“Hi. I’m Caitlin,” she said, shaking Joyce’s hand.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around Hope Haven. Are you—” Joyce started to say, but Shane interrupted with a laugh.
“Most of her face is covered, so how would you know whether you’ve ever seen her in Hope Haven?”
Joyce ignored him. “Are you new in town, Caitlin?”
“No… I live off-island,” she hedged. “What town doyoulive in?”
“Right here in Rockfield, a couple streets over from Shane,” she answered. “So if you live off-island, how do you two know each other?”
“We have friends in common.” Shane abruptly jumped to his feet and tugged Caitlin’s hand. “Ilovethis song. C’mon, let’s dance.”
“Excuse us—it was very nice meeting you,” Caitlin said to Joyce before Shane led her across the room.
When they reached the dance area, he said something, but the music was too loud for her to hear it. He leaned over and repeated himself into her ear. “Sorry, I sensed an interrogation coming on. For both our sakes, I needed a reason to escape from my cousin, but we don’t really have to dance. We can just hang out here for a while.”
“You’re not getting out of dancing that easily,” exclaimed Caitlin. “C’mon, show me your moves, bug man.”
“Technically, ants are insects, not bugs,” he corrected her, before breaking into a dance that set his antennae in motion.
Caitlin joined him and she couldn’t stop smiling. There was something wonderfully frivolous about dancing with a bunch of adults in costumes. She felt freer and younger than she’d felt in years. Indecades.
When the song ended and Shane started to walk off the dance floor, she objected, “You’re leaving already? We were barely warming up!”
“I’m coming back. I just need to unload this hammer and these screwdrivers,” he explained, referring to the tools in his bib. “Otherwise, I’m going to hurt someone—namely, me.”
“Here, you can wrap them in my balaclava, it’s making me too hot,” she suggested, pulling it over her head and handing it to him. Since she was no longer incognito, she figured she might as well take the elastic out of her hair, too. As her locks cascaded to her shoulders, Shane stared at her with a quizzical expression on his face. She shrugged and explained, “Anonymity is overrated. Besides, as long as we keep moving, no one will have a chance to ask us any questions—including your cousin.”
“If we’re going to be dancing that long, I’d better get rid of my work boots, too,” he said. “Otherwise they’ll give me blisters.”
Aww, that’s so sweet that he’d take off his boots—most guys I know would just refuse to dance any longer, thought Caitlin, thoroughly charmed.
After six or seven more songs, the DJ played a quieter number. As much fun as Caitlin was having—and even though deep down she may have wanted to feel Shane’s arms around her waist—common sense dictated that it crossed a line to slow dance with a man who was also her hired contractor.
Shane seemed to come to the same conclusion, because he announced, “I’m thirsty. Can I get you a drink? Cider? Beer? More cranberry juice?”
“Just water, please,” said Caitlin. “I’d like to use the restroom. Do you know where it is?”
“It’s over at the education center—just follow the signs with the skeletons on them. They’re pointing the way. I’ll meet you back at the table where I left my tools.”
Heading toward the building, Caitlin thought,I’d love to visit the education center when it’s open.It’s too far to walk here from the cottage, but I think it’s on the bus line…
After using the bathroom, she hurried toward the exit, eager to get back to the barn and dance with Shane again. A tall man wearing a firefighter’s costume was coming in, but he backed up and held the door for her. There were two more firefighters behind him, and they also moved aside to let her pass.
“Hey, I know you!” the first one said to her.
“Y-you do?” There was something familiar about him, too, and Caitlin’s shoulders tensed.
“Yeah. Didn’t we rescue you from a tree last week?” He gave her a cocky smirk.
It took a second for Caitlin to realize he was making a joke in reference to their respective costumes. “Nope, wasn’t me. I’m an indoor cat,” she said with a cheeky smile, making all three men laugh.
As she walked away, she heard one of the guys ribbing the man who’d spoken to her. “You gotta work on your pickup lines—that was embarrassing.”
“Yeah, Chief,” agreed the third guy. “You just gotburned!”
Caitlin was halfway down the path when it struck her why the jokester looked familiar: he bore a slight resemblance to one of the lifeguards in the photo with Nicole. He was much older, of course, and he was wearing a fire helmet, so it was difficult to see his hair, but Caitlin could’ve sworn he had the same wide, puckish grin as the blond kid in the photo.
