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“Uh, I solved a Rubix cube in five minutes and ten seconds once,” he said. “In junior high.”
Opal looked over to him again, and it really was unfair that he couldn’t do the same to her. But he didn’t want to drive them off the road, so he only glanced at her. “Is that fast?” she asked.
“I mean, it’s not the speedcube record,” he said. “Those guys solve it in like five seconds.”
“That is not true,” she said. “Five seconds?”
“Yeah, it is,” he said with a light laugh. “Look it up.”
She tugged her phone out of her purse and did just that, the screen illuminating her fine features. Tag liked how everything with her existed in black and white then, except for her gorgeous mouth.
After only a few seconds, she said, “Fine. The world record is actually below four seconds.”
“See?” He laughed again. “That’s why five minutes isn’t impressive. But for a thirteen-year-old in rural Alabama, it was.” He turned onto the main highway, the road everyone drove to get into the major Denver metropolis. “You did say a random fact.”
“That I did.” Opal tucked her phone away, and Tag decided to be brave. He reached over and took her hand in his. Suddenly, images of a brilliant blue sky and a long, dusty road stretched in front of him.
And he and Opal walked there, hand-in-hand, enjoying the afternoon sunshine and all the goodness God and Colorado had to offer.
He blinked, and he found himself seated back in the warm cab of his truck, Opal’s fingers settling nicely between his. “You were going to tell me how long it’s been since you dated,” she said quietly.
“Was I?”
“Yes,” she said without missing a beat.
Tag sighed, sure he’d have to talk about his past more with Opal. But perhaps he could feed her just a little bit and move on. It was their first date, after all. “I dated a woman named Talina in Green River,” he said. “She, uh, it didn’t end super well. I wasn’t interested in dating when I came here.”
“Is that why you took a job at a ranch ten miles from everything, where the only female was already married?”
Tag glanced over to her. “Clearly not every female.”
“That you knew of,” she shot back. “I didn’t come to the farm until West was born.”
“I have other ways of meeting women,” he said.
“Do tell,” Opal teased.
Tag rolled his eyes, though she couldn’t possibly see him do that. “I wasn’t interested.”
“But you are now?”
“Obviously,” he mumbled. “What about you? You haven’t dated since you’ve been in Ivory Peaks.”
“No,” she said, “I haven’t.”
Tag waited, but she didn’t go on. “That’s all I get?”
“I dated a lot in California,” she said. “But I came here—remember I said I came here to find a different life?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I remember.”
“I’m still working on that, and I figured I should probably know what I want before I bring in another person.”
Tag let her words mingle in his thoughts. “So we’re going out. Does that mean you’ve come to some conclusions?”
Opal heaved a great sigh. “I mean, kind of? I know I’m not going back to Burbank. Or emergency medicine.” She turned away from him, her unhappiness a palpable mood in the truck. “I can’t even imagine what my father is going to say about that.”
“I’ve met your daddy,” Tag said. “He seems pretty agreeable.” Especially for Opal, his only daughter.
