Wherever You Go by Heather Davis Read Free Book Online Page B

out the dragonflies buzzing around. We passed thickets of blackberries and tall grasses and finally came upon the metal benches set up among the trees.
    Grandpa Aldo took a seat and closed his eyes, the sun playing across his face. "This is so wonderful."
    "You like this park?" Lena said. "I mean, there aren't any swings or anything. It's kinda boring."
    Grandpa Aldo turned to me, smiling. "I asked your grandma to marry me here many years ago."
    Lena let out a little squeal. "Really?"
    "Yes, she was just a little bit older than Holly."
    We sat there for a while, watching the sun dip behind the Olympic Mountains in the distance. Lena ran off to chase dragonflies.
    "Thank you,
cara mia,
" Grandpa Aldo said, his eyes misty.
    "No big deal. I thought maybe it was time for a visit."
    Lena zoomed up to us, a giant blue bug in her hand. "This one's cool!" she said, and then dashed off again into the tall grass for a last hunt.
    Grandpa was quiet after that, all the way on our walk back to the main road. When we got to the stop, I checked the timetable for the next bus, which I soon calculated would be about a thirty-minute wait.
    Lena traced cracks in the sidewalk, her sneaker-clad toes pointing like a ballerina's. Grandpa Aldo steadied himself against the bus stop pole, since there was no place to sit down. The sun was beginning to sink. Though it was a nice spring evening, there was a chill in the air. A chill reminding me that the season wasn="0 season't in full swing yet. It was still time for jackets and umbrellas and all those things you have to carry with you in Seattle, where it never seems warm until July. And then the city would be hit with a wallop of warm days.
    It would be a weird summer without Rob. Last year, we'd hung out at the beach, savoring every last ray of sunshine, soaking it up for the long fall and winter months. Or at least I had soaked it up. It was hard to forget Rob pulling down his favorite baseball cap, shielding himself from the warm glare of the rays on the water. And then, just as the leaves were starting to turn, he was gone. No amount of sunshine I'd saved up could bring me out of that dark fall.
    "When is the bus coming? This is boring," Lena said, her foot making another perfect line along the cracked concrete.
    "Soon."
    After a few minutes, though, a black car rolled up. Jason Markham rolled down the window. "Can I give you guys a ride?"
    I tried not to show my surprise. "What, are you stalking me now?"
    "Right. I was in the neighborhood."
    I glanced back at my grandpa, who seemed worn out from the trip, and then back at Jason. "Um ... well ... you really want to give us a lift?"
    "Sure."
    I was skeptical about why he'd want to be nice. Worried that he would say something awkward like he did yesterday on the walk home. But, actually, it would be really great not to have to take the bus.
    "So?" He cocked his head to the side.
    "Yeah, okay."
    Jason parked the car on the side of the road and got out to help Aldo into the front passenger seat. Once he was situated, Lena and I scrambled into the back.
    "We live down off of fifteenth."
    "I know where to go," Jason said. "Rob and I picked you up there once."
    I relaxed into the seat. Next to me, Lena was bouncing around and peering out the windows.
    "You guys hitting all the good parks?" Jason asked.
    I didn't mean to stare at the back of his head, but I didn't know where else to look without meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. His haircut made a perfect V on the back of his neck.
    "No," I said. "That park was special."
    Grandpa Aldo added, "Very special."
    We drove along in silence awhile, and then Grandpa started to make a humming sound. I don't even think he realized he was making the noise.
     
    "Grandpa, we're almost there," I said, patting his shoulder.
    He nodded, but the noise continued.
    After what seemed like forever, Jason parked the car in front of our building. Then he got out again, helping Grandpa Aldo out onto the sidewalk. It was