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Leo opened the passenger door of his truck and helped her in while the boys clamored into the backseat.
Leo crossed to the driver’s side and fired up the engine. His old Ford F150 had seen better days, but according to Leo, it still “did the trick.” They drove to the Maryland State Fair with the windows down, country music blasting on the radio, grinning like fools as they chatted about all the fair food they were going to eat.
The boys were determined to try fried Oreos, Yvonne was looking forward to her funnel cake. Leo told them they could gorge themselves on the desserts if they wanted, but he was getting a jumbo Italian sausage with the works.
Once they arrived, Vince and Clint immediately dragged them to the stand to buy tickets for rides. Leo plopped down a twenty, and then he and Yvonne followed them to the Tilt-A-Whirl.
“Wanna give it a spin?” Leo asked.
Yvonne shook her head. “No thanks. Me and spinning in fast circles do not agree. I have a date with a funnel cake that I’d like to keep.”
They waved when the boys got on the ride. Once the ride started spinning, Leo slid his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him for a kiss that was probably skirting the boundaries of “fair appropriate.”
“God,” he murmured against her lips. “I’ve been waiting to do that for days.”
She grinned. “I admire your restraint in front of the boys. And…my dad.”
“Guess we need to figure out what we’re telling people about us,” he mused.
“What do you want to tell them?”
Leo’s hand slid from her waist to her ass for just a split second, giving it a playful squeeze. “I want to tell everyone you’re mine, but…”
Leo glanced toward the ride once more. It was starting to slow down, which meant there were two very dizzy little boys about to head in their direction.
“But there’s no rush,” Yvonne said. “We’ve only just crossed the line from friends to lovers. Let’s keep it to ourselves for a little while. Just to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
Yvonne shrugged. “I guess that it’ll stick.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You think it won’t?”
“I’ve wanted this since I was fourteen, and if it was up to me, I’d start carving our names into every tree on the planet, then I’d skywrite it for good measure. But…” She crinkled her nose. “I think we have to do that silly adulting thing, take things slow because if it doesn’t work out…”
She didn’t want to finish that sentence because her heart didn’t want to consider this wasn’t forever, but Kelli’s words about her possibly hurting more than just Leo kept coming back to her.
“If it doesn’t work out, there’s more than just you and me getting hurt.”
She wanted to ask Leo if he’d ever talked to Vince about the future, about the possibility that Leo may start dating and even get married, but there wasn’t time. Vince was already off the ride—unsteady on his feet, but grinning from ear to ear. He helped Clint down, then the two of them raced back to Leo and Yvonne.
“I don’t know where they find the energy,” Leo said.
“Can we play some games?” Clint asked.
“Sure.” The four of them meandered through the tents, trying to decide which to play. Actually, she and Leo were looking at the games. Clint and Vince were eyeballing the prizes, trying to decide which ones they wanted to win.
Yvonne pulled up short when they reached the Strong Man game.
“Want to test your strength?” Leo asked her.
“Nope. Want to test yours.”
Leo shook his head and started to walk on, but Vince and Clint blocked his path.
“Do it!” Vince urged.
“Why don’t you give it a try?” Leo asked his son.
