Page 90 of Playing It Forward

It’s supposed to sound romantic, but I’ll take fun. I’m just glad she agreed to go out on a date with me. And now I need to convince her to give me a second date and a third date. All the dates because I’m not going anywhere.

I make sure she’s buckled in before shutting the door and rushing around to the driver’s seat.

“What do you usually do on a first date?” I ask once we’re driving toward Mermaid Mini Golf.

“It’s tradition to steal a mascot on a first date. Plank is due to be stolen.”

Is she messing with me? I glance over at her. She’s not laughing or smirking. She’s serious.

“You need to explain. Mascot? Parrot? Is it a parrot outfit and a mascot of what?”

“There are three towns on Smuggler’s Hideaway – Smuggler’s Rest, Rogue’s Landing, and Pirate’s Perch. Each one has a live mascot.”

“Live? As in a living animal?”

“Yep. Smuggler’s Rest has an otter named Viking. If you’ve been to Pirate’s Pastries, you’ve seen him. Rogue’s Landing has a raccoon named Rogue.”

I bark out a laugh. “Now, I understand why Gage complained about raccoon vomit.”

She purses her lips. “Addy knows better than to feed Rogue too many marshmallows. He’s addicted.”

“A raccoon addicted to marshmallows?”

“He’s a slut for marshmallows. And, last but not least, there’s Plank the parrot. He’s the mascot for Pirate’s Perch. He’s also the most difficult to steal.”

“Why?”

“The Perchers, which is how the residents of Pirate’s Perch call themselves, taught Plank to shout like he’s a policeman. Whenever someone he doesn’t know opens his cage, he shouts Stop! Police! Everyone on the island knows this but they still chicken out.”

I chuckle. “Does this mean you want to go steal Plank? Today is our first date after all.”

She motions to her dress. “I’m not climbing through a window in this. Besides, I don’t know where Plank is. I need to do some research. We can steal him on our second date.”

Second date? Yes! But still…

“You’re not climbing through a window while you’re pregnant.”

“Don’t go all caveman on me. You’re the one who asked to go steal Plank.”

“I didn’t…”

She giggles. “I’m teasing you. I’m not stealing Plank while I’m pregnant. I mean I could. I have the skills. But the entire island of Smugglers would lose their minds when they found out. It’s bad enough I can’t go out in public in Smuggler’s Rest because everyone on the island is determined to give me pregnancy advice.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know until the second trimester,” she ends on a whisper.

I squeeze her hand. “They know and they love you. If the unthinkable happens, they’ll be here for you. As will I.”

I hope. Once the season starts, I’ll lose control of my schedule.

“But tonight isn’t about our little mermaid. Tonight is about us.” I turn into the parking lot of Mermaid Mini Golf. “And me kicking your ass at mini golf.”

“You’re delusional. I’ve been playing mini golf here since I arrived on the island. You’re going down.”

She can tease me all she wants if it removes the fear from her eyes. I may even let her win at mini golf.

We reach the booth.

“Hi, Cindy!” Terri greets the young woman working there. “How are you?”