THE SCHOOL CARNIVAL WAS LOUD, a crowded funfest with plenty of kids and parents in attendance. Raoul had gone to support all the kids he’d made friends with and found himself dodging dads who wanted autographs or to talk sports.
“Ah, the price of fame,” Dakota said, coming up behind him as he explained that no, he hadn’t had his head up his ass during that third-quarter play at his last Super Bowl.
He glanced at her gratefully. “Excuse me,” he told the group of men and grabbed her arm. “I need to talk to Dakota about some business.”
“Using me as a getaway?” she asked.
“Whatever works.” He led her out of the crowd, toward the main building. “The mothers are either snubbing me or telling me I’m a jerk, and the fathers all want to talk about specific plays during games I barely remember. There’s no elaborate planning in the middle of a football game. You have to react to what’s happening. If you aren’t prepared to trust your gut and go with what you feel is right, you’ll never win.”
He paused as she stared at him with rapt attention.
“Oh, please,” she breathed. “Tell me more. Don’t leave out any details.”
“Funny,” he muttered, then drew his eyebrows together. “Hey, you’re speaking to me. Aren’t you supposed to ignore me?”
“I work for you.”
“I thought you’d be pissed about Pia.” Everyone else was.
As she’d promised, Pia had spread the word that she’d been the one to break up with him. The problem was not enough people believed her. Or they assumed he’d done something so awful she’d been forced to end things with him.
“You didn’t change the rules,” Dakota said easily. “She did.”
He stared at her, waiting for the “but.”
“Not that you weren’t an idiot,” she continued. “If you’re not willing to risk your heart for someone like her, you’re completely cowardly and stupid. If you can’t see you’re already in love with her, then you’re just dumb.”
So much for having someone on his side. “Tell me what you really think,” he said.
She patted his arm. “You’ll figure it out. I have faith.”
He liked her theory, but she didn’t have all the information. She didn’t understand the past he was fighting.
“Did that guy really want to know if you had your head up your ass?” she asked.
“Those were his exact words.”
She laughed. “I want to say it must be refreshing to have people talk to you like you’re a regular guy and not a sports celebrity, but I’m thinking right now you’d enjoy a little reverence.”
“It wouldn’t hurt. Want to stick around and be my wingman?”
“Not really. You’ll be fine. Chin up and all that. They’re people, too.”
“Are you paid by the cliché?” he asked drily.
She smiled and walked off.
Alone in blissful quiet for a few seconds, he thought about what she’d said. About him being stupid for not risking his heart for someone like Pia.
As much as he wanted to give Pia all that she wanted, it wasn’t as if there was a switch inside that he could simply turn on and off. He wasn’t willing to take the chance again. Period. There was nothing anyone could say or do to change his mind. If that meant losing Pia permanently, then so be it.
He turned to return to the carnival, only to see Peter heading toward him. A short, beefy man trailed behind.
“Hi!” Peter waved his left arm. “Look. My cast is off. And you’re right—my arm looks really weird. All scaly and skinny. The doctor says I’m doing really good, though.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Raoul said, then held out his fist to start their elaborate greeting. The one Peter and Pia had come up with.
The downside of small-town living, he realized. There wasn’t going to be anywhere to escape.
“My foster dad wants to meet you,” Peter said in a low voice when they’d finished. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Sure.”
Raoul walked over and shook hands with the other man. Don Folio eyed him from under thick, dark eyebrows.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Peter,” he said.
“He’s a great kid. Very special.”
There was something about the man Raoul didn’t like.
“We appreciate your taking care of him when we were out of town.”
“It wasn’t a problem.” Raoul smiled at Peter, who grinned back.
Don dug a dollar out of his pocket and handed it to Peter. “Raoul and I need to talk, kid. Go play a game or something.”
Peter hesitated, then nodded and hurried toward the arcade. Don faced Raoul.
“I can see you have a soft spot for the boy.”
“Sure. I like spending time with him.”
Don raised his eyebrows. “How much do you like spending time with him?” he asked.
Raoul felt a flicker of alarm over the oily nature of the question, but he wanted to see where Don was going with this. “If I could have more personal time with Peter, that would be ideal,” he said slowly.
Don nodded energetically. “I’m a man of the world and I get these kind of things. But the foster care system, they have some rules.”