Who Am I (A Jai Courtney Fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 124-Meg

*****

We have an early lunch at the historical village restaurant nearby—the very same one Jai and I spent Valentine's Day together with my parents.  We meet up there with my mom, Karen, Em, Ollie, Johnno, and Dar.  The rest of the guys went out fishing with my dad this morning—except for my brothers and friends who have work or school today.  I order the soup and salad bar buffet as well as many of the ladies while guys get the full buffet.  I explained that if they wanted, there's a regular menu but when my mom said most everything from the menu is included in the buffet, they decided to pick and choose.  She's kindly treating us all to lunch and a day at the park.  All of the ladies enjoy the homemade soup, bread, and salad dressings, while they guys enjoy the various options of Amish-style meats and carbs. 
Afterward, she handles admission for us and oddly gets Jai and me a membership.  I thank her for that while she handles the rest.  I speak with a manager of the park here while she does so—mentioning that I'm an artist and may have some photographs I'll print in my gallery exhibitions for sale.  She insists it shouldn't be a problem, that they generally have guests taking pictures and they can do whatever they want with them.  I mention general contracts for models, yet I usually don't use faces and she insists it's definitely not a problem.  I bite my lip in thought. 
"It's possible that I may make a tremendous sale from the images though," I try to explain.  "How about this?  I'll give several images to the park for future use in publicity, brochures, and your website.  If I feel compelled from the price of any sales, I'll make a donation to the park."
She smiles and thanks me for my consideration and generosity. 
We enter the park and go through the small town right outside—from exhibit to exhibit.  I take several artistic shots from inside with film and digital depending on what I feel like they could be used for—my use or a donation.  There's some picturesque green space ahead with an antique wooden covered bridge over their small creek and I set up for a landscape shot with film. 
"It's beautiful here," Em mentions. 
"It is," I agree. 
"I almost wish Ollie and I would've done some engagement pics," she says thoughtfully. 
"We still could," I offer.  I notice we all wore dress casual clothing today with comfortable pseudo dressy walking shoes.  "How about I take some for you two?" I offer.  "I could do some for Johnno and Dar... for Jai and me, too, since we've never actually done that."
"It wouldn't be any trouble, would it?" she asks hesitantly. 
"No, not at all," I shake my head.  "I've brought all my gear and even extra film."
She agrees, so does everyone else.  We all pose at various places around the park.  It's a beautiful day—overcast at times and partly sunny at others making each shot incredible.  I'm grateful I brought my tripod and I set up for some shots with Jai.  He seems pleased. 
We spend the day going through all of the attractions, starting with the 1800s town and shops—learning about old tools, cabinetry, pottery, spinning wheels and thread making, weaving of textiles and baskets, glass blowing, tin working, cooperage and bucket making, the printing presses... the list goes on. We visit old homes and farms, animals. We learn about old ways of life and daily duties—working in the kitchen, housekeeping, tending to animals and land. We visit the Native American section and the Aussies are all incredibly interested in this area learning about wigwams, trapping and trading, as well as the three sisters—which here is growing beans, squash, and corn together as companion planting. We move onto the train and take it to the 1920s area. We're dropped off and immediately Em wants to see the pharmacy which has a classic soda fountain. We go inside and everyone selects a variety of treats—I get a strawberry malt while Jai orders a chocolate phosphate, also known as a chocolate soda. My mom is a big fan of their traditional egg creams which is very similar to Jai's but different ingredients. I see Em and Ollie sharing a classic banana split while the others have a variety of ice cream scoops, sundaes, and shakes.
We sit down at the table and Jai places a container of popcorn down in front of me. I grin at him and hadn't realized he'd ordered that. I take a couple bites since he's offering.
"What do you think?" I ask him about his drink.
"It's good. I'd get it again," he smiles.
He motions to my malt and I surrender it to him to taste. He tries it and seems pleasantly surprised. "Always the strawberries," he comments.
"Sometimes," I shrug. "Or vanilla."
He grins and reaches for my hand.
My mom sits down across from us. "I asked the staff about the speakeasy," she whispers sliding me a small sheet of paper with the information on it and passing it back to her.
"Oh?" I question with a smile. "Are you going this year?"
"Maybe," she replies with a shrug and a smile.
"What are you talking about?" Jai inquires.
My mom slips him the paper since it's supposed to be a 'secret.' Just members can attend. It's only hosted a couple times per season—and you have to be of drinking age.
"What's this?" he questions confused.
"In the 1920s, there was prohibition in the US. They'd have to hide get togethers with alcohol since it was illegal at the time to sell or consume it," I explain.
He raises an eyebrow but grins. "I thought you two might enjoy it," my mom says.
Jai looks to me as if asking permission.
"Sure, we could go," I nod. "We'd have to buy the tickets in advance since slots are limited and they fill up quickly."
He grins and tells me he's definitely interested. I agree on the times we'll be in town. Everyone else sits around us as we enjoy our delicious, historic concoctions. Afterward, we tour this 20s area of town visiting the shops on the street. There's a barbershop and bathhouse next to the train station, a hardware store, jewelry store, bank, candy shop, clothing store, movie theatre, firehouse, and a gas station consisting of a Ford car's sales shop with a service station all in one. Jai seems exceptionally interested in the last stop with the antique vehicles.
"Do you like the cars?" I ask him motioning to the two different Model Ts on display. 
"I do," he nods grinning. "One of your dad's mates has a whole garage of antiques. I was thinking of restoring some of them some day."
I grin at that. I figured he'd like to do something along those lines.
We visit a few more places as we cross the park. We stop at the mill next.  It has a pond with a waterwheel they use for grinding grain. After the demonstration, I decide to take him to one more location here—the museum. It has information and displays about the history of this area... but it also has a few antique cars. He's grinning and checking them each out. Even Johnno and Ollie seem interested. After they get their fill, we all decide to ride the horse drawn carriage together since there's a long carriage with three rows of seating behind the driver. We're all able to fill in one and go for a picturesque tour around the park once more.
"Is this what you rode on Valentine's Day?" Karen inquires.
"Not exactly," Jai responds.
"On Valentine's Day, we bring out our individual buggies to pull couples separately," the driver explains. "It's much more romantic."
I grin at that and glance to Jai who already has his eyes on me.
He pulls me closer and kisses me gently. I sigh so happily and lean my head against his shoulder as we press on through the scenic park enjoying the trip once again with the love of my life and those he holds most dear.