beaming.
I stared at the arrangement in shock. “How?”
“Your boyfriend called us this morning and said he wanted to surprise you when you came in. We’ve been waiting for you all day. It’s so sweet!”
My stomach flipped at the word “boyfriend.” He wasn’t, of course, but my stomach didn’t care.
The flowers were stunning. Red roses were mixed in with the huge yellow blossoms, and flowering branches gave it extra height. It was easily the largest arrangement I’d ever gotten. It must have cost a fortune.
“There’s a card,” the woman said, turning the vase to the little white envelope.
I plucked it free and slid a shaking finger under the seal.
There were two square boxes drawn on the small paper, with the words “yes” and “no” written above them.
Sloan, do you like me? Check one. —Jason
I laughed out loud and had to slap a hand over my mouth.
I handed Tucker over for his nail trim and called Jason. He answered groggily, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “Good afternoon, Sloan.”
“You are too much. How did you know where to send these?”
He sounded like he was stretching. “You said you were going to PetSmart. I know generally where you live. I googled it.”
“They’re beautiful.”
“I was accused of not being properly motivated once, so I stepped up my game.”
“You really did,” I said, looking the flowers up and down. “But you shouldn’t have done it.”
“Did you read the card?”
I blushed. “Yes.”
“Did you check a box?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you going to tell me which one?”
“Definitely not.”
“Then that’s my question for the day,” he said, the smile in his voice coming through the phone.
I sighed. “I checked yes.”
“Good,” he said. “I like you too.”