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“Quittttt,” I say through gasps and giggles. I grab his wrist and hold on tightly. He pulls his hand around my body, taking me with him. I spin around against my will and soon I’m pressed against his chest, his arm pinning my arm across my stomach. I wriggle and squirm but it only brings us closer. “You’re a…big…jerk…” I say between laughs and struggles to break free. When I’m sufficiently worn out, I sigh deeply and relax, giving up. My back is pressed against his stomach and I let my shoulders sag, leaning my head against his chest. Tyler has my arms pinned across my stomach like a strait-jacket.
“You lose,” he whispers in a raspy voice that sends chills down my spine. I am keenly aware of the muscles in his chest pressed tightly against my back. His hands release their grip on my wrists and I stand rooted to the floor, unable to move when he slides his palms down my arms and onto my waist. His warm hands, massive hands, squeeze my hips. I lean into him, wishing he would pull me harder, closer.
But he loosens his grip and spins me around to face him. “Ready to go?”
“Go where?” I ask, breathless.
He shakes his head. “Cell phone shopping.”
“Oh. Um. Yeah, I’ll go by myself. I actually have to shop for Miranda’s baby shower.”
Tyler grabs a shirt off the kitchen counter and pulls it over his head. “Sounds fun. I’ll drive.”
“It’s baby shower shopping,” I say, following him to the car. “You can’t possibly want to be around for that.”
He shrugs. “You owe me like a week of hanging out time. She’s having a boy, right? I’ll find some manly stuff for
the shower.” When he gets to his truck, he opens the passenger side door for me. I point toward my house. “My purse is in my car. And there’s no manly stuff at a baby shower. Do you even know what a baby shower is? It’s for women only.”
He shakes his head and starts to argue, but we both swing around when Marcus yells from across the road as he steps onto my porch. “You can’t stop me!” he yells inside my house. He slams the door closed and then runs across my yard and the road, until he’s stomping up to Tyler’s truck with a massive grin on his face. “You’re going baby shower shopping right?” he says, his chest heaving from the short run.
I lift an eyebrow, still wondering if he and Miranda just had some kind of fight, even though Marcus is smiling. “Yeah…”
“Great. I’m coming with you.”
“Hell yeah,” Tyler says. They high five. I put my hand on my hip. “Why do both of you want to go to a baby shower? A baby shower. It’s one of the most girlishly feminine things ever.”
“Are you kidding?” Marcus says, flipping open his wallet and counting the bills inside. “We’re going to throw her an awesome baby shower. I have experience from my sister’s shower. I helped Mom decorate and everything.” He holds out a wad of cash. “Here’s forty-six bucks. We should get an ice cream cake. Miranda was just wishing she had one the other day.”
I stare from Marcus to Tyler, who still waits with his hand on the open passenger door of his truck. “Are you guys seriously planning this baby shower with me?”
“Yeah. Get over it,” Marcus says. Tyler just smiles.
I throw up my arms in surrender. “I’ll get my purse.”
Chapter 3
When I arrive at the fairgrounds the next morning, everything looks much smaller than it did on the night of the Cockroach Festival. The park is empty now, except for the gravel parking lot I walk across to get to the only permanent building on the land. The Barn is what it’s called and also what’s painted on top of the massive metal garage doors that are open when I approach them. It doesn’t look like a traditional barn because it’s metal instead of wood and painted a greyish color instead of typical barn red. A 4-H banner hangs next to the doors, listing the names of local businesses who are sponsors of the park. Pretty much every business I’ve seen in town is on the list.
This is the same metal building that housed venders selling cow fur purses amongst other items on that first time Miranda and I came here. It was the first time I met Tyler.
And the first time I got drunk and put a cockroach in my mouth.
I suppress a shudder and vow never to recall that memory again. “Hello?” I call out into the massive empty metal building. My voice echoes slightly. The concrete floor has a maze of lines going every which way. It’s blue painter’s tape and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there for the Cockroach Festival. To my right are stacks of boxes, some of them obviously Halloween decorations, like the life-sized mummy box and the fake casket, which, I hope is fake. Others are plastic tubs with lids, stacked six or seven high, all with Sherry’s name written on the side in permanent marker.
“Hello?” I call out again, feeling strangely out of place even though Sherry invited me here. There’s one other car in the parking lot. A side door opens and Sherry steps out of an office. At least I think it’s Sherry, because the person walking toward me is wearing an oversized rubber Frankenstein mask. She holds up her hands and walks in a jerky fashion, looking much more like a zombie than Frankenstein, but whatever. When she’s a few feet away, she pulls off her mask. “What do you think?” She turns it around and stares it, the rubbery face going all squishy in her hand. “Is this thing scary?”
“Not particularly,” I say. She sighs. “Yeah, I agree. It’s too cheesy. We’ll put it in the kid’s side.” She hurls it underhand and it soars over to the stacks of Halloween stuff, landing softly on top of a plastic tub. Then she claps her hands in front of her chest and beams. “Robin! I am so thrilled that you decided to help!”
I smile. “It’s no problem. I’m happy to help.”
“Would you like some coffee? It’s good. My son brought it for me the other day. It’s that fancy brand….what’s it called…” She wraps her arm around my shoulders and leads me toward the office door. “Oh! Starbucks. That’s it. Have you had Starbucks coffee, dear?”
I nod as we enter into a tiny office with a desk full of papers, filing cabinets that look a million years old, and one table with a coffee maker on it. An open bag of Starbucks brand coffee sits next to it. Sherry pours me a cup of coffee.
“So what’s on the agenda today?” I’m ready to get to work. In fact, I feel more energized today than I have since we left Houston. I’m not sure why, but I’m ready. I want to get sweaty and move stuff and set up stuff and work and help out the town. I want to be a part of this town and its silly festivals. If Grandpa were here, I’m sure he’d be doing the same thing.
“Robin!” Sherry says, slapping me on the shoulder. “What has gotten into you, girl? I’ve never seen you look this happy.”
