Just Like the Movies

Chapter Twenty

"I learned that the hard way," Young Jin commented, looking weary. "I didn't even know there were so many places to hike near my hometown."

"Oh, stop it, you two," Evelynn said, shooting them looks. "Don't scare her away. Hiking is good for the body and the soul. It's refreshing and fun."

Both Theo and Young Jin rolled their eyes, glancing at each other, and sharing a brief, barely-there smile.

And suddenly I knew where Theo got that from.

"I'm willing to hike with you," I spoke up, looking at Evelynn in determination.

She did a double-take toward me. "What—I mean, I'm grateful, but the way you're saying that makes it sound like you're volunteering for some kind of dangerous journey."

"For Maisie, that could be true," Theo said thoughtfully.

I scrunched my face up at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

He gave me a look that seemed to say you-fell-down-a-mountain from what I gathered from the way his gaze flicked down toward my injured heel.

I stared hard at him back, hoping he got my silent message across, too: shut up. I didn't have anything else to say back to that.

He seemed to know it.

His lips twitched as he went to take a drink of his water.

Evelynn observed the exchange between us, a knowing smile forming on her lips. "Well, I promise I won't take you on any death-defying trails, Maisie. And that should keep Theo happy too since he seems so worried about you."

Theo abruptly choked on the water, nearly dropping the glass back on the table as he quickly covered his mouth. This only caused Evelynn's smile to grow. I made a point of not looking at Theo, not wanting to see the expression on his face. Annoyed? For his mom to assume he would worry about me? Did that cross some line for him?

"If you do go hiking," Young Jin started, his eyes lighting up conspiratorially, "make sure you have a map. And a compass. And a GPS on you. And what else? Maybe a signal flare?"

Evelynn pursed her lips at her husband. "Oh, stop it."

"She once got us lost on a hike for about four hours," he continued, directing his attention to me now. "Said she read online about a trail that had amazing views."

Evelynn blushed. "We don't speak about that."

"The only amazing view we had was the car when we finally made it back to the parking lot and realized we wouldn't die," Theo muttered.

I laughed. "Oh, wait, maybe I shouldn't laugh," I said, my eyes widening a bit. "It's actually pretty dangerous to get lost while hiking."

This caused Evelynn, Young Jin, and even Theo to grin a little.

"I've learned my lesson since," Evelynn said, her cheeks still tinged pink. "But even if Maisie and I got lost on an adventure, it'd just be good writing material, right? You could write a book about it."

The mention of me writing so casually caught me off guard so bad I physically jolted, my gaze shooting to hers, my heart leaping up into my throat, expecting a lecture. But when I saw the excited expression on her face, and crow's feet appearing at her eyes as she smiled at me, I found myself relaxing almost immediately. Right. She already knew I liked to write.

And she was okay with it.

"Oh, but that's not the right genre, right?" she added after a second. "Getting lost is more like a thriller than romance, huh?"