. . .
beau
Nerves raceup my spine as I pull into Piper’s driveway. You can’t even tell there was a storm recently. She’s even planted flowers in front of her house. Who knows where she got the time to do it. She’s either at the winery, with me, or…on dates. Hopefully after tonight, that last one won’t be something she’s doing anymore. All of my fingers and toes are crossed.
The curtain in the window shifts. Is she watching out for me? That’s new. Usually, I get here and walk right in. She’s almost never ready for anything we have planned. I’ve made it a habit to tell her we need to be at a location slightly earlier than we need to be.
I put the car in park and open the door to see if she’s ready. Before I can take a step, she’s already walking down the sidewalk. Her hair is up in a ponytail that bounces every time she takes a step. I half expected her to be in a pair of leggings, but she has on shorts and a flowy top.
This is not the norm for her. Anytime we go to town functions she’s usually sporting a t-shirt and leggings. Hell, she doesn’teven wear makeup most of the time. Today is different. I need to figure out why.
“Did you forget how to say hello?” She waves at me as if she’s not the only thing in the universe I focus on.
“Sorry. It’s just.” I wave my hand up and down over her outfit. “This is different. You don’t even have on a ball cap.”
“Occasionally I do dress like a functioning adult.”
I move around the car to open the door for her before she makes it over here. “I know that.” I wait until she’s seated with her small bag in her lap before leaning in. “It’s just not your usual outfit for a day of getting on rides and eating junk food.”
She only shrugs instead of answering my unasked question. Fine, if she wants to be mysterious, I’ll play along.
The parking spaces around the square are full. Dang, people got here early today. It’s not even lunch, and families are already milling around booths. Maybe they want to get the school stuff out of the way before they let their kids loose on the rides. I don’t blame them.
“Looks like we’ll have to walk a bit.” I turn toward one of the stores that’s okay with people parking in their lot during town events. “I guess I underestimated how many people would be here this early.”
“Pfft. Some people have already come and gone. It gets way too hot out here.”
“What if their kids want to hang out at the carnival?” We were always here early and late as teens because we’d help some of our favorite teachers set up their booths for extracurricular activities. That never crossed my mind.
It might also be because I came with the Summers every year, too. My parents would give me money in case I wanted anything, but they never showed up to anything except graduation.
“They’ll probably bring them back tonight once it cools off.”
She has a point. It way too hot to be outside all day long. I’m pretty sure the city has put up tents with mist sprays. At least, I vaguely remember them doing that when I was a kid.
I park the car as close as I can to the square. We still have to walk almost a mile. I guess it’s a good thing Piper wore a pair of tennis shoes today instead of heels or flip flops.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask after I open the passenger side door.
She slides the long strap of her bag over her head so that it hangs across the front of her. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
We walk side by side down toward the festivities. Is she walking closer to me? We’ve always entered areas like this, but I swear I just felt her shoulder brush against mine. I know I shouldn’t read too much into it, but maybe she’s finally starting to show she has more than friendly feelings toward me. Keeping my cool until I get the courage to tell her how I feel is going to be difficult.
Groups of people are hanging out in various areas. Families are clustered around the school booths. It’s nice seeing the community together. Even if these types of fairs happen at least once every three months. It’s not something I saw in the town I lived in before I moved here as a kid.
I grunt as I get elbowed in my side. At first, I think it’s a kid running by, but Piper is digging in her bag for something and not paying attention to where her arms are moving.
“Sorry.” She winces as she finds what she’s looking for and pulls it out. “I should have gotten these out before we got out of the car. I didn’t realize how many people I would need to dodge.”
“What are those?”
Her cheeks turn red, and I don’t know if it’s from the heat or embarrassment. “Business cards. I talked with the city manager, and he said it was okay for me to hand them out.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize we were doing marketing things today.” My words are low and I’m almost certain I mumbled them. Disappointment courses through me. I thought we were going to have a fun day out. Something to make us feel like we were kids again, and completely unrelated to work. At least for a few hours.
“I figured it was a good idea. And it’s technically free since the cards were in a box, buried behind a bunch of files.” She stops and grabs my arm, noticing the change in my mood. She’s the only person who knows how to read the subtle shifts. “I’m not handing them out all day.”
“It’s fine, and not a terrible idea. Though most of the people here already know about Starlit Fields.”
