“Did you wait until after you graduated to ask her out?”
Doc looked out the window for a moment, and I watched the fondness of the memory he recalled play out on his face. He shook his head. “My Geraldine was a straight shooter. One day she marched over to the table I was studying at and said, ‘Every night before you leave, you spend ten minutes hanging around my desk and talking. You are flirting with me, right?’ I said that I had indeed been flirting, or at least attempting to do so, and her response was to blurt out, ‘Well, why haven’t you asked me out yet?’” Doc chuckled. “She’d caught me so off guard, I didn’t have time to make up an excuse. So I told her the truth—that I’d like nothing more than to take her out, but I was too broke because my books and rent drained every last cent from my bank account.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. Not a damn word. She just walked away. I thought I’d blown it with her. But the next night when I showed up, I found a magazine on the desk I normally sat at. It was opened to an article titled ‘Fifty Dream First Dates That Are Free.’”
I laughed. “Did it work?”
“I ripped the pages from the magazine and took her on one of those fifty dates every single week for fifty consecutive weeks. By the time I got to the last one, I’d just graduated and secured my first job. I proposed on our fiftieth free date—inside a tent I’d made out of sheets in the backyard.”
“I love that story! How come you never shared it with me before?”
Doc shrugged. “Guess the right time just hadn’t come. Unlike now.”
I sighed. “I suppose we could take the trip to California and play it by ear. I mean, Griffin wouldn’t have to find out we were even there if I decided against letting him know who I am. We could go simply to uncover what we need to and then leave. He doesn’t know what I look like. But what about the whole blind-faith thing? I’d be violating his trust.”
“Well, my dear, you need to determine if you can be patient with him or if you need to know what’s really going on now. I do think a trip out west would be beneficial in more ways than one. It could not only satisfy your curiosity about Griffin but also serve as an excellent exposure exercise in tackling the unknowns of travel.”
My heart was racing. “So you’re thinking we should go to California . . .”
“I’m thinking that no harm can come from discovering the truth and venturing out of your comfort zone. I am a bit biased, as I’ve already mapped out some fantastic bird-watching locations on the way, but I digress. Don’t let that influence your decision. This needs to be your call.”
Later that evening, I was pacing in my living room.
“Give me a sign, Hortencia. I need to know the right thing to do here.”
Groink.
The truth was, I knew that the right answer for me was to take Doc up on his offer. When else in my life would I have access to an RV and a willing road-trip partner? But it might also be the wrong answer for moving things forward between Griff and me. Blind faith. That’s what he’d asked me for. I wouldn’t exactly be honoring his wishes if I found him working the front desk at a music studio and walked in pretending to be someone else. I’d be violating his trust. But at the same time, wouldn’t I be having blind faith in us? It felt like maybe he didn’t have blind faith in me—to trust that I’d like him for the person he was inside, regardless of whatever his issues were. Maybe I had to have enough faith for both of us? Sort of like Geraldine did with Doc. I wouldn’t be disrespecting his wishes; I’d be taking a leap of blind faith for two.
Oh my God.
I’m going to do it, aren’t I?
I looked over at Hortencia, who had been lying next to my desk. “What do you think, girl? Should I take a road trip?”
My faithful companion sat up and perked an ear.
“Should I go and take a blind leap of faith or not?”
Hortencia answered by running out of the room. For a second, I thought she was rushing to the front door—showing me that she was ready to go, too. But she came back a minute later. And laid her answer at my feet.
Mee-Mee. I hadn’t even realized that she’d swiped another Furby. But the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
I picked up the wet furry key chain and patted Hortencia on her head. “Okay . . . whatever you say. Road trip it is!”
CHAPTER 10
LUCA
“You take a left here.”
I’d pulled over at a stop sign, which was also the end of the road we’d been traveling on for the last half hour. We basically had two choices. Turn left or turn around. “Ummm . . . Doc. There’s no more paved road. To the left is only dirt.”
“Well, then I guess we drive on dirt for a little while.”
I sighed. “Can I see the map, please?”
Doc had been flipping back and forth between a half dozen foldable maps over the last three days. He also had a giant Hagstrom book. I hadn’t seen one of those since I was a kid—for a damn good reason, apparently. I took the map from Doc and traced the route he’d highlighted in yellow. “I don’t see why we can’t use Waze. It tells you when to turn and how to avoid traffic jams, too.”
“Those applicators are tracking devices.”
“You mean apps.”
“Whatever. The government already knows too much about us. Our forefathers fought for freedom, and the young people today give it all back.”
I leaned forward in my seat and looked down the dirt road Doc wanted me to turn onto. It looked pretty sketchy. Our RV didn’t have four-wheel drive, and the path was really narrow. “I don’t think we should go this way. I’m afraid we might get stuck.”
“Okay. So let’s walk, then.”
“Walk?” My brows drew together. “Where are you taking us?”
“Just a short little diversion. It shouldn’t be more than a half mile up the road.”
I shook my head. “I thought we were done with detours yesterday, when you made us drive two hundred miles off our path to see a Blackburnian warbler.”
“A detour means going off our path. This little visit is right on our way.”
I glanced down the dirt path once again. “I think the interstate is more like right on our way.”
Doc unbuckled and started to get out of the RV. I guess we’re taking another detour.
“The baya weaver builds the most beautiful nests. He builds it for the female, and if she approves, she’ll mate with him. They’ve never been spotted in this country before the last month.”
I turned off the RV and unbuckled. I supposed the man had taken two weeks off from his life to do this crazy trip with me, the least I could do was indulge him on his excitement over a few birds. It wasn’t like anyone was waiting for us in California. I hopped down from the driver’s seat and stretched my arms over my head and then twisted from side to side. A walk would do me some good anyway. Since I wouldn’t let Doc drive, I’d been behind that big wheel for the better part of eight hours already today.
“Imagine if humans did that?” I mused. “If men had to build an entire house to try and attract a woman?”