Page 41 of Check You Out

I tilt my head to the side. “Really? I didn’t know that.”

He nods. “My father was a member of the Howard County Council, and my mother is a mayor in Delaware.”

My eyebrow raises and my mouth parts.

He continues in a confident voice. Is he getting comfortable with us? “We need to secure a date and a suitable location.” He swallows. “We’ll need enough time to let people know so they can attend and we need to obtain permits. Some have to be filed and approved by the county a certain amount of time before the day of.”

“Wonderful. Can you look into that and see when we need to file those?” I ask, writing down a line about permits in my notebook.

“I already did. We’ll need two weeks minimum,” he says.

“Oh, I see,” I reply, frowning. “In that case, we ought to come up with a date tonight if we’re going to file those requests.”

“How about the Saturday before the Open Comment meeting,” Johnny suggests, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “It’ll put some pressure on the County Council and maybe get people excited.”

Lisa W. leans over the table. “We can’t do that.” She rests a hand on Lisa G.’s shoulder. “It’s Summerfest, and we’re committed to volunteering all day.”

Johnny slaps his knee. “That’s right. I’m running the pizza tent then.” He snaps his fingers. “What about this weekend? It’s Memorial Day Weekend. People can go to the protest and then to their barbecues. Or we can have a barbecue at the protest.”

Aidan shakes his head. “We need two weeks to get the permit. Douglass County also prohibits the use of grills of any kind on their property.”

Xander leans over the table. “What about Saturday, June 14? No town events then and no holidays.”

Aidan shifts in his seat. “That might work.”

I smile, warmth spreading through my limbs. “We’ll protest on Saturday, June 14. Any objections?” I’m met with a chorus of nods and a “Hell yeah” from Johnny. I make a note in my notebook. “Excellent. We’ll protest peacefully, right? No punching police horses.”

“Douglass County doesn’t have police horses, do they?” Johnny grabs a croissant from the platter and rips off a piece, stuffing it in his mouth. He nods to Nicole. “Damn this is good.” He takes a few chews before adding, “Eagles’ fans do that. We’re Ravens fans. We flock together.” He lets out a huff. “Punching police horses, hah!”

Nicole chuckles. “Did you know that a group of ravens isn’t called a flock?” She grins. “It’s actually called a conspiracy. It’s bullshit marketing.”

“If the Ravens start using that terminology, I will actually become a fan,” Xander quips. “That sounds so much cooler.”

Johnny lets out a low groan. “Save yourself a heartache and wait until they don’t fumble in the playoffs.” He shakes his head.

Liam giggles. “He made a football joke.” He yelps when Nicole kicks him under the table.

“Alright kittens,” I interject, rolling my eyes and hoping someone got my herding cats joke. I glance over at Aidan; a soft smile has crept up his face and those dimples flash. “Let’s focus. We’ve got a protest to plan.”

Johnny tilts his head, swallowing a bite of his croissant and tearing off another piece. “Wait, where are we having this protest?”

Karen smirks. “The County Executive’s house?”

“Absolutely not,” I exclaim. “We cannot protest on private property.”

“Why not?”

“We’d be charged with trespassing,” Aidan offers up.

Karen’s eyes light up with fire and she grins. “So, I could get—”

“No one is getting arrested,” I repeat with a firmer tone. Aidan opens his mouth and holds up a hand. “Yes?”

“We should have a contingency plan in case someone does get arrested,” he says, his voice remaining confident. The tone convinces me that he knows what he’s talking about. “Identify the people who could be arrested with only having minimal consequences.”

My jaw goes slack. Not because of what he said. It makes sense. But instead of how much of a difference there is between last week and this week. Last week, he was quiet, barely saying a single word, but now, Aidan is anything but.

I dip my head, trying to hide my smile. I like this Aidan. I like how he’s slowly coming out of his shell, and not just when it’s only me. Maybe I have something to do with that. Maybe I don’t. It doesn’t matter either way. But I like this. I like him.