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“Let’s have a plan of attack,” I said.
He glanced at me. “Yeah? I’ve never really been to anything like this,” he said with a small frown. “Does it need a plan?”
I stared at him for a few seconds and squeezed his hand. “Uh, well, usually it’s good to see all the food trucks before picking,” I said with a nod. “And sometimes there are random snacks scattered around the craft tables.”
He hummed and tugged me closer so a woman carrying pumpkins could squeeze past us with twin boys trailing behind her. They stared at us, and without thinking about it, I stuck my tongue out. They laughed and did the same thing before chasing after their mother.
“Uh, why have you never done anything like this?”
Ethan didn’t say a word as we came up on a group of women standing around a huge cast iron cauldron stirring the contents with long wooden paddles. In their pioneer dresses they reminded me of the three witches from the Shakespeare story we’d been reading in class—Macbeth. Rather than some foul brew, though, the sweet smell of spiced apples filled the air, and I practically drooled as a skinny girl in a similar dress to the others came over holding a tray. She had her long black hair pinned up on top of her head in a bun.
“Sample the apple butter?” she asked with a wide, dimpled smile.
“Sure,” Ethan said, and he gave her a slightly less stern look than the one he normally wore.
I smiled at her and picked up a tiny plastic cup off the tray. My face heated as Ethan’s fingers bumped mine. “Thank you.”
We laughed as we clinked our small plastic cups together, then licked out the sweet apple butter. My face burned as Ethan’s pink tongue emptied his plastic cup with a swirl, and then I realized he was staring at me. He winked.
The girl giggled and wandered away to offer the apple butter to someone else.
“Um....”
He laughed and grabbed my empty cup, then tossed it in a nearby trash can. I was pretty sure that for the rest of my life cinnamon and spice were going to be forever associated with his quick pink tongue in my mind, along with the warm rush of tingles that accompanied getting a semi in public.
I was uncomfortably excited—to the point that I was worried someone might notice something—as we walked along, and it didn’t help that Ethan stroked his thumb over the inside of my wrist. We wandered past a leatherworking stand, and I pointed out the wallets for sale.
“Those are nice. Won’t you need a new one?”
He shrugged. “I can get a cheap one.”
“But he’ll burn something into it for you,” I said, watching as the man running the stand did just that with an iron he had sitting in some hot coals in a small pit at his side. The scent of rich woodsmoke was heavy in the air and a crisp breeze blew through, making everything feel perfect. The small boy who got a wallet from the leatherworker smiled and held it up, and it had a black train burned onto the front. His father patted his head, and a small pang hit my heart. Dad had been that way when I was very small, but then as I’d gotten older he’d put all his expectations for life on me, and I hadn’t been close to him in years.
Ethan glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Like, what would I get on it?”
I shrugged and tangled our fingers tighter together.
He used his other hand to cradle mine, like he was hiding it from sight.
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip. “Maybe a heart? Maybe with our initials?”
The boy’s sister got a small bag done with her initials on it, and I couldn’t make myself look at Ethan’s face to see what he was thinking.
I expected him to laugh, but when I glanced at him, he only stared at me, eyes a little too wide. “Do you know what would happen to me if one of the boys at the trailer park realized what that was?”
My gut dropped, and I tried to tug our hands apart, but he wouldn’t let go, and I honestly didn’t want to get away. “Oh, yeah, that’s... . I get it.” My face scalded and I almost felt as if I wanted to cry. I’d forgotten. It had only taken half a day to get lost in the fun of doing whatever I wanted. “It isn’t like I would be able to carry it around, either. Let’s go get food.”
My stomach churned as I started in the opposite direction, but he didn’t move, and I ended up jerked to a standstill. My side hurt a bit, and I hissed. He patted my hand as if to say he was sorry, and I reached up to run my finger along the bruise darkening on his jaw.
“You know what? If I’m going to be a prospect for the Kings of Men, why the fuck not? I can do that. I can have whatever I want. Eventually I’ll be out of that trailer park.” He sounded stunned when he spoke those words, and then he grinned at me. “Holy shit.”
Smiling, I stepped in and gave him a quick hug. “That’s good, right?”
“Fuck yeah, it is. Come on.”
I laughed as he went over and stared along the rows of wallets, and I leaned against his side.
“What can I do for you boys?” The weathered man behind the counter grinned at us. He had auburn hair streaked with white and deep brown eyes that seemed to notice everything—and not judge. My heart dropped out of my throat when he simply looked expectantly at Ethan.
