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Rob throws a ping-pong ball toward the bowl I pointed to and misses, but then he gets it on the second try.
Molly and I cheer for Rob as he’s handed a goldfish in a clear plastic bag.
“What are you gonna name him?” Molly asks me.
I look at the little guy with his downturned mouth and pissed off face. Rob’s right. He doesn’t look happy to be in the bag.
“I’m gonna call him Bob.”
Molly loves the name while Rob looks at me with a less-than-pleased reaction.
I talk to Bob the fish. “You are coming home with us! It’s a big, beautiful ranch, but not the kind of ranch you might think. There are no animals or tractors, but there is a cowboy.”
I give Rob a wink, to which he just shakes his head with the slightest tilt of his mouth.
Rob, Molly, and I walk through the game vendors. Jesse finds us, and I give Rob anI told you solook that I knew Jesse having some freedom would be a good thing. He hung out with friends and then came back to us when he was done.
“Can we go on the Zipper?” Molly asks her dad. “Jesse promised.”
“I did,” he agrees, and the two hold their hands out to Rob for tickets.
Rob gives them more than they need. “Have fun. Stay together and meet Tara and me back here when you’re finished with those.”
“Really?” Molly asks in disbelief that they’ve been handed a roll of tickets and freedom.
“Go before I change my mind.”
Molly hands Rob her bear, and the two run off toward a section of rides at the far end of the park. Rob and I start walking in that direction.
I gesture toward the fish and bear in our hands. “Who knew you were a master at carnival games?”
“My brother Jack and I came to this carnival when we were kids. It came to town once a year, and we practically lived here. When we were in high school, we got jobs as game vendors and learned some were rigged.”
“Do share your secrets, good sir.”
“If I did, I’d have to kill you.”
I want to snicker at Rob’s cheesy line, but I hold it in. I like this side of him.
He points to the balloon dart game to our left. “The balloons are underinflated, and the darts are dull. You have to throw the dart as hard as you can to break the balloon.” He points to another game next to it. One where you throw a ball at jugs. “You have to aim between the jugs at the bottom of the pyramid. They’re weighed down extra heavy.”
I nod toward the basketball hoop game.
“Damn near impossible. The hoop is oval-shaped, and the backboard is padded.”
“I can’t picture you as a carny.”
“Hardly consider a teenager working at a carnival for two weeks in the summer a carny,” he says with a glint in his eyes. “But I know what you’re saying. I don’t present myself as a fun guy.”
I rub the soft fur of the bear in his arm. “You have your moments. It would be nice to see you smile more. You have a great smile.”
“Isn’t that something I’m supposed to say to you?”
“A compliment now and then would be appreciated.”
“I like your smile too.”
“You’re just saying that because I complimented you.”
