"Do you swear Evan doesn't know anything about tomorrow?"
"No, he has no clue," Sara promised. "He still thinks he's spending the day with his brother, hiking."
"Good," I smiled.
"I think you're going to pull it off."
"I hope so," I returned, my stomach churning with nervous energy just thinking about what I had planned for his birthday.
We turned our attention back toward the guys.
"Emma, if you ever want to visit your mother in the hospital, I'll go with you," Sara offered suddenly.
"No," I shook my head. "I don't want to see her. I can't."
"Alright," she replied, her voice low and careful. "Em, are you okay?"
I heard the weight of concern in her question. "I'm getting there," I assured her with a small smile. "Can't say my life's boring."
Sara let out a sharp laugh. "What? That's kind of a twisted thing to say."
I shrugged, accepting that it was true. But her comment made me think of Jonathan, and my shoulders sank. I hadn't talked to him since the day I'd called him from Evan's. We'd texted a few times, but each text felt strained. I knew I'd need to face him eventually. He'd said he wanted me to be honest. But I wasn't so sure that he was prepared to hear the truth, and I was afraid to tell him.
Sara pulled a blanket around her, giving in to the fact that it really wasn't warm. The guys jogged back to us, their faces red and hair disheveled.
Evan cuddled in under the blanket. "Omigod, you're freezing." I tensed away from his frigid touch.
"I know," he pulled me closer, "I need you to help warm me up."
I squirmed under the blanket with a yelping laugh when he tried to put his frigid hands under my shirt.
"Okay, fine," Sara conceded with heavy breath, "let's go back to my house where it's above seventy degrees and we can go swimming."
"Thank you." I jumped up to gather our things, wanting more than anything to get out of the pelting wind. We packed up and headed to the car.
"Do you want to come back to my place instead?" he asked me when we were in the backseat, on our way back to Weslyn. "I was hoping to spend some time with you before Jared and I head off for the hike tomorrow."
I grinned and nodded, unable to face him―afraid my grin would give away that I was hiding something. "I like that idea. Do you mind if I shower first, to get the sand and salt off?"
"Sure. You can just meet me at my place when you're done."
Sara didn't have an issue when I told her I was going to spend the rest of the day with Evan. I was pretty certain she wanted some alone time of her own with Jared. I found Evan in the backyard when I arrived, sitting under the oak tree, waiting for me.
"I can't believe we spent most of the day freezing," I said, pulling myself up on the swing. I soaked in the warmth of the lowering sun as I swayed back and forth. "It was beautiful here all day."
"The day's not over yet," Evan said, leaning in and gripping the wood to give me a push. "We can enjoy it 'til it's over."
"What does that mean?" I questioned. "Isn't that what we're doing?"
Evan laughed. "It is. But, how about you stay the night? It's supposed to be pretty nice tonight. We can sleep outside."
"Like camping?" I clarified.
"That's a better idea. I think I have a tent in the garage. We can sleep in the backyard, or we can go to the meadow. The sky will look incredible out there, away from the lights. What do you think?"
"Evan," I grinned accusingly, "did you plan this?"
He started laughing. "No, I swear. It just came to me when you were talking about missing out on today. I'm going to be gone all of tomorrow, so let me spend the rest of today with you."
"So you're being spontaneous?" I teased. He smiled and intercepted my swing, placing his hands on the board on either side of my hips. He leaned in and kissed me gently.
"Will you please stay over?" he whispered, brushing his lips across mine again.
"Yes," I replied in a breath with my eyes closed, leaning in for another touch that made my head spin. He kissed me a little longer, and I thought I was going to fall off the swing.
He pulled away. "C'mon, Emma." He held out his hand and I jumped off the swing to take it.
We gathered sleeping bags and the tent, along with firewood and other essentials from the barn. Evan packed us sandwiches and drinks. I grabbed marshmallows, making Evan smile. We strapped everything into the trailer on the back of the ATV.