Page 47 of Indescribable
I nod. “It really is. And, as you can see, he’s quite the character. Always happy.”
Paisley’s eyes go soft. “I was adopted,” she tells us. “My birth mom was only fifteen when she had me. It was an open adoption so I know her and honestly, she made the right decision.”
“You still have a relationship with her?”
She scrunches her nose. “A little. Basically checking in is all. She travels for work and likes her freedom, is what she tells me all the time. She’s happily single and I’m glad she made the choice she did. My parents, they’re great. Couldn’t have kids of their own after trying for about ten years. I have a little brother. He’s adopted, too. Similar situation, but his birth mom was in college and didn’t want an open adoption so he never met her. He’s never tried, either.”
“Adoption is really a blessing,” Corbin says.
“Definitely,” Paisley agrees. “So… your ex?”
I groan. “Do we have to talk about him?”
“I have an ex, too. Not husband. A boyfriend of eight years who I thought I could fix.” She winces. “Never think you can change someone. They are who they are. Always.”
We all raise our glasses and clink them together. “Here here!”
“Happy talk!” Corbin announces, switching gears.
As we eat and drink, a lot, we get to know each other more. And the more I learn about Paisley, the more I realize our initial instincts are spot on. She’d be perfect for Boone.
She’s confident and a little sassy but shy at the same time, has some of the funniest stories from being a thirty-two-year-old back in college with a bunch of teenagers and young twenty-somethings who are still confused about life. And the hotel stories? We’re rolling.
“That didn’t happen.”
“Oh, yes, it did. More than once, actually.”
“How does one go about making that phone call to the front desk? Do you think they laid there and thought for an hour before having the courage to pick up the phone?”
“Probably. But they were stuck. Literally. Tied to the bed and couldn’t move. The first time it happened, it was a housekeeper who found him. The second time, he managed to wiggle around enough that he could reach the phone and dialed with his nose.”
I’m dying. This very moment. Taking notes for my books and dying of laughter.
“What else?”
“Hmm. The things that happen are pretty mind-blowing, really. We’ve had to break up a porn shoot, teenagers partying after prom, a girl somehow got locked out of her room naked. Still unsure how that went down.”
“Back up. A porn shoot?”
“Oh, yeah. It wasn’t illegal, but I’m pretty sure some of the things they were doing were illegal in some states.” We all laugh. Again. Seems that’s about all we’ve been doing the entire night.
“Ready to order dinner, ladies?”
“Definitely,” I say, trying to get my laughter under control. “I’d like a burger. Whatever one you recommend. Just surprise me. And fries on the side but I’m also super curious about the caramelized onion thing so that, too.”
Paisley and Corbin both place their orders for sandwiches and fries, too, and remind him that we’ll be having dessert.
He also returns to refill our waters. Thank goodness because I’m starting to feel the effects of the four beers I’ve had already.
“I have an idea,” I announce.
“What’s that?” Paisley wonders, taking a big swig of her beer.
“In about three weeks, our town is having our spring festival. You should come! You can stay with me, if you don’t think that’s too weird. It’s all weekend long. It used to be a bunch of food shacks, basically, but now it’s become this big deal for food trucks. So tons of food and drinks, there’s always a bunch of games, too.”
“What’s the festival for?”
“What do you mean?” Corbin asks.