I watched him walk around the front of the truck with the headlights beaming on him. He was so different from Forbes. He was wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt with scrolling designs on it-nothing like the preppy clothes all the guys at school wore. The design on his shirt reminded me of the tattoo on his arm and I quickly looked to see if I could catch a glimpse of his ink. He was too quick for me and I missed my opportunity.
He got back in and I heard his door screech as he pulled it closed. He put the truck in drive and began to pull forward. As he slowly drove ahead, we left the world behind us and I knew this was going to change everything.
When he got to the edge of the property where it met the road, he stopped and asked which direction I wanted him to go. I knew I wasn’t ready for him to take me home. “Are you in a hurry to get home?”
He laughed at me and said, “No. I don’t have a curfew. Do I need to hurry to get you home on time?”
His concern about my curfew amused me. “No, I don’t have to be home anytime soon.”
“So which way do you want me to go?”
He couldn’t take me anywhere that would have been more exciting than in his truck with him at this moment. “Surprise me.”
“Don’t say that unless you mean it,” he warned.
“I do mean it. Take me anywhere you want.”
I could see his handsome face by the dim dashboard lights and he broke into a big smile, not his normal mischievous grin. “Okay. I’m going to surprise you, but remember you asked for it.”
He pulled out onto the road and my heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears and the more I concentrated on it, the more nervous I became. I reached for the radio, hoping some music might distract me, but didn’t know how to turn it on. “Can we turn on some music?”
He reached and turned a knob. “Sure. You can look for a station you like.”
“What kind of stereo is this?”
“The poor people kind. It’s original to the truck so it’s no satellite radio, but it still works.” He pointed to the knob on the right. “You twist this one to tune in the radio station.”
I began to turn the knob and the first song I found was a new one by a country band with a hit on the pop charts. Although I didn’t care for country music, I liked the song so I left it.
“Country music fan?” he quizzed.
“Not at all, but I do like this song. It’s sweet. It’s about the kind of love everyone wants to find.” I hope that didn’t make him feel awkward. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but the beer I drank had my tongue a little loose. Surely, that made my statement qualify for drunken immunity.
“I’m not into country music either, but I like this one, too.”
Forgetting it was a surprise, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“You told me to surprise you. If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it?” He loved taunting me.
“What about a clue?”
He thought it over for a second and said, “It’s not in Franklin and I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid.”
I didn’t know much about him, but I could only make one assumption based on that information. “You’re taking me to Collinsville, aren’t you?”
“I’m not telling you because it’s a surprise,” he teased.
It was about a 15 minute drive to our destination and we talked nonstop on the way. I got the impression Jessie didn’t want to share much about his personal life, but I could tell he was taking me to a place that held a special place in his heart even if he didn’t say so.
He pulled into a parking lot outside what appeared to be a park. “I have two places I want to show you.”
“At the park?”
“The first place is at the park.”
I reached for my door handle and he said, “Wait, let me,” as he got out of the truck and came around to open my door.
After I got out, he shut my door and I said, “You can be pretty unassholeish when you want to be so I think I might need to find a new name for you.”
“I’m all for that, but you’re keeping your name. I could never think of you as anything else but Princess.” I liked that he had a special name for me that only he used.
He took my hand in his and his touch ignited an excitement in me I never felt with Forbes. He led me toward a children’s playground and stopped in front of a large play set. “Do you see a common theme?” When I looked puzzled, he asked, “Perhaps something we recently discussed?”
I looked around at the playground and saw swings, slides and jungle gyms, but nothing was ringing a bell for me.
“It may be difficult to see because it’s dark, but look over there and see if anything registers with you.”
I looked in the direction he pointed to and it suddenly hit me. “Oh, I see now. It’s a castle.”
“Yes, and this was my kingdom when I was growing up. I always tried to talk one of the girls on the playground into being my princess, but they always refused. I guess I’ve showed them. I resorted to bringing in a Princess from another kingdom.”
I felt strangely playful. “Will you give me the tour?”
“Absolutely.”
We climbed into the inside of the play set, but had to crouch down because it so short. Once inside, he pointed to the corner and said, “That’s where I had my first kiss.”
“What was her name so I’ll know who to be jealous of?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She was a cute blond and that was all I needed to know.”
“Oh, so you prefer blonds? I see how you are,” I joked.
“There wasn’t any cute little auburn haired girls, so what was I supposed to do? I was only eight. What did I know? I started smoking when I was twelve, so I think we have established I wasn’t the brightest kid.”
We hung out in the castle talking for about an hour, then he said, “This has been fun, but there’s somewhere else I’d like to take you. Is that alright?”
I would gladly go anywhere he wanted to take me as long as I was with him. “Sure.”
We left the park and he drove out to an open field and parked out in the middle. He left the key rolled back so we could listen to the radio and said, “You’re wondering why we’re in the middle of this field, aren’t you?”
“Kind of. There’s nothing here.”
He pointed to his temple. “There is. You just can’t see it because it’s all in my head.” He reached across the cab, took my hand and pulled me across the bench seat toward him. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he opened his door to step out of the truck and I remembered what he said. He wouldn’t kiss me until I asked him to.