“Take me to my palace and I shall feed you for the night,” Elle says in her princess voice. Good lord, he fell right into her game.
“We’re good, Queen Katelyn.” Harrison winks as they walk off. He starts to gallop, giving us all the sound of laughter. I seek out Peyton, wondering if she’s jealous. If she is, she’s not showing it. Between Jimmy and Liam, I think they have her missing piece filled nicely as well.
“Looks like I’m by myself,” I say to no one.
“I’ll walk with you.”
Next to me is mini-Harrison, just a bit cuter.
“Thanks, Quinn.”
“It’s okay.”
We catch up with the henchman and his princess just in time for my stomach to growl.
“Harrison, are you ready for lunch?” I stop dead in my tracks when the words are out of my mouth. I try to look away, but I can’t. He’s trying not to smile, but to no avail. There’s no use in trying to play it off as something as innocent as lunch, he’s caught the meaning. I don’t want him thinking that I’m even remotely close to taking a step with him because I’m not. It’s lunch. Nothing more.
“There’s a restaurant on the other side of the palace. We can go there.”
“I’ll tell the others and meet you there.”
Harrison nods and tells Quinn to go with him. I watch as he walks away with Elle on his shoulders and his son holding his hand like this is something they do every day. He didn’t think twice about helping Elle and that scares me. I don’t want her attached to someone who isn’t going to be around later. It’s not good for her and it’s definitely not good for Peyton. They need stability.
I let everyone know where we are going and they all agree to meet us there. Peyton and I walk hand in hand through the Palace toward the restaurant.
“Are you having fun?” I ask, hoping for the best.
“I am.”
“Yeah, Quinn’s been here before. It’s nice to hang out with someone who knows their way around, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Can we come back again some day?”
“Of course. I like it here. It’s magical.”
Peyton laughs and shakes her head. “You’re a dork, mom.” I may have been insulted, but getting her to laugh is worth it in my book.
We walk in and find the rest of our party waiting for us at a table that sits five. Even though Peyton hasn’t been around us much today, he thought ahead and planned for her to have lunch with us. Who does that?
Lunch is a quiet affair with Quinn, Elle and Peyton teasing me about not going on any rides. I’m adamant that I’m fine taking pictures of everyone, but they aren’t buying it. Quinn calls me chicken and Peyton adds the noises to go with it.
“Let’s go on a ride together,” Harrison suggests. I shake my head rapidly, expressing a giant no thanks. I like to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.
“Yeah, we’re going on a ride.” Harrison pulls my hand into his, with his other hand attached to Elle’s who is holding Peyton’s who’s attached to Quinn. We’re a train.
“Are you kidding me?” I ask when we stop in front of the haunted mansion. “No way.”
“It’s a kid ride with dancing ghosts. The most harmless ride out there.”
“There’s no one to watch the kids,” I reply, letting go of his hand. I place my hands on my hips for good measure to show him I mean business. This is my mom stance, which makes him laugh. I roll my eyes and throw my hands up in the air.
“Liam and Josie are right there, plus the bodyguards are here. Let me take you on this ride.” Harrison sticks out his bottom lip and bats his eyes. I thought only women and a set of twins did this. The kids are jumping up and down clapping their hands begging me to go.
“It’s not scary?”
“Not at all. Quinn rode it when he was four.”
“Dad’s right. It’s a dumb ride, to be honest.”
“Fine.” I relent and follow Harrison in line. Thankfully, it’s short and we don’t have to wait too long. Once we are in the seat and buckled in, I regret it immediately. I hate ghost and horror stories.
“I can’t do this.” My hands start to push on the bar holding me in.
“What are you talking about?”
“This, I can’t ride.” Our car starts to jerk forward, leaving me with no way out. We enter a dark tunnel and something brushes against me. I scream and clutch onto Harrison’s arms, my fingers digging into his flesh. We round a corner and pause to watch ghost perform a dance for us.
“Want me to distract you?”
“How on earth are you going to do that?”
Harrison shrugs and turns his baseball cap around. His lips are on mine before I can take my next breath. As the car moves, jerking us back and forth, his tongue glides against mine in a relaxed state. My hand cups his cheek and my fingers play along his jaw, rubbing the scruff that has grown since his last shave.