Page 26 of Smitty

“Thirty.”

“That’s even worse.”

“Made her happy,” he answered without an ounce of regret. “That’s all that matters.”

A few feet ahead, Baylor, Luna, Laken, and Jenna were talking together like they didn’t have a care in the world, completely oblivious to our suffering. Or maybe they just didn’t care. I couldn’t tell.

When we reached one of the food vendors, Baylor jumped on her tiptoes and said, “I want the Oreos!”

“Okay. That sounds good,” Laken told her with a smile. “I think I want a funnel cake this time.”

“They have fried Snickers, too,” Jenna added. “I might have to try them.”

“I heard they are great.”

They went on and on, trying to figure out what to order, and I kept hoping one of them would say corn dogs and put an end to the conversation. They were the best thing this place had going for it, and I should know that better than anyone. Hell, I’d already had two, and I was seriously considering having a third.

My gaze drifted over the crowd, and I was relieved that I hadn’t seen any sign of Laken’s friends from work. I was in no mood to talk to a woman, especially with the amount of sweat I had clinging to my T-shirt. A couple of kids weaved between us, and I had to guide Grim and his stuffed dog out of the way.

As soon as they were gone, I looked up, and that’s when I noticed her.

There was a little girl, maybe twenty feet ahead of me, and she was perched on a woman’s hip. I usually didn’t pay much mind to kids, especially ones who were barely walking, but this kid was cute in a way that made it impossible not to notice.

She had these adorable, round cheeks, a tiny nose, and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. They were the kind of blue that seemed to pierce right through you. I knew that kind of blue. Hell, I saw it every time I looked in the mirror, but I’d never seen it in a kid her age.

I tried to force myself to look away, but she was staring right at me.

She wasn’t just glancing in my direction or looking around at the crowd. Her eyes were fixed on me, watching my every move with complete fascination. I glanced behind me, making sure it was really me she was looking at, but there was nobody there.

She babbled something I couldn’t understand and pointed at me.

I smiled wider and lifted my hand to give her a goofy wave, the kind that Grim and Skid would give me hell for if they’d seen me. Thankfully, they hadn’t. But she sure had.

Her entire face lit up, and a split second later, she let out a squeal so loud that it turned heads. I waved again, and that earned me another shriek, even louder this time. The woman carrying her finally got curious enough to turn and look for whatever had gotten her so worked up.

I’d already noticed the dark hair, but now, I’d actually seen her face.

And just like that, the world stopped, and for one impossible second, it felt like somebody had reached inside my chest and taken hold of my heart, squeezing it so hard I might drop to my knees.

It was her.

After all this time, she was here, and all I could do was stand there and stare. I couldn’t believe it. After all the sleepless nights I'd spent wondering where she was, wondering if she was happy or if she'd found somebody else, she was standing twenty feet away.

But she didn’t look happy to see me.

Instead, she was looking at me like her worst nightmare had just come true.

6

BROOKE

The second I saw him, the world stopped cold. The crowd. The music. The laughter. All of it was gone in an instant. There was only him.

Brayden.

He was smiling at Anslee like she already meant something to him, and that scared the hell out of me.

It had been just over two years since I’d last seen him. Two years since I’d stood outside that garage and watched the owner’s granddaughter toy with a strand of his hair. The girl had always had a crush on him and flirted with him every chance she got. I despised her, and I despised her even more when she leaned in and kissed him.