She laughs, bends, and hands me my red cowboy boots. “Here, these will look great with that shirt. Your purple boots would look better, but not with black-and-red plaid.”
I pull my boots on, reluctantly, and hold my arms out for Quinn’s inspection. She gives me a nod and bends to pull on her own brown boots. I stop myself from pulling at my shirt, again, and remind myself that every girl at the party will most likely be wearing less than I am, but that doesn’t do a lick of good to ease the feeling that something bad is coming my way.
“So, tonight’s the night?” Quinn asks, excitement about to bubble out of her.
“I guess so,” I tell her, an ache in my stomach.
“How are you goin’ to do it? I mean, I know the plan, but what are you goin’ to say?”
“I reckon I’m just going to be honest with him.”
“Yeah?”
“Dangit, Q, I don’t know . . . I haven’t thought that much about it. I’ve gone over it time and time again, but everything I can think of just sounds stupid. He’s never even given me the impression that he sees me like that. Plus, I saw Mindy Anne yesterday at the dollar store and she said he was dating Krissy Thompson. I know I told you not to let me back out, but really . . . I’m okay with being the only sixteen-year-old we know that will die alone. And virginal.” I don’t mention the kiss. I haven’t told anyone about the kiss. I’m not even sure I understand it, so I couldn’t say that was his way of showing his interest. But God, it sure felt like it.
She gives a small sigh and wraps her arms around me. “A little dramatic, Leigh, don’t ya think?”
“I’m terrified down to my bones, Q. Of course it’s a little dramatic. All I’ve been thinkin’ about is that I’m quite possibly going to make a huge fool out of myself tonight. I know you said you noticed him watchin’ me the last few times we were down at the lake, but this is a huge step. I just know if I don’t tell him now, he’s goin’ to leave town and who knows what will happen. If I let him leave without sayin’ somethin’, I just know I’ll regret it.”
She leans back, her hands staying planted on my shoulders, and gives me a soft smile. “It’s a huge step, I know, and I’m here every step of the way. No matter what, at least you’re going to try. Come on, let’s get out of here, it’s time to party.”
Ready or not.
We both jog down the stairs, calling out to my mama that we’re leaving, and rush out the front door before she can see our outfits, the screen door slamming against the house in our wake. Thankfully Daddy had been mending a fence back in the west end of our ranch, so he wasn’t here. He’s a lot harder to dodge than Mama. She had been working on her famous pies all day so I knew she wouldn’t be coming out of the kitchen to check on us. Not with the county fair a day away.
Quinn jumps up into the cab of her truck and turns the key. The deep rumble of her exhaust echoes around us when the engine turns over. Placing one booted foot on the running board, I grab the “oh, shit” handle and pull myself up into the passenger seat. If it wasn’t such a long walk through the woods separating our families’ properties, we would have just walked, but I also know she’s eager to show off her truck.
“Did you have to jack this thing up so high?” I huff when I settle in and buckle up.
“I was thinkin’ about addin’ another two inches, that way I could get those thirty-seven- inch trail grapplers I’ve had my eye on.” She looks over at me before turning out of our driveway and onto the street. “What?”
“You know I don’t understand a thing you say when you start talking truck, right?”
She shrugs and I laugh, the nerves letting loose a little. Ever since Quinn got her license last month, she’s spent every second fixing up her 2001 Silverado; the first thing she did being to jack it up and add mud tires. I swear she would live in Davis Auto Works if she could. She’s been begging me to let her mess around with my Jeep, but I’m perfectly fine without it being jacked up to high heaven, thank you very much.
We spend the rest of the ride over to her family’s back pasture singing along to the radio and laughing as Quinn goes out of her way to hit every muddy patch she can find in the dirt road. It had rained the past two days, finally letting up for the bonfire tonight, which means that today Quinn’s spent every second behind the wheel trying to turn her black truck brown. I don’t even bother trying to see out of my window anymore, not with the good inch of mud coating it.