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Chet laughed. “I wasn’t in charge of what to wear, unfortunately.”
They both looked toward Baylee and Drew. “They look great,” Chet said. “I’m not sure how creative Drew got though.”
“Baylee went for an old-school pinup-girl look.” Tyler grinned. “I think I see Drew wiping drool off his mouth.”
Tyler looked down at Chet. “You working tonight?”
“Not officially. I’m in uniform because the mayor suggested it.”
“Ah. No choice then. Bummer.”
Chet took in Tyler’s outfit. “I’d give you a seven or eight for creativity.”
“What?” Tyler glanced at the sheet draped over his torso. “I’m a full-on ten and you know it.”
Chet laughed out loud. “Fair enough. You do have a Zeus vibe about you. Very commanding.”
Tyler waved a hand at him. “Whatever. I’m going to get some food. I hear we’ve got some of the best food the town has to offer.”
As Tyler walked away, Chet caught sight of the booth for Meg’s Diner. A long line of hungry festival goers snaked around it, awaiting their food. Franklin stood at a massive grill off to the side, from which smoke wafted up, filling the night air with the scent of grilled meat. Chet took a deep breath. His stomach growled.
Chet saw movement inside the booth as Meg handed a plate to the person at the front of the line. She wore a black sweater; her hair was down, held back by a black headband, above which sat two black pointed ears. Her nose had a black dot and her cheeks had black lines made to look like whiskers.
A cat costume.
His body heat rose, along with his heartbeat. Visions of dark corners danced in his head again.
“You might want to put your tongue back in your mouth or people are going to start to wonder.” His sister’s voice snapped his attention away from Meg.
Chet glared down at Eva. Her auburn hair was in two braids flowing down her shoulders. She had on a white top and a blue-and-white-checkered dress. Bright-red shoes glittered against white ankle socks. In one arm she carried a little brown stuffed dog.
“Dorothy. Nice choice.”
“I thought so.” She took a bite of the massive wad of cotton candy she held in her other hand. Remnants of it stuck to her bottom lip. “I see you had to wear your uniform again. Bummer.”
Chet grunted.
“Firemen tend to like dogs, though, not cats, right?”
He glared again but his sister merely shrugged and took another bite of cotton candy.
He looked back to the diner’s booth and made eye contact with Meg. She smiled and the rest of the world disappeared.
Sadly, his sister remained next to him.
“Wow.” She shook a piece of cotton candy from her finger. “You’ve got it worse than I thought. I’m happy for you. She seems cool.”
“She is. Hey, can you watch Dottie for a bit?”
“Sure.” Eva turned to Dottie, who sat and gave her best doggie smile.
Chet made his way to Meg’s booth and waited until there was a break in the line of people.
He leaned into the opening, keeping his voice low. “Any chance you can get away for a minute?”
“Maybe.” She grinned. “What’d you have in mind?”
He nodded toward the large dance floor that Garrett’s Saloon had set up on the edge of the park. The saloon had also donated a sound system and music. “I was thinking about asking for a dance.”
