A/N: SO sorry for the delay! My computer crashed almost two weeks ago, and I was unable to upload the next chapters, even though they were already written. Finally, a new PC - and back to the story. I am just getting all of your kind reviews and getting back to you. I apologize again, and suggest you reread chapter 1 if you need a "refresher"!
Chapter 2
I spend three hours trying to decide what to wear.
It's the Fourth of July; and while most Americans are giving thanks for their freedom, I'm attempting to chose between a green shirt or a red one. It's silly, given that I don't have feelings for Danny, and he doesn't have feelings for me. This is just a friendly coworker thing. Whatever it is, now it's getting dangerously close to six o' clock.
Before hitting the shower, I send off a quick email to my friend Rebekah in Helena. She knows about my relationship with Danny – the ups, the downs, and every little moment in between. Now I tell her about his mysterious invitation, and what I found on his computer yesterday. I don't know if he was just being friendly by asking me, I type, or if this is a DATE. I don't really want to go.
After showering and drying my hair, I check my email and see that Rebekah has responded already: You don't want to go? Liar! You know you want to. And it is definitely a date. Just have fun and be yourself!
Easier said than done.
Now I'm in front of the bathroom mirror with my arm twisted around my head, applying eyeliner with acute precision, when the doorbell rings. I jump in surprise and stab myself in the eye, causing tears of pain to start flowing. Swearing, I run to the door, pausing only to glance at the clock and realize that Danny is fifteen minutes early.
I whip open the door, and there's Danny. He's wearing a t-shirt that is truly too tight for him. But oh, how I love those shirts that cling to him like plastic wrap. I say hello and curse myself for having fair skin – I'm quite sure that I'm blushing.
"Hey Mont—" he begins, then stops suddenly. He looks all concerned. "Are you crying?"
"Umm, no, I just poked my eye," I explain, in case he doesn't notice the big black streak across my eyelid. "Wait right here, I'll be ready in a minute," I call over my shoulder as I canter back to the bathroom. I press a cold washcloth to my eye for a moment, and then go through a mental checklist: teeth brushed, check. Perfume spritzed, check.
When I return to the living room once again, Danny smiles at me. It's a very sweet smile, a very innocent smile. Not the usual Danny Messer Smirk. I just can't read him sometimes: he's as complicated a person as my feelings for him are.
"Ready to go?" he asks me, reaching for the doorknob. I can't help thinking that he looks nervous. I'll have to find a way to get him to loosen up and see that I don't bite.
I nod as I grab my sunglasses and purse. "Let's go, cowboy!"
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Fortunately, traffic this evening is nothing like it was yesterday. The lack of cars, coupled with the subtle light of the late-day sun, makes for a much more enjoyable ride. Before long, Danny and I are cruising past the city limits and well on our way to Franklin County.
At one point I see the fuel indicator light glowing on the dashboard, and Danny pulls into a gas station to fill up. While he is out at the pump, his cell phone rings from down between the seats. I groan, worrying that it might be Mac calling us in. That would completely ruin everything. I reach for the phone and flip it open, silently praying that it isn't him. It isn't – the screen is displaying a new test message from someone named "Robby":
Can't believe u cancelled 4 a woman!
Wait, so Danny already had plans? And he cancelled them just to go out with me? No, surely there's another reason. Maybe he didn't want to go with Robby, and is using me as his excuse? I'm going through the possibilities when I see Danny reach for the door handle, so I innocently and haphazardly toss his phone down.
Once we are back on the highway, I attempt to drum up conversation. Perhaps it will soothe both of our nerves.
"So," I begin. "Did you ever go to the fair as a kid?"
Danny makes a face, and I can't quite tell if it's a grimace or a sneer. "Nah," he mutters. "We weren't that kinda family."
I consider for a moment asking him exactly what "kinda" family they were, but decide to just let it go. Instead, we chit-chat about work: how no one could quite bring themselves to eat the "Death by Chocolate" cake Hammerback brought in (I know he was a chef, but he could have chosen a dish with a less sinister name); how Mac and Stella always seem to leave the lab at the same time; about the cool new equipment we just got in.
Time flies with Danny – it always does. According to the map, we are now just fifteen minutes from the fairgrounds. In less than one hour, the landscape we traveled has gone from urban to suburban to rural. My heart lifts at the sight of fields, fences, and wide open spaces. I roll down my window and start breathing in the air.
"Uhh, Montana… what are you doing?" Danny asks. "Are you feeling sick?"
"Fresh country air," I purr, huffing in the scent of sweet honeysuckle, fresh-cut hay, and a trace of something that may very well be a bovine by-product. "No exhaust fumes."
He shakes his head and grins. "Smells like cow crap to me."
Before long I spot a Ferris wheel over the top of the trees, a sign that we have found the Franklin County fairgrounds at last. "Danny! Look!" I point out. "There it is!"
I forget momentarily that I should try to be mature and cool to impress the guy sitting next to me. Instead, I unbuckle my seat belt and lean towards the windshield to get a better view. We turn off onto a gravel road, and I see all the familiar sights: the multi-colored tents, the tall spinning rides, the barns, and the masses of people. Just like back home, I think. Danny finds a parking spot in the grass, and we climb out of the car and head toward the ticket booth.
"Come on," I say, grabbing his arm. "Let me show you how country folks have fun."
A/N: Chapter 3 will come tomorrow. ;)