Page 48 of Troublemaker: The Big Picture Edition

“How are you? Where is Ryder, really?”

“He’s with my friends and their kids, in line for Pirates of the Caribbean. He’s having a good day.”

She smiles, seemingly very glad to hear that my son is having a good day, and fuck it warms my heart. “That’s good. He’s been doing really well in class lately.”

“So he tells me.”

A huge group of people in matching T-shirts and hats approaches us when we pass by the Partners statue, and Emilia squeezes up against me when people step around us. I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her in even closer as we walk through the crowd. The fresh-baked cookie smell of Main Street mingles with the scent of her shampoo, and I think I’m inhaling what I want my home to smell like for the rest of my life. Before the crowd disperses, I squeeze her shoulder and let my hand slide down her back.

She keeps staring down at the pavement in front of us as we walk through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle into Fantasyland. “I think October is my favorite month here,” she says.

This makes me smile. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“The air feels different. The sky’s different. I don’t know. It’s quieter. There’s a bittersweet quality or something. This city doesn’t seem as obnoxious right now.”

“Are you going to the Halloween parade in West Hollywood with your friends, by any chance?”

She laughs. “Um. No. I don’t think I’m ready to rage that hard, and I’d lose them in forty-five seconds anyway. Areyouplanning to attend?”

“Maybe after I take Ryder trick-or-treating. You dressing up for Halloween at school?”

“Why yes, I am. I have a couple of different costumes for next week, actually. Are you going to come for the school parade?”

“I actually have a meeting that I can’t get out of that morning.”

I like how disappointed she seems.

“Hey. Can I buy you an ice cream?” I ask as we pass an ice cream cart.

“I already had one of those Dole Whip things about an hour ago. You go ahead.”

“Nah. I just wanted to watch you eat a chocolate-covered frozen banana.”

“I don’t think you could handle it.”

“Yeah. Probably for the best.”

It feels like we’re on a kinda awkward first date. I like it. Even though I already know it won’t end the way most of my dates end. But it’s a start. I’m dying to hold hands with her, but there’s always a chance someone from school could be here.

The line for Peter Pan’s Flight is short, as always, and moving pretty quickly. One of several reasons why I chose this particular ride to go on with her. “You’ve been on this ride before, right?”

She nods. “Yes. But not since I was much younger. I loved it.” She pauses before continuing. “The last time I came here, I was with my ex-boyfriend, and he refused to go on the little kid rides.”

“Sounds like kind of a dick, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

She smiles. “I do not mind. But I mean, he wasn’t a dick, exactly. He just wasn’t into kid stuff.”

“Dicks are never into kid stuff. That’s why they’re dicks.”

“Hmm, true dat.” She waves her hand in front of my face. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

“I’ll never forget it.”

By the time we get to the front of the queue and she focuses on the two-seater enchanted flying pirate ships, I watch her face and know that she’s realizing what I’ve known ever since we left Adventureland.

It’s just going to be the two of us, on a dark ride, for about two minutes.

And I’m gonna kiss her.