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“Go, walk around and enjoy the festival. I will sit with Marge. You can go later. Have fun!”
“Don’t you worry, Peggy Sue! I’ll be the best of the guides to show Dakota our traditions. By the end of the day, she will be convinced New Essex is the right place to live and work.” He winked, and the old lady nodded and left, a wide smile on her face.
“You promise too much, considering you can’t walk around freely, Ted,” Dakota said.
“Listen, I only need to show you three or four things, and you will fall in love with our land. There are heritage demonstrations, an arena, and livestock exhibits that I want to see. You can find it interesting. Not the formal parts, but the animals. Then, cowboy cooking and western entertainment.”
“I think we could start with food,” Dakota said, and he nodded.
“Agree. Do you know your grandma won several pie competitions?”
“She told me, yes.”
“Since she retired from competition, Mrs. Glenda Aspen has been the queen of pies around here. She bakes the best apple pie in the USA. Let’s find her.”
“Okay, easy, cowboy. Walk slower, and use your crutches.”
They found the woman, a tall and thin lady, and when Dakota tasted the pie, she almost groaned with pleasure, the apples melting in her mouth.
When she turned to tell Ted he was right, she saw him as uncomfortable, even flustered, his eyes on her.
“Are you tired?” She worried and tried to help him, but he mumbled something and gave her his back.
Okay, that was weird. She thanked the lady and praised her baking, and the lady tried to gossip about her and Peggy Sue.
She said goodbye without telling her too much and then went to Ted, who was sitting on a wooden bench.
“Are you okay?” she eyed him carefully, and he grinned.
“Absolutely. Look, the rumor about you is spreading,” he said and pointed to a group of ladies who were talking lively and stared at them both.
“Are you sure they are talking about me? Some of them are rather young and they seem your type,” she said, and he snorted.
“Please, the youngest is like seventy! We can go to…”
“Ted Sullivan, where have you been hiding, sweet?” a raspy feminine voice said, and both Ted and Dakota turned around at the same time.
The lady was a beautiful red-haired, tall and lean, dressed in a tight dress with a low cleavage that displayed her assets proudly. She talked to Ted and ignored Dakota as if she was a post.
“Oh, hello there, Dolly. Nice to see you! I’ve got a broken leg, so I’ve been recovering.
Dolly, as he said, came nearer and sat between Ted and Dakota. There was little space, so Dakota stood and stayed aside, disturbed and annoyed by her rudeness.
“Why didn’t you call me, darling? You know I could have made you feel better. I have my ways.”
There was so much implied in those words that Dakota felt disgusted. Could the woman be more obvious?
She was sexy, she supposed, with her short slutty dress, but her manners were horrible. She crossed her arms in her chest and doubted.
“Mmm, Ted, do you need me here?” she said.
He stared at her and nodded eagerly.
“Who are you, girl?” Dolly asked and looked at her from head to toes.
“I am Dakota.”
“She’s my date,” he said, and his eyes burnt hers as if compelling to agree.
