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Carain, dressed in a black suit and nervously twirling a red rose Ever since he had told Dia about his plans, she had been calling it Operation Cinderella, although he thought it was more like Operation Please-Don’t-Fuck-This-One-Up The closest he got to being Prince Char reh all the potential catastrophes as he waited, already preparing for the worst He ht be disappointed or overwhelmed by it all The picnic would be a disaster, with food poisoning or invading ants If none of that happened, it would storht

Earthquake Tornado Tsunami Monsoon Hurricane Flood Hail Blizzard He didn’t know if half were possible, but he i at once

Eventually the clunky hunk of junk Dia called a car pulled up outside His heart pounded hard It was only Haven, he reirl who, soed to love hieted in a white dress, a tiny bit of makeup on her face, her wavy hair ta out the flower "Happy Valentine’s Day"

S sheepishly, she took the flower frohhen they ht to the art center on Cherry Street The sign above theannounced what it was, but as Carmine helped Haven out of the car, all he saw in her expression was confusion

"It’s a gallery," he explained, not knowing if she’d understand

"Like a museum?"

"Yes, like that"

Exciteht choice He took her hand to lead her inside The place was di, shining above the scattered exhibits "Come on, tesoro"

She didn’t move "Don’t you have to pay?"

"No" He hadn’t expected her to ask that "You don’t have to pay to look at the art"

He stood there, apprehensive about what she thought Now he started to feel bad bringing her somewhere that didn’t cost him a dime

"This place is really free?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

He never thought about it before "Educational reasons, I guess Artists are kinda like musicians and work ht or not, but it sounded good

They walked around, pausing every few feet to check out exhibits--carvings and pottery, sculptures and paintings, drawings and photography It wasn’t the usual thing he would find interesting, but anything was enjoyable with Haven around She glowed the entire ti with amazeo to college," he said "You’re too damn smart not to"

She narrowed her eyes "Is it appropriate to curse in a gallery?"

He laughed "Fuck if I know"

She shook her head "Do you really think I could go to school?"

"Yeah, I do And you know I could help you, right?"

"I know you could try," she said playfully "Whether or not it works is anothercasually and holding hands Toward the end of their tour, Haven paused in front of a pencil drawing, a figure of a wo in the air beside her Haven was transfixed by it, a s her lips as she reached out to trace the outline of the drawing "I like this one It reirlshe’s stuck in a life where everything’s bland and hopeless, but then this beautiful thing cos color into her world Color she never expected to see"

He stared at her, stunned, before turning back to the drawing He had no idea how she had gotten so so deep from a pencil sketch "You know, maybe we’ll see your work in a place like this soood?"

"Of course I do"

Carh theuntil the small cabin came into view It was just one room, a bed and a fireplace, with a small bathroom built in He parked the car in front as the sun peeked out fro thethe trees were some deer, and Carmine stared at the like he’d been sucked into a Disney

"What is this place?" Haven asked as they climbed out of the car

He pulled the key from his pocket "Home for the next twenty-four hours I rented it"

She eyed hiallery This rabbed a basket of food frorass "Come on, let’s eat I think I can still afford to feed you"