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“I’ll get you some then.” Mandy got to her feet and wobbled a bit.
“Are you okay?” Ted reached out to steady her.
“Sure. I’ll be back soon.” She walked away to speak with her aunts. Seconds later, Miss Sarah approached with a basket.
“See. Told you she was an easy mark,” Ted whispered to Grace. He kept his eyes on Mandy, watching her walk away. Something was off with her; she looked almost drunk, yet he knew she’d not touched a drop of alcohol on the walk.
“I’ll catch you later, Gracie.” He followed Mandy, who was now disappearing around the school building. He found her with her back braced on the wall, trying to unwrap a sweet.
“What are you doing?”
She jumped about two feet in the air.
“People who react like that are usually guilty of something.”
“Or scared witless.” She pressed a hand to her chest, and he noticed she had a handful of sweets.
He’d never been a guy to lust after a woman. He liked them, would even go so far as saying he really liked some of them, but lusted… not so much.
He lusted after Mandy Robbins, plain and simple.
“I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there, Mandy. You can never predict when that kind of thing is going to happen. I usually don’t put myself into those situations—”
“Never?” She stood there in the late afternoon sun, hands on her trim hips, the floral circlet on her head tilting slightly to one side, watching him.
“If I can help it.”
He watched as she tried to wrestle the sweet free again.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to eat this.”
He took it and unwrapped the plastic. She grabbed it and popped it in her mouth.
“I can understand why you avoid situations, actually. I do that a lot.” She braced the other hand against the side of a classroom. “You’ll excuse me, Ted, I need to do something.”
“What situations do you avoid?” He said, wanting to keep her talking.
“I’ve missed out on so much fun by staying away from events.” She was speaking fast now. “Excuse me a minute, Ted.”
“Fun.” Ted tested the word as he looked at her. “Not sure I’d agree with that. Are you all right, Mandy? You look pale.”
“I don’t feel….” The words fell away as she fainted. He caught her, but only just.
“Mandy!” He pressed a hand into her neck and felt her pulse beat.
“Help!” He held her close to his body and ran back to where the floats were. Luke saw him and started running.
Chapter 27
Mandy came to in Ted’s arms. She was on the ground, sitting in his lap, Luke kneeling beside them.
“Mandy!” Aunt Sarah arrived with Buzz. “What’s happened?”
“She fainted,” Ted said. “We need to get her to a doctor.”
“Did you eat today?” Aunt Sarah took one of Mandy’s hands in hers.
