Sandwiches had been, and probably always would be, his favorite.
They were easy to make. You could change the flavor with the simplest ingredients. The essentials for making a sandwich were usually on hand and it took less than three minutes to construct a meal that would keep him full. Well, at least until his next meal.
This sandwich, though, was no ordinary sandwich.
Pastrami, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, avocado, tomatoes and sliced green peppers.
It was nothing he hadn't had a hundred times before, but there were definitely nuanced differences. The texture, the flavor, the essence of the sandwich was like nothing he'd ever experienced.
“Right?” Sway asked with a knowing nod.
Harrison set the half-eaten sandwich down on his plate and looked at it cautiously. “What the hell did she do to it?”
Sway barked a short laugh and pushed his hair out his face as he leaned back against the bus wall. He tapped his index finger on the table right by the plate. “That, what you're tasting right there, is love.”
Harrison's eyes connected with the bassist's. That made sense. His mom and sisters often joked that the reason he loved their cooking so much was because they put love in it. That was it. That was the small difference. It had to be. He had no idea love had a taste until this second.
Now, he would never joke about it again.
“Imagine what she could do with more ingredients,” Sway added with a lip quirk.
Harrison picked up his sandwich again and looked at it hard. “Text Kendra. Tell her to get everything. Whatever Zelda needs to make whatever she wants. And tell her to keep it stocked. Because I'm going to eat it all.”
Then he took another incredible bite.
Sway was tapping out the message on his phone already with a secret smile on his face. Then he tilted his head to the side, looking thoughtfully to his left.
“Do you hear that?”
Harrison stopped mid-chew and listened hard. A song was playing quietly nearby with that tin can sound that accompanied ringtones. It took a couple more seconds for him to identify the song.
Queen. “You're My Best Friend.”
It sounded like it was coming from the doorway of the bunks above them.
“Dude,” Sway drew his attention back as the ringing stopped. “Her ringtone is Queen.” His eyebrows raised in an emphasized point.
“I heard that,” Harrison commented quietly and then resumed his sandwich eating.
Sway's head thumped against the bus wall, his eyes pointed to the ceiling. He sighed heavily but didn't say anything further.
Harrison was grateful for two reasons. Firstly, this sandwich didn't deserve any more interruptions. It deserved to be devoured in an appreciative and solemn manner. Second, he didn't need Sway to point out the obvious.
That Zelda was quite possibly perfect.
***
Zelda felt remarkably better after her nap. In fact, she was feeling so good, she was starving.
Making her way down the steps and into the main cabin of the bus, she went straight for the fridge.
“How did you sleep?” Sway asked from one of the couches. Zelda glanced his direction. Some reality show was on mute, she couldn't identify which one. Harrison was on the adjacent sofa, flat on his back, arms crossed tightly over his chest, eyes closed.
“Good. I feel like a million bucks,” she answered.
Sway's lips twitched, then his head bent back to his phone.
Zelda dug through the small freezer and pulled out some frozen chicken nuggets. She arranged them on a paper plate, then nuked them for a minute. During that minute she rummaged through multiple cupboards before finding what she was looking for. The microwave sounded, she pulled the nuggets free, and then drizzled them with maple syrup. The smell that wafted to her nostrils caused her to close her eyes for a second and savor.
Nuggets and maple syrup. The greatest thing she had ever discovered. All thanks to her best friend Amber.
During their twelfth summer, they had sustained themselves completely on nuggets and maple syrup. Her parents would warn them that they should be eating more well-balanced meals, but her mom always kept the fridge completely stocked. So they must not have been too worried.
She grabbed her plate and moved to sit at the table.
“No, come sit by me,” Sway stopped her. His head was still bent toward his phone, but he was leaned forward in almost a hunch.
She shrugged to herself before taking the three steps toward the couch and then sitting beside him. Settling her plate in her lap, she glanced over at the screen of his phone and saw that it was open to an e-book app.
“Is that a Sullivan Summers one?” she asked, popping a nugget in her mouth.
“Yeah.” Sway chewed the side of his thumb.
She grinned at his anxious features.
Day one on the road was not what she had expected. So far she had been caught by Harrison O'Neil, fallen into a dumpster, filled an entire memory card with some of the best pictures of her life, dodged five phone calls from Matt, found out she got motion sick with lack of sleep, and started a book club with Sway Schaeffer.
“He was reading some of those sections out loud to me.” Harrison's deep voice came from across the way. His eyes remained tightly closed, so she felt it wasn't out of line for her to appreciate the bulge of his biceps with the way his arms were folded against his chest. His chest looked nice too. And his neck. Strong lines up his throat that connected to his jaw and drew attention to his cheekbones.
A lot of girls she knew from work and school would often talk about the band's hotness factor. Luke, lead singer, the obvious go-to gorgeous guy. The living, breathing fantasy of women everywhere with his chiseled features and striking blue eyes. Blake, grunge guitarist expert, the resident bad-boy. Dark, dangerous and untouchable. It was hard to not want to be the woman who could tame that reckless heart. Mike, drummer, heartbroken, troubled, with pale blue eyes that held more secrets than an Iowa summer sky. Something about him made the women want to hold him, heal him, and keep him forever. Sway was the womanizer. Bassist, flirt, with a little black book that would rival George Clooney. The girls would talk about how when he found “the one” he would settle down. He was just looking for the right woman to give his whole heart to.
But Harrison had always been her favorite. She would read through interviews to get to his quotes, watch only his bits during the behind-the-scenes DVDs. She liked the band as a whole, but the one that made her heart get all flippy-floppy had been, and always would be, the lead guitarist.
Harrison was seen as the adorable one. Too cute for his own good. Dark features, killer smile, genuine laugh. No sad family history, no broken heart to mend, no reputation to contend with. He was... safe. Zelda had to stop herself from snorting at the thought. As she looked over Harrison again, she remembered what it had felt like to have those arms around her that morning, and later when those brown eyes had filled with concern for her when she went to take a nap.
Yeah, he was adorable.
And he was sweet, and genuine.
Gorgeous, strong, real.
To Zelda, that did not equal safe. That looked a lot like her kind of dangerous.
Obviously not just her, she thought as she reminded herself for the third time that day that he was taken.
Again, bummer.
“You liked it,” Sway broke into her musings.
“Yes, I did.” Harrison's mouth tipped up at the corners and Zelda felt herself sigh inside. “Very steamy.”
Yep, dangerous.
“Is that maple syrup on your nuggets?” Sway asked, leaning over to look at her half eaten plate of food.
“Mmhm,” she confirmed with a nod.
“Is that any good?” he asked with suspicion.
She saw Harrison's eyes crack open and his head tipped to the side slightly to look in her direction. She swallowed her bite.
“So good.” She closed her eyes while putting another nugget in her mouth. “
The best ever.”
“You're weird,” Sway stated and went back to his phone.
Zelda grinned and nudged him with her shoulder. “You haven't lived until you've eaten maple syrup on your chicken.”
“So it's not just nuggets then?” Harrison asked, his half-smile making her want to bite her bottom lip.
“Nope.” She felt her grin widen into a smile and then she held her plate out to him impulsively. “Try it.”
His brown eyes crinkled on the sides in amusement. Not breaking eye contact, he reached over and grabbed a nugget, then he ate it.
“You're right.” He licked his thumb and forefinger. “Best ever.”
Zelda leaned back in the couch, feeling happy about their moment just then. It was small and probably very insignificant. But in her head she was going to remember this as the time she shared food with Harrison and he loved it. It was practically a date.
Okay, maybe she was letting her imagination go too far.
Her phone started to sing at her from her pocket and she leaned sideways to reach it.
She already knew who it was based on the ringtone. Queen's “You're My Best Friend.” Obviously that made it Amber.
“Hello?”
But the connection was no good and she couldn't hear much besides static. Disconnecting the call, she sent a quick text promising to call when they were parked.
“Whoever that was called while you were sleeping too,” Sway informed her.
“I saw that. I was just gonna call back later anyway.”
“Boyfriend?” Sway asked, looking up from his screen.
Zelda snickered. “No, best friend. Amber. She lives in Omaha. I'm gonna leave Hüsker Dü with her when go through there.”
Her phone lit up with another call. The screen said Anonymous and the ringtone played Queen's “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Her default tone.
Never having been embarrassed about her ringtone choice before, she suddenly felt her cheeks get hot as the song rang through the cabin.
So she didn't really think about it when she answered the phone just to get the song to stop.
“Hello?”
“Princess?”
Holy crap, it was Matt.
“I'm so glad I got a hold of you, I've been worried sick.”
Zelda's face bunched into a frown. “Seriously, Matt?”
Sway's head swung her way with her tone. Harrison's eyes narrowed and his body stiffened.
“You know there's no food in the refrigerator, right?” Matt said, all sorts of accusation pouring out of him.
“You know that I gave up the lease and you have to move out, right?” she returned acidly.
Matt sighed patiently. “You're still on that, huh?”
“Matt!” she snapped, trying not to bite through her own tongue. “You need to listen to me. This isn't me throwing a fit and trying to get attention. This is me, explaining as clearly as I possibly can, that you need to stop calling me. I have a new job. I gave up the apartment. I broke up with you like five times!”
“Princess,” he pleaded softly on the phone. “I get that you need space, and I know we're going through a rough patch. That's fine, I'm willing to give you your space—”
“Stop calling me Princess! I hate that, I've always hated that! I'm beginning to hate you!” she yelled, knowing she'd reached the level of shrill she hated to hear in other women's voices, but for the first time being able to relate to the feeling behind it.
He was shushing her through the phone and Zelda was suddenly glad that she was thousands of miles away or she really would be going to jail. Didn't he know not to shush a woman in a tirade? Probably not, he was pretty stupid.
“Just calm down. I'll go stay with Tyler for a few days. Call me, though, I worry.”
“I know Tyler isn't real!” she called through the phone even though she knew he had already hung up.
She pressed her lips together so hard she probably bruised them.
“So that was the boyfriend,” Sway muttered.
Zelda turned her icy glare at him and he cocked an eyebrow playfully.
“What's wrong, princess?” he asked sincerely.
She let out a stunted laugh. What else could she do? Sway grinned.
“According to Amber, I have horrible taste in men. But I didn't really figure that out until recently. I thought she was just being protective and bossy. Guess not.” Zelda focused on her plate, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. How dare Matt call and try to ruin her nugget and maple syrup moment?
“I mean, I answered his phone and actually talked to the girl he was cheating on me with. Tyler is not a real person. Tyler is code-name for 'Chick I'm Shagging.'” She shuddered at the memory. “Not to mention I've been paying his way for months now. He was calling to let me know we were out of food.”
“I've never met Amber and already I can tell you, she's very wise. You do have horrible taste in men.” Sway elbowed her playfully. He looked to Harrison for affirmation.
Zelda hadn't looked at Harrison at all during her exchange with Matt. Now, her eyes settled on him, and his features were hard. Not his normally open, happy demeanor. His dark eyes were darker, nearly black. And the skin around his mouth was tight.
“The guy sounds like a dick,” he said with a growl.
“You're not wrong,” she sighed.
“You were living with him?” Harrison asked, his tone accusatory.
Zelda's spine stiffened, and Sway shifted in a way that made her feel like he was getting ready to move between them.
“Yeah...” she answered slowly, her hackles threatening to go up.
“And your parents were okay with that?” Again with the accusation.
Zelda's frown pulled tight. “I'm twenty-six, I don't need their permission to be in a relationship.”
Harrison's lips twisted. “I don't know, from the sounds of it, maybe you should get their permission. You're obviously not that great at making healthy choices.”
“Harry,” Sway said low, disappointed.
“Um, ouch.” Zelda tucked her hair behind her ear and she could feel the slight tremble in her hand as she did so. A burning invaded her sinuses and she clenched her teeth to try to beat it back. His words hurt. Like accidentally getting hot sauce in your eyes. It hurt a lot.
Harrison moved quickly. He sat up, swung his feet to the floor, stood and looked down at her. His eyes scanned her face once, twice, three times. He pursed his lips and shook his head. “I just met you and I know.”
“You know what?” she asked, scared of his answer but unwilling to back down. It was a huge fault of hers. She hated confrontation but when one was brought to her, she could never back down. Maybe it was her pride, or her stubborn personality. Or maybe she wasn't smart enough to know when she was beat.
“That you're better than someone's shack-up hunnie,” Harrison softly and unexpectedly.
She felt the burning in her nose get stronger. Harrison's dark eyes stayed with hers. They softened as he watched her battle her humiliation. His hand cupped her jaw on one side, his thumb gliding over her bottom lip. The intimacy and gentleness of his touch rocked her already shaky foundation.
“So much better than that,” he said tenderly. His hand dropped to his side again, their connection broken. “He calls again, I'll talk to him.”
Zelda didn't know what to say, so she just nodded. Even though inside she was thinking no way would she be doing that. She just wouldn't be answering any more unknown callers.
Harrison may have been reading her thoughts because he raised a single eyebrow and waited. When she didn't say anything, he walked to the back of the bus calling, “I have to hit the head, then it's a Firefly marathon and no more of that reality bullshit. No arguments.”
She wouldn't be arguing with that. Never.
Besides, she would be finding conversation difficult after what had just happened.
“You okay?” Sway asked her quietly.
She took a breath and gave him
a half-forced smile. “Yeah. I mean, that wasn't fun, but he's right. I am better than that.”
“Harrison's not usually so...” Sway searched for the right word.
“So honest? Upfront? Outspoken?”
Sway smiled. “Okay, maybe he is. I just don't want you think badly about him.”
Zelda turned surprised eyes on him. “I could never think badly of Harrison,” she said in truth.
A light hit Sway's eyes and Zelda opened her mouth to backtrack.
“Don't take it back,” he warned, a playful grin on his face.
Zelda went back to her nuggets. “Whatever.”
Sway chuckled softly.
Harrison returned from the bathroom and started the pilot episode of Firefly. They watched four episodes in a row, stopping only for Zelda to make more sandwiches (which the guys went gaga over again).
The rest of the night was easy. No more weird personal questions or conversations. Kendra texted her to make a plan to get groceries the next day per Sway's request. Hüsker Dü came down and snuggled with Harrison, who didn't seem to mind the furry company. Though, to be fair, Hüsker Dü was an expert snuggler.
Before it got too late and she screwed up her sleep hygiene entirely, Zelda said her goodnights, scooped up her cat and retired to her bunk. Where she tried really hard to not feel like such a fool for letting Matt take advantage of her for so long. She couldn't do anything about it now anyway. What was done, was done. She just wouldn't do it again.
Chapter 5
Everything Has Changed
Zelda's eyes opened slowly. She tried to focus on the ceiling of her bunk in the light that was filtering in around the curtain she hadn't pulled all the way closed the night before. They had parked sometime in the night, ending the rocking that she was hoping she'd get used to soon. The interior of the bus was quiet, the rumble of the parked engine soothing. It beckoned her back to dreamland, but the distant voices of the crew working outside told her that the day had started and she couldn't ignore it.
She wanted to stay asleep, pull the covers over her head and burrow deep. She had been having the best dream...
For reasons unexplained (as it usually went in dreams), she had been living in a cheap apartment in a big city. A tall high-rise with no elevator and thousands of stairs separating her from the city below.
The Hope That Starts Page 7
