Chapter 14
2502 Words
Fourteen
Holly
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. I was conceived during a one-night stand, and I’ve never met him. Or at least that I remember. I found a picture of him holding me at the hospital, but he’s staring down at me, so it’s not a very good picture.”
Austin wraps his arm around the back of the bench and slides over, so we’re hip to hip.
“It could be worse. He paid child support and I had health insurance, but he never called, never visited. And here I am, a grown woman tracking him down.”
“He lives in Lake Starlight?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, he’s in Sunrise Bay.”
“That’s two towns over.”
I nod, picking at my nails. “This job was the closest thing I could find, but there’s more…”
His body tenses. “What?”
“He doesn’t know I’m here. I haven’t confronted him.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “Why?”
I huff and concentrate on my hands, afraid to look at him, afraid of what I’ll see. “What if I’m not welcome in his life?”
“Well, I have no idea how you feel, but I do know that if someone doesn’t want you in their life, you’re usually better off. That would be his loss. But you won’t know that unless you tell him you’re here.”
I blow out a breath. “This is way too heavy for a carnival date.”
He laughs. “So, this is a date, is it?”
Heat blooms in my cheeks, but he guides my head to his shoulder, his lips pressing on the top. I freeze and he does too.
“s**t, I’m sorry.” He removes his hands. “That was reflex. I think because I have sisters, you know. I’ve had to deal with a lot of broken hearts.”
“It’s okay. It’s fine.” I don’t want to admit how nice it felt. How in this moment, it feels like maybe he could actually mend my distrusting heart.
Austin hops to his feet. “That’s enough heart-to-heart s**t. Let’s go have some fun.”
I glance past the river at the carnival rides and games, the laughs and screams echoing down to us. “Sounds perfect.”
We walk over to the carnival without touching one another. When we reach the parking lot of the library, Austin leads me to the food booths, taking us to Wok For U.
“Li!” he yells to a guy in the back.
The man nods, says something to the girl next to him, and wipes his hands on his apron before making his way over. “Austin. Want another fortune cookie?” He laughs.
“Not one of yours. This is Holly.” He points at me with his thumb.
The guy puts out his hand, and I shake it.
“Nice to meet you…” He eyes Austin. “Finally.”
I shake my head. “Tell me someone else’s story will overtake the Jeep one soon.”
Li laughs and shares a look with Austin. “No worries there. Something always does.”
“Austin!” a woman’s voice echoes over the crowd.
“Someone’s always looking for Austin,” Li shakes his head, grabbing a container and putting in some wontons. “Here. On the house.”
“Thank you, but I’ll gladly pay,” I say.
He holds up his hand. “Think of it as a Lake Starlight apology for Buzz Wheel.”
I think it’s Savannah who’s approaching us. She’s blonde, but so is another one of his sisters, so I’m not really sure. “I need your help.”
“I’m in the middle of something, Savannah.”
Her gaze falls to me then to Li. “Hey, Li.”
“Always a fire.” Li laughs.
“Truth.” Savannah rolls her eyes then grabs my arm and pulls. “Oh perfect, you’ll be better than Austin.”
“Savannah…” Austin sighs, pulling me back by my other arm, the wontons shaking in the container.
“The mayor had cold feet on the whole pie-in-the-face thing,” Savannah says.
Austin laughs. “You’re dreaming. I do a lot for his family, but I am not letting kids throw a pie in my face. I’m not letting Holly do it either.”
Savannah’s face crumbles, and she shoots Austin what I guess is her best puppy dog eyes.
“No,” he says. Guess I was right. “You do it. I’m sure plenty of your employees would love to throw a pie in your face.”
“You know as well as I do that it’s mostly kids who throw the pies, not adults. Sorry, Mr. Educator, but you picked the wrong field.” She puts her hands on her hips.
I pull a wonton from the carton and bite into it while I enjoy their sparring. I give Li a thumbs-up.
“Good, right? I swear, I’m a god in the kitchen.”
“Not compared to me.” Another one of the Baileys approaches and does some weird handshake with Li.
“Rome, heard you were back! Bring it on, fancy pants European chef.”
Rome hops over the table to join Li, and the two of them head over to check out some of Li’s produce.
I swear I’ll never get all the Baileys straight.
“Please, Austin.” Savannah has her hands in front of her now in a prayer pose.
Austin shakes his head. “I promised Holly a Ferris wheel ride. Sorry.”
Savannah sets her eyes on me. “Please, Holly? Or Principal Radcliffe—what do you prefer? I’ll do anything if you help me out. I only need someone for an hour. It’s our biggest event every year and it makes the most money. The money goes to a local charity and the families depend on it.”
“She’s pulling on your heartstrings. She’ll find someone else.” Austin snags a wonton from the container and pops it into his mouth.
Savannah’s head falls back. “What do you want? Name it.”
“I want you to straighten Phoenix out, that’s what. But maybe we can negotiate a deal for you not to guilt-trip me for leaving,” Austin suggests, raising his eyebrows.
I watch these two, wishing I had my own sibling. It was always just Mom and me.
“I’ll do it,” I say.
Austin glares at me. “No, you won’t. I’m not letting her guilt you into it.”
I stare at Austin. “I’m doing it to help the families who rely on the charity. Where do I go?”
Savannah claps. “You’re the best. Come on.”
Savannah nods in the direction to head and thanks me profusely the entire way there, as Austin grumbles behind us. The booth is set up with a cut-out to put my face through. There are racks and racks of pie pans filled with whipped cream, along with a station of girls continuing to make them.
“All of those?” I ask with wide eyes.
Savannah laughs. “Once the first one hits, you’ll barely notice the difference.”
“She’s lying. She has no idea because she’s never actually done it herself,” Austin adds.
“Coach Bailey!” A few teenage boys amble over.
“I’ll take him.” One of the boys places a twenty in front the of the girls. “Remember when you benched me for chewing gum?”
Austin rolls his eyes. “Sorry to ruin your day, Sullivan, but my face isn’t going through the hole.”
I tug at his arm. He looks at me with an expression that clearly says no.
“I thought you were fun?” I ask and poke his stomach. Actually, his set of rock-hard abs.
A half-smile tilts his lips. “You were mistaken.”
I raise up on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “Really? Because I think the guy who picked me up that night was a lot of fun.” I drop down to my regular height.
“Nope.” He rocks back on his heels.
I narrow my eyes, my smile unable to stop growing. “What if I let you clean me up after?”
Savannah laughs.
He raises a brow. “What do you mean by clean up?”
“Play and find out.” I shrug in a coy way, and his gaze falls down over my body.
“Fine.” He stomps over to the cut-out. “One hour, Savannah, then find another duo of suckers.”
Savannah releases a long breath. “Thank you.”
“Not much of a choice,” Austin deadpans.
She touches my arm but steps closer, enveloping me in a hug. Her expensive-smelling perfume surrounds us. “You’re the best. Sure you don’t want to be my sister-in-law?” She laughs it off before I can respond.
“I better go before Cranky makes a run for it,” I say with a chuckle.
“Great, and I’ll find someone for the next hour. I just have to think of whose face I’d want to throw a pie at.”
I laugh, heading back behind the cut-out, and smack Austin’s ass when I pass him.
“Watch it, sweetheart, otherwise I’m taking a can of whipped cream back to your place with us.”
“I don’t recall asking you over?”
“You said I get to clean you up. As much as I enjoyed our time in the Jeep, this time I want more time to explore.”
I shake my head. “Dirty mind you have there, Coach Bailey.”
“Only when it comes to you, Principal Radcliffe.”
We both grin then stick our heads through the cut-outs. Austin talks s**t to the players as we get nailed by pie after pie.
“These kids have way too good of aim,” I murmur before licking the whipped cream off my lips.
“Just remember this was your idea,” he says from beside me.
“Not really my idea.”
“Might as well have been.”
“Your sister needed our help,” I insist, relieved when the pie that was just thrown falls short of its mark.
“Let me give you a little advice when it comes to the Baileys and Lake Starlight—the word no needs to be in your vocabulary.”
“Are you suggesting I should tell you no?”
He turns to me and I side-eye him, my smirk proud.
“I’m the exception.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.” I laugh, a light, buoyant feeling filling my chest.
An hour later, my face is covered in whipped cream, including the front of my hairline.
“Have a nice day, Savannah,” I say.
Austin grabs my hand and pulls me away from the booth. I think Denver and that guy Liam are next in line. I heard him razzing Savannah about not wanting to get dirty.
I stop walking. “Where are we going?”
“To your place to clean up?”
“I said you could clean me up, not that we were going back to my place.” I toss him the dishtowel Savannah gave me. “Here you go.”
He catches it and stares blankly at me. I laugh.
“Really?” he asks.
“Really.”
His shoulders sag, and he walks over to me with the towel. Starting at the tip of my forehead, he slowly runs the towel down the side of my face. He takes half a step forward, and my chest meets his. When his labored breaths hit my face, I’m back in that Jeep again, his scent and gentle hands surrounding me. I close my eyes while he wipes cream away from my eyes.
By the time he’s reached my lips, a moan slips from my mouth.
“If you think this is good,” he whispers, “you should let me take you home.”
“Then you’d have no respect for me.”
A soft chuckle escapes his tempting lips. “You’re going to make me work for this, aren’t you?”
“Well, I did give in pretty easily the first time.” I open my eyes. His stubbled cheeks are in my line of vision, and I can’t help but want to feel the rough hairs on my skin. “Austin,” I sigh.
“Yeah.” He runs the towel down the other side of my face.
“I’m only here for three months.”
“Good, so am I.”
“I’m probably going to leave here with a broken heart because of my dad. I don’t want to leave with a shattered one.” I speak my worst fear out loud.
He blows out a breath. “I get it.”
“So?” I say, disappointment flaring in my stomach.
He tosses a towel onto a nearby table. “So, I think I promised you a ride on the Ferris wheel.”
My forehead falls to his shoulder, and he wraps his arms around me.
“Let’s just have fun,” I whisper.
Besides that one night with Austin, fun doesn’t seem in my vocabulary lately, and it sounds nice coming off my lips. Why can’t I give myself three carefree months before I let my feet touch the ground again? I deserve to push my worries away.
I draw back and look at the big smile overtaking his face. “No sleepovers, no dinners, no lunch dates, no flowers. Pretty much you can’t do anything nice for me.”
He laughs, and his dark eyes sparkle like melted chocolate. “How can I argue with that? But only if you agree not to send me flowers either.” He winks, and his hand slides down my arm to link with mine.
I retract my hand. “We need to keep it private. No one can know.”
He stuffs both hands in his pockets. “Okay.”
“I don’t want to be on that Buzz Wheel thing again.”
“Well, I don’t have a lot of control over that, but I’ll try to be as stealthy as a thief.”
“Okay then.”
He nods. “Ferris wheel?”
“Ferris wheel.”
We walk down Main Street with whipped cream drying in our hairlines, a few inches between us and our hands in our pockets. My stomach dips as though I’m already on the Ferris wheel, because I can only imagine how thrilling this ride Austin and I are about to embark on will be.
- Writer
