A Second Chance

16

Harper

I let that compliment slide as I looked away, blowing into my coffee mug. I know I shouldn't have coffee at this time of night and I wouldn't have if I didn't remember the soy milk I requested on the shopping list.

As if reading my mind, Ryan asked about it. "Are you lactose intolerant?" To me, when people ask that, it's like, 'so, when you have normal milk, are you explosive?' Why, yes, that's the less charming way of putting it.

"Yes. Have been my whole life." I told him. "It's not nice, at first, but I got use to it. Soy milk, lactose free milk, Zymil. It's all gross at first. But, meh." I shrugged at him. "Thankfully, Willow didn't inherit that gene from me." I laughed nervously.

"Speaking of Willow, when does she come back?" Ryan asked me casually. I peeked over at him.

"Why? Do you miss her?" I softly teased but sighed. "I sure do."

"Well, yeah. It's so quiet."

I gave Ryan a wide smile. "That's so sweet. I'm worried as all hell. This is the longest I've been without her. I'm leaving early Monday morning to get her. It's a four hour trip where she is."

"Where is she?"

I walked around to the bench and sat on the next bar stool. "I use to live three hours drive from here. About an hour west of there, is a beautiful bush area to camp in. I use to go every Easter. It's got powered sites, we pitch up tents, the kids go swimming in the mountain water creeks, we would hike to a gorgeous forest, covered in ferns and moss. At night it would be littered in tiny fireflies, thousands of them. When I first met Connor, we would camp there once a month in the warmer months until we noticed them at around Easter. It just became a thing then." The experience still felt fresh in my head as I reminisced.

"Sounds like a great place to relax."

I moved my eyes back to Ryan's, a ghost of a smile on my face. "It is. I taught Willow how to swim there when she was four. Before I knew it, she was jumping off rocks in to the water and out off trees." I sipped at the coffee in my hands. "Just staring in to the night sky, away from any city lights, the stars are so much brighter. The whole, nature of it all. Sitting in a floatie, sipping at a cold drink, slowly floating away. The birds and crickets, fish jumping, turtles sunbathing..." just speaking about the place, it felt like I was there. "Up the mountain a bit, following the creek, is another swimming hole, with waterfalls. It's pure relaxation. Now I'm jealous that Willow went." I laughed again.

"It sounds like a great place."

I finished my coffee, leaving the empty cup on the bench, smiling. "It's beautiful. You should see it, one day." It's more than beautiful, it's breathtaking.

"I should. But I wouldn't have a clue where to go."

"I can show you?" I asked before I realised what I said. "That's if you want to?"

Ryan sat in thought for a couple minutes. "I would like that. Bit of a road trip, look at the scenery. We should make a day of it. Soon."

I grinned at him. "I would love to, Ryan." But the realisation of me working every night had hit me. It's a four hour drive and even if we leave very early and explore, then drive back, I wouldn't be up for working that night. But I didn't say anything.