Page 68 of Keeping it Local

“Okay. Okay. Let’s talk about something else then.” I rubbed her back as she melded into me. “You excited for tomorrow night?”

“I am. Megan let me borrow one of her dresses to wear. She said getting dressed up for it is a whole thing.”

“It is, but there’s a huge range. I’m sure Megan will be done up, but some people are more casual.”

“Feels like a big deal since we worked so hard on getting all the donations. Megan has been practicing her intro speech for the last couple days. She’s pretty excited about it.”

“I’m sure she is.” I kissed the top of her head.

Just as I did that, the bucket jerked forward, then back, then started moving again. A sea of cheers came from the crowd around us as we continued moving around the big wheel.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad,” I said.

“To you! We could have fallen to our death up there.”

“Highly unlikely.”

Her head was still laying on my chest, but instead of facing inward, she looked out in front of us. “Thanks for making it feel okay though.” She kissed my chest, and her lips felt hot against the cotton of my shirt.

“Anytime, baby.”

I’d have to figure out a different time to bring it up with her. All I wanted to do now was enjoy the evening with my girl, not worrying about anything else.

It was Friday—the night of the big event, and I was looking forward to it. Beth and I planned to meet at the tent to get everything set up around five, and the actual Starlight Night started at six-thirty. The event itself included dinner for everyone who purchased a ticket plus live entertainment, an open bar, and the live auction after dinner. It was the event to be at, and most people tried to get a ticket to support the biggest fundraiser of the year.

Even though I’d attended Starlight Light the last couple years with Lane, it felt different knowing that Beth and I would be there together.

I hopped out of my truck when Lane came up to me in the parking lot.

“You hear?” he asked.

I wrinkled my brow at him. “Hear what?”

“Megan is under the weather. They’re scrambling trying to figure out the auction stuff.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck.

“What are you talking about? I just talked to Beth a couple hours ago. She would have mentioned something.”

“That might have been before Megan threw up all over her office.” He shook his head. “You didn’t hear it from me, but it was not pretty.”

“That’s terrible. What’s the plan then?”

“Not sure. I was heading down to set up tables when Greg stopped me and gave me the scoop.”

Even though Greg wasn’t heavily involved in the festival, he was still leading the charge to some degree.

“Ugh. Guess we’ll find out when we get down there then. Come on. I’ll help you with the tables.”

Lane and I headed down to where the big tent was toward the marina. It wasn’t even four yet, and the place was bustling with people. The rides were still running, and the games had long lines. As we walked down, we detoured around a group of young kids jumping up and down waiting for balloon animals.

Once we got to the tent, I looked around.

“Shit. I’m glad I got here early.” I looked around at the empty tent that should have been set up already.

“Yeah, I know. I think Megan was going to get with Ted for set-up, but that obviously didn’t happen. Better get to work.”

The main stage was ready, but the round tables for dinner were still stacked in the corner. Plus, all the long tables for all the donations were in the storage locker around the corner. I still needed to pull my truck up because I had all the donations in my truck bed, but there wasn’t anywhere to put them.

My phone dinged, and I checked to see who it was, knowing I didn’t have time to stop. People would be arriving soon.