Sammy nodded eagerly to confirm it. "We have to hurry!" she said while fidgeting impatiently.
"Nothing can hold her back," Wyatt said approvingly.
"Thank you for coming over to check on us," Mitch told them then they all headed out together.
Even on the outskirts of town parking was a challenge, and they had to walk a while to get to the festival, but then Sammy was beside herself.
"It's so pretty," she said as she looked all around. Mitch and Rico held her hands, and she peered around at everything with her big, blue eyes. Holding hands, Sam and Wyatt walked behind them.
Seeing some of her cronies, Grandma went off to join them. The rest of them were on their way to meet up with DJ and Riley and anyone else who might be hanging around with them.
"Daddy, Rico, there are peaches everywhere!" Sammy exclaimed seeing the peach theme on everything in sight.
"They have peach balloons, peach ice cream, peach sorbet, peach candy, peach caramels, peach crepes," Rico counted off as he saw different signs at the booths with the food.
"And pies," Sammy said.
"Yes, peach pies everywhere," Rico agreed. There certainly were plenty of pies. You couldn't miss them. Too bad Rico felt kind of queasy at the thought of eating anything. Even the pizza at a booth called Peachy Pizza didn't appeal to him. The pizza only had peach in its name. They sold normal pizza slices and calzones, but they couldn't temp Rico, not while his stomach was still in knots over what happened with Mr. West.
Not far from there, Noreen and Lara were hanging out with Wyatt's out of town friend, Raquel. Gloria and the Hayes boys were already running over to cluster around Sammy and talk over each other about the bad man who came over to their house. Mitch looked uneasy about having the kids discussing what happened, but it couldn't be helped.
As the adults all got together, Rico and Mitch got hugs from Lara and Noreen.
"I can't even imagine," Lara said to Mitch. "I can't even..." She just shook her head. She was probably putting herself in his place, and it must have been a terrifying thought.
"You look all right," Noreen said to Rico. As she peered at him like she wanted to make absolutely sure he wasn't hurt, he could tell she had been worried too.
Wyatt introduced Mitch and Raquel, and Rico told him, "She's Wyatt's nice friend."
"I like her," Wyatt confirmed with a grin and threw his arm around her.
"Hey, and what am I?" Lara objected.
"You know what you are," Noreen told her in a scathing tone.
"He didn't call you nice either," Lara pointed out, but Noreen just scoffed like she didn't give a damn about being nice.
"You know we love you guys," Rico told them with a wink.
"Look at him trying to charm us," Noreen said as she narrowed her eyes at him meanly, and Rico laughed. It was nice to see her acting more like herself.
Since the pizza booth was right there, they got some slices for the kids and moved on to see what the rest of the festival had to offer. As they all walked together in one big group with the kids leading the way, Sam and Wyatt paired off again, and Lara and Noreen walked with Raquel between them. That meant Rico had Mitch more or less to himself. Walking shoulder to shoulder, they watched over Sammy.
"I don't think I've had this many people hug me in all my life," Mitch said, leaning over toward Rico so he wouldn't have to raise his voice.
"You held up well," Rico said and put an arm through his. "But that was only for today. Tomorrow it's 'hands off my man'."
"It's nice that everyone cares," Mitch said. "When we had a break-in at one of the apartments where we lived, only the neighbors knew anything about it, and we hardly knew them. It was a lonely feeling to not have any support when something bad happens."
"Oh, damn," Rico said and drew him closer. Mitch was a big, intimidating guy at first glance, someone who could handle anything. But he was vulnerable in his own way, and that touched Rico. He wanted to be there for Mitch so much.
They followed behind Sammy and the other kids and didn't take their eyes off her. After what happened they couldn't help watching over her, but she only sometimes got uneasy and looked around for them anxiously. Reassured to see them right there, she smiled and went back to having fun.
The rest of the time she was carefree and absorbed in everything that there was to see, do and eat. The festival was the perfect antidote to what she went through. Together with all the other kids, she got to stuff her face and do all kinds of silly, fun things.
The peach pie eating contest was a big hit with the Hayes boys. Riley wanted to be in it, but Sammy declared it, "Too messy." Her other complaint was that they didn't get any whipped cream on their pies.
At times like those, Rico couldn't see any trace of what they went through on her little face. Rico wished he could shake off that morning's ordeal, and let the noise and the spirit of the festival push it aside. But he found himself still gripped by waves of fear.
