Page 53 of Love at First Ride
In my pink candy striper uniform, I hear my coworker’s words and a fizz of excitement goes through me.
I’ve tried hard to stop daydreaming about AJ Callahan for a whole month since he said goodbye to me in Roswell, and the idea that he might have turned up at the door to Sunset Pines Nursing Home to see me with flowers in his hand thrills me to my soul.
Except my brain knows it isn’t him. There are only two men in my life who would make such a gesture, and one of them lives in England. Owen has sent me more poetry via email, though I’ve turned down his entreaties to talk.
I make my way to the entrance hallway. ‘Hello,’ I say to Dad with a smile. He stands with a goofy grin on his face and a bouquet of red and pink roses in his hand.
‘Thought I could take you out to lunch,’ he says.
I lean in for a brief hug. ‘You didn’t have to bring me flowers.’
‘I’ve barely seen you lately. Thought it might be nice.’
I take the roses and press my nose into the petals. ‘They smell amazing. Thank you.’
‘Think you can spare half an hour?’
‘Should be fine,’ I say. ‘Let me just go and put these in a vase.’
I go to the kitchen. If there is one thing Sunset Pines is not short of, it’s vases. I’m filling one with water when one of the nurses, Nabila, enters with Aubri, who works on the reception desk. I’ve never seen Aubri without gum in her mouth, and her voice is always husky. She’s not known for being animated. Nabila is around my age. My back is facing them, but this kitchen is miniscule, so it’s impossible not to overhear their conversation.
‘Honestly, it can get pretty wild out there,’ Aubri is saying.
Nabila bends over and searches in the fridge for something. ‘I heard they banned country music, is that true?’
‘Oh yeah,’ Aubri sighs. ‘It’s literally all rock and metal. That’s the vibe. Bikers, not cowboys.’
‘And there’s like… college seniors that go?’
‘Oh yeah. Hot ones. Everybody’s going now.’
I straighten my back a little.
‘Aw, who got flowers?’ Nabila asks me, clutching a plastic container she’s retrieved from the fridge.
I blush, because I’m not a resident here. ‘I did. My, uh, dad got them for me.’
‘Oh my gosh, your dad, that’s so cute,’ Aubri says.
‘What are you guys talking about?’ I ask casually.
Nabila’s eyes go wide when she says, ‘Friday nights at Scotch & Smoke. It’s a bar, out in Rapture. You ever been to Rapture?’
‘Uh, just once. A while ago.’
She puts down her plastic container. ‘So, Friday nights. Scotch & Smoke is blowingup. Everybody’s headed out there for a good time.’
‘They are?’ I ask innocently.
‘But you gotta have the wristband,’ Aubri says. ‘Or they won’t let you in. It’s gotten so popular, they had to start a system. We got ours yesterday.’
‘You wanna come with?’ Nabila asks me.
I blink at her. I don’t know if she remembers who my stepmother is – it’s not something I broadcast on a regular basis – and I can’t even begin to explain why I was there a month ago and got kicked out by Echo Salinger. There is no way he would have me back.
‘You should come!’ Nabila exclaims.
‘You should definitely come,’ Aubri states in her monotone. ‘It’s, like, a total blast.’
