Cara packed her suitcase with the things she would need for her trip to Tulsa with Zac. Pajamas, several changes of clothing and underwear, and packed snugly and very carefully at the bottom was her dress for the wedding. She had gone shopping with Maggie the day before and bought it. It was cream colored and old fashioned, an empire waist with a pink satin ribbon running through it that tied in front. It was sort of low neck, the neckline stopping just above her shoulder blades in back and just below her collarbone in front. It had a long skirt that touched the floor and was edged with lace and light pink pearls. Cara had fallen in love with it the minute she’d seen it. It reminded her of something that one of the heroines in a Jane Austen novel would have worn. Maggie had told her it looked good on her, bringing out the blue in her eyes and the bits of blonde in Cara’s curly brown hair. So, Cara bought it on the spot, using some of her inheritance to pay for it. And to go with it, she’d bought a pair of cream colored heels, a pearl necklace, and a bunch of little fake roses to put in her hair. She was going to knock Zac out when he saw her.
She’d called Damon earlier that day to tell him that she was going out of town for a few days with Maggie, saying that they were taking a small vacation before the spring semester started for Cara. She told him not to worry about calling, that she would call him as much as she could while they were there, but that they were going to be fairly busy, sight-seeing and all. It seemed like a decent enough lie, one that Damon would believe. There was no way she could tell him that she was going to a wedding in Tulsa with another guy. Damon would flip out. And besides, even though she and Zac were just friends, she knew Damon would never believe that. So, she just made up the best lie she could.
As she packed, pictures of kissing Zac yesterday at work flashed into her mind. The best had probably been when she was in the back room, looking for more copies of a particular book that they had sold out of in the store. The store was already closed, and Zac had locked the door. She had just found the books and was pulling them off the stock shelf when he came up behind her and picked her up, carrying her off to the couch in one part of the store. He had layed her down so gently on the couch and then curled up beside her, holding her in his arms and kissing her. She would never forget the passion, the kindness, that was in his dark brown eyes. He was so caring . . . Cara’s thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing downstairs. She dropped the clothes she had in her hands and ran downstairs to answer the door.
“Hey!” she exclaimed at the sight of Zac behind the door. “I was just thinking about you!”
“Good thoughts, I hope,” he said, smiling. He kissed her gently on the lips.
“Nothing but the best,” she mumbled as they pulled apart. “Come on in. I’m almost done packing, and then we can ship out.” Zac nodded as he followed her into the house. He could hear her aunt humming in the kitchen.
“Hi, Mrs. Ellis,” he called to the elderly woman.
“Hi, Zac,” she yelled back at him. Then she started to hum again. He smiled to himself, chuckling on the inside. He and Cara went upstairs to here room. It was unusually messy, mostly because she had been packing and picking out clothes to take. He finally found an empty spot to sit at, on the window seat.
“So, how’s your day been?” Zac asked, as Cara continued to pack.
“Pretty good. Aunt Maggie made the most delicious breakfast this morning. French toast, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, and buttermilk. I’m still stuffed from it!” Cara replied. “And I talked to Damon this morning.”
“Oh?” Zac said, trying not to sound interested, even though it bugged the crap out of him that she was still with Damon. “And how is he?”
“Good. I told him I was going out of town. With Aunt Maggie, that is,” Cara said, not really noticing Zac’s obvious discomfort about talking about Damon and her long distance relationship with him.
“And how did he take it?” he asked.
“Quiet well,” Cara answered. “He didn’t suspect a single thing. I guess I’m a better liar than I thought I was. I was so afraid that I was going to slip and say the wrong thing and tip him off about all of this, but I had no problem.” She sat down on her over-packed suitcase, trying to close it. She sighed loudly.
“Here, let me get that,” Zac offered. He walked over to her and put his hand on the lid of the suitcase, pushing it down. Then he shut the clasps with no problem. “I’m the king of closing suitcases. Especially when you’re trying to stuff everything but the kitchen sink into it. Taylor tends to do it a lot, as do I.”
“Thanks,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. He smelled so good, a mixture of Ivory soap and Brut cologne. She ran her fingers through his hair, which was up in a ponytail. Her hand slid down to the ponytail holder, and she pulled it out. His hair fell in loose waves around his shoulders.
“Now, why did you do that?” he asked incredulously, reaching for his ponytail holder, which was tightly tangled around her tiny fingers.
“So I could do this,” she replied. She fervently kissed him on the lips, running her fingers through his silky blond hair. He responded by putting his arms around her waist and continuing the kiss. He finally pulled away from her, kissing her on the forehead.
“Good plan,” he said. He kissed her quickly on the lips. “To be continued later.” She pouted at him. “We really need to get on the road.”
“Oh, come on! It’s only going to take three hours to get to Tulsa!” she exclaimed. “It’s only two o’clock right now!”(*Author’s note: It is 177.5 miles from Oklahoma City to Tulsa. Now going 60 miles an hour without stopping, it would take 2.96 hours, rounded up to three hours. So, I did my math, okay?*)
“Yeah, I know, but I promised Mom that I’d be there atleast two hours before the rehearsal. That way we would have enough time to get settled at the house before we have to be at the church. Okay?” Zac responded.
“Oh, alright,” Cara said disappointedly as Zac picked up her suitcase. She grabbed her backpack and makeup case.
“Besides, there’ll be plenty of time for that sort of stuff later, he whispered in her ear before he walked out of the room.
“Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?” she exclaimed, following him downstairs. He ignored her, taking her bag out to the car. I don’t know what you’ve got up your sleeve, Zac Hanson, but I’m gonna find out! she silently vowed to herself. After everything was loaded into Zac’s car, they said a quick goodbye to Maggie and left.
