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quickly bent over to reduce the flame. Maddy eyed his turned back. The temptation was just too great. She plucked a berry out of the colander, took aim, and pitched it at him. It bounced off his head and fell to the floor.
“Hey!” He whirled around to face her, already laughing. She giggled and threw another one, this time catching him on the chest.
“Okay, I see how it is,” he said. “Well then, how about this?” Before she could react, he scooped a spoonful of batter, closed one eye, and took aim, catapulting the cake across the room and catching her right in the face.
She squealed and wiped her eyes. “You jerk!” She darted across the room, scooped up her own glob of batter, and let it fly, splattering his shirt. He dove across the kitchen table, trying to catch her, but she slipped away from his grasp and ran to the other side. They faced off, grinning, until he held up his hands. “Truce, okay? I give up.”
“Okay.” She relaxed and turned away before feeling something soft hit the back of her head. A strawberry fell at her feet. “Ooh! You’re going down!” she yelled. In one quick movement, she grabbed the colander out of the sink and, evading his hands, dumped the entire contents on his head. Strawberries fell pattering at their feet like fat red raindrops and rolled to the far corners of the room. 235
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Maddy stood, hanging on to the counter, trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard at the sight of David with the colander still on his head. With dignity, he removed the metal helmet and placed it on the counter. “Do you know you look like a raccoon?” he asked, pointing at the mask of shiny brown batter now beginning to dry on her face.
“I know,” Maddy gasped, starting to regain control of herself. “Help.”
“Here,” he said, running a clean dishcloth under the faucet. He took hold of her shoulder with one hand and with the other wiped at her cheeks. Maddy stopped giggling like someone had turned off a switch. David looked down into her face, suddenly serious. She inhaled sharply. He’s going to kiss me, oh my God, he’s going to kiss me. She hoped he couldn’t feel the slight trembling of her shoulders under his hands. From somewhere outside, the song of a killdeer reached her ears. But David’s face filled her field of vision. He leaned down and she closed her eyes. For a brief moment, his hand tightened on her shoulder. Then she felt it drop away. Maddy opened her eyes in surprise. David abruptly turned back to the stove. An awkward silence descended as he stirred something furiously. She was totally confused. Wasn’t he going to kiss her? What happened? Did she have something in her teeth? She stared at David’s back, trying to gauge his feelings from 236
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his posture. But his rounded shoulders told her nothing. They had been having such a good time. And he was going to kiss her. Maybe he was nervous. Maybe—she hated to think of it—he was having second thoughts about her. “Um, well, I should get back,” she heard herself saying in a small voice. He turned around with the saucepan in one hand. She was flooded with relief when she saw his face—
desperate but not angry.
“Okay,” he said in a croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “See you later?”
“Definitely!” She tried to load all of her feelings into that one word. He nodded. They stared at each other for one long minute and then she made herself turn calmly and open the screen door, leaving him in the middle of the kitchen.
237
Chapter Twenty-eight
!
Maddy was folding T-shirts into her blue suitcase when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,”
Maddy sang out. Mom had said she’d be bringing up the shoe basket from the back hall. But it wasn’t Mom standing in the doorway when she turned around—it was David. She caught her breath. “Hey,” she managed.
“Hey.” For the first time since she’d known him, he looked awkward, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
“I was just packing—”
He spoke at the same time. “Do you want to go—”
He tried again. “Do you want to go for a drive?”
Maddy paused. She wasn’t counting on anything after what happened earlier that evening. “Sure.”
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His face lit up. “I’ll wait for you downstairs in the truck, okay?”
“Okay.” He turned and left.
Maddy went over to the mirror on the wall and stared at herself. Her eyes were wide and sparkling and her cheeks were pink. All she needed was a little lip gloss. She quickly brushed her hair, letting it hang loose and shiny over her shoulders.
The cool, deep night surrounded her as she stepped out onto the front porch. The crickets were chirping in the trees, matching the rumble of the idling pickup truck. David sat in the cab, his elbow out the window, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
“So, are you kidnapping me?” Maddy teased as she got in.
“Definitely.”
“Great.” She settled next to him on the seat as he sped down the gravel driveway. Her hair blew against her face as the wind swept through the open windows. Neither of them said anything, but the silence was peaceful. The radio played softly as the truck’s headlights cut through the darkness. Maddy closed her eyes for a minute and let her head rest on the back of the seat.
After a little while, David turned off the highway and she could feel the truck bumping down a dirt road. She lifted her head and opened her eyes. “Where are we?”
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Dark, impenetrable pine forest lined both sides of the narrow dirt track.
He smiled, his eyes straight ahead, his large, graceful hands resting on the steering wheel. “Just wait. Don’t you recognize it yet?” The woods opened onto a little meadow, lit by the full moon. They were near the lake—
their lake.
“Oh, I love this place,” she said.
“Me too. We had such a good time that day, I thought we should visit it one more time before we left.”
He stopped the engine and reached behind him into the back of the cab, pulling out a basket.
They walked single file down the path to the sandy beach. The lake lay before them, a moonpath spread on the inky, glittering surface. The water made gentle splashing sounds as it lapped the edge of the dock. David led the way onto the sand. As Maddy watched, he opened the basket he had been carrying and spread out a blanket and a container of something. Then he pulled out three little votive candles in glass holders and lit them carefully with a lighter from his pocket. Maddy was floored.
“This is so beautiful, David,” she said. He smiled, more shyly than usual.
“Come here,” he said, patting the blanket next to him. She sat, tucking her legs underneath her. He opened the container, revealing the finished chocolate 240
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mousse cake. “I thought we could try this.” He cut two pieces and put them on little plates. Maddy broke off a bite with her fingers and put it in her mouth. It was dark and moist. “What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s amazing, but I can’t imagine that’s because of me,” she said.
“Well, you added a little extra spice.” For a moment, they smiled at each other and then David looked away across the lake. He frowned, started to say something, and then stopped.
Maddy scooted a little closer to him on the blanket.
“David?” she asked softly.
He looked back at her and took a deep breath. “I’ve got something to tell you and I’m going to have to get it out before I lose my nerve.”
Maddy wondered if he could hear her heart pounding.
“I don’t know about you, but for me, this summer has been one of the craziest, most confusing . . . and best two months of my life.” Maddy nodded, and David, seeming to take that as a sign of encouragement, went on, his voice a little steadier. “And you are the reason for that . ” Maddy drew in a breath and watched his face. He was looking back across the water, his arms looped around his knees. His fingers were twined so tightly together the knuckles were white. “I know it’ll be hard going back to the city. I mean, all of our friends 241