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I took her hand, giving it a shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lyric.”
“The new librarian, right? I’ve been meaning to bring these two little monsters to the story hour you set up—that was a brilliant idea, by the way. But you know how it goes. Life just keeps getting in the way.”
“We brought you books,” the little girl announced loudly, jumping up and down in place. “To donut!” She lifted a small stack of children’s books and dropped them on a table with aka-thunk.
“It’sdonate, baby girl. We brought books todonate,” Alexis corrected.
“For grownup juice!” the little boy crowed, throwing his arms up in the air.
I curled my lips between my teeth and bit down to keep from laughing as Alexis’s cheeks flamed red and she slapped a hand over her eyes.
“And these would be my kids,” she said flatly. “Luke and Ava, soon to be put up for adoption.”
“Honey! Honey!” Just then, an attractive man with a runner’s build, light brown hair and brown eyes came running up, waving a string of tickets. He jerked to a stop beside Alexis. “The ring toss booth is also giving out drink tickets this year. I got these for you.”
She looked at her husband with wide eyes. “You won all those on ring toss?”
The man snorted. “Of course not. We both know I don’t have the coordination for that. I paid the guy running the booth fifty bucks. I heard the booth serving those deep-fried turkey legs has that wine you love so much.”
This family was pretty awesome.
Alexis looked at me with a beleaguered expression. “Lyric, my husband, Caleb,” she introduced. “And I promise I’m not an alcoholic.”
I let out a laugh. “Hey, I’m not judging, I swear. In fact...” I ripped off the ticket she’d earned for the donation, plus a couple more, “Go crazy. Something tells me if you haven’t earned it already, you soon will.”
“Bless you,” she whispered, and I could have sworn her eyes grew a bit glassy. “I think you just became my new favorite person.”
Okay, I really liked this woman. “Happy to have helped. It was awesome meeting you, Alexis. And I hope you bring your little ones by the library soon.”
“I’ll make the time.” She and her husband interlaced their fingers and started moving away. “Oh, and hey! The chili cookoff is starting soon. My family has a booth and takes it kind of seriously. You should come by. First bowl’s on me. Trust me, it’s really good.”
My stomach let out a rumble just then, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything most of the day. “That sounds really great. Thanks.”
They took off and another wave of people came through, making donations and collecting their drink tickets. I worked for another hour before my team finally had enough of my incessant stomach growls and forced me away from the booth with orders to get something to eat and enjoy the rest of the fair.
I left my booth and started exploring, taking everything in. The lights and sounds of the carnival rides and games made the atmosphere rich with excitement. The smell of sugar and dough caught my attention and drew me toward a food truck serving funnel cakes and all other things carnival-sweet.
I was ashamed to admit that it was my first time eating a funnel cake, and with that first bite, I was addicted. I could have easily eaten a million more of those things and not felt even a twinge of guilt.
I wandered through the other booths while I snacked on my new favorite treat, stopping to peruse some homemade jewelry that caught my eye, when my phone dinged with an incoming text from Wynn, telling me to get my butt over to the chili cookoff.
I headed in that direction, nearly there when a strange prickling sensation between my shoulder blades stopped me short. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck and arms stood on end as I slowly turned, my eyes scanning the faces all around me. It was that eerie feeling of being watched, but no matter where I looked, I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from.
“Yo, earth to the sexy librarian.” Wynn’s voice jolted me back into the present just before she popped up in my line of sight. She was with our friends Shane and Willow, and we were supposed to be meeting up with the rest of our ragtag group any minute now. “You okay?” she asked, her forehead pinched with concern. “I was calling your name, but you were totally spaced.”
I shook off that itchy, uncomfortable feeling that had been niggling at me, pushing it to the back of my mind. I was being paranoid for no good reason, clearly.
“All good. Sorry.” I embraced my friends, and together, we entered the section of the fair that had been cordoned off specifically for the chili cookoff. The smells in the air changed from sweet and sugary to spicy and savory, and once again, my stomach let out a needy rumble. The funnel cake wasn’t going to cut it, I needed something of substance.
“There you guys are!” I turned toward Deva’s voice and spotted her with Laeth and his son clinging to both their hands as they swung Cash off his feet. When she’d taken the job as his nanny, it had been because his mom had dumped him off on Laeth’s doorstep and took off without a backward glance. Since she’d come into their lives, she’d turned into the mother figure the little cutie had needed, and now that she and Laeth were happily together, the three of them created their own little family.
I dumped the empty paper boat from my funnel cake into the trash can beside me and dusted the powdered sugar from my hands before opening my arms to Cash. “Hey there, little bug. You got a hug for me?” He unlatched from Deva and came running to me at full speed, which luckily, for a three-year-old wasn’t all that fast. I scooped him into my arms, propped him on my hip, and gave his cheek a smacking kiss. “How’s my little man doing.”
“Good! I want ice cweam!”
I laughed and put him back on his feet. Laeth didn’t hesitate to scoop him up and prop his mini-doppelganger on his shoulders. My insides let out a little sigh. There was something about a handsome man—especially a tattooed one—with a little kid that did a woman’s ovaries in. My girl had definitely chosen well when she’d fallen for this tattooed, muscly, broody man.
“Come on, kid. Let’s get you ice cream and let Day-Day have some time with her friends.”
