He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not Conrad. I’m not going to take your money or stomp on your heart. Don’t compare me to him.”
She gritted her teeth until her jaws ached. “Don’t accuse me of things I didn’t do. And don’t bring up his name to me. And another thing—if you put cuffs on me and drag me to jail for something I didn’t do, that classifies as stomping on my heart. And the final thing—I’m not going to ride the Ferris wheel with you. What if a columnist or reporter or even blogger is roaming around among all these people and they see us snuggled up together on a Ferris wheel?”
He stood to his feet. “You are right about the ride, but when you come back to Bootleg next year to enjoy the festival with Gracie, this will all be done. Save me a spot next to you.”
“Who says I’ll come back?”
She picked up her purse and was about to leave when Gracie yelled from across the street, “There’s the funnel cake wagon and there’s Kate. Hey, Kate, wait for us!”
“You could ride with Gracie and I could ride with Lisa and we’d be together, but not side by side,” Waylon drawled.
“And I bet if we were really good at matchmaking we could get Jamie and Paul to ride together,” Kate said.
“Hattie would be so proud of you in this moment.” Waylon chuckled and then grew serious. “Trust me, Kate. I’m doing everything I can possibly do to clear your name.”
“Let’s go ride the Ferris wheel, Kate.” Gracie grabbed her hand and tugged. “Mama says each kid has to have an adult.”
“Well, in that case, you think I could ride with Lisa?” Waylon asked.
“And I could ride with Gracie.” Kate shot a dirty look over her shoulder at Waylon. Damn, that man could be so frustrating!
“I’m not getting on that thing. Sure as I did, I’d go into premature labor,” Amanda said. “Besides, I see Aunt Ellie and Wanda over there. Hey!” she called out and waved. “I invited them, but I didn’t know if they’d get to come or not. This is great.”
Paul looked over the kids’ heads at Jamie. “Guess that leaves the two of us to ride together.”
“I guess it does.” Jamie smiled.
“What about these three lovely ladies?” Waylon looked back at Aunt Ellie, Mama Rita, and Wanda.
He was smooth, Kate would give him that.
“Wanda and I are going to park right there at that table y’all vacated and eat funnel cakes,” Aunt Ellie said. “And you must be Jamie’s grandma Rita? Want to join us? I bet we can talk Amanda into pulling up a chair with us, since she’s not going on the ride.”
“I outgrew rides years ago. Y’all kids go have a good time and don’t worry about us. We’ll catch up to you later on,” Rita answered.
“Where’s Hattie and Victor?” Gracie tugged on Kate’s hand.
“They are already in line,” Kate answered. “Are we ready to go?”
Kate and Gracie had reached the front of the line when the old fellow running it opened the gates to fill up the wheel again. She grabbed the money that Waylon had given her and handed it to the man. “This is for the next four seats.”
The man looked at the bill and grinned. “How many times you plannin’ on ridin’?”
“Is there enough for two times?”
“Honey, with fifty dollars, you could ride all day. I’ll make change.” He laughed as he handed her several fives and a few ones.
“Have you ridden one of these before?” Waylon looked up over his shoulder as the music started and the wheel began to move.
“Never,” she said.
When they reached the top, the wheel stopped and the seat swung slightly. Gracie grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Don’t be afraid. I’m right here with you.”
“I’m glad you are, Gracie. Oh, my goodness. Look out there across the town. You can see the edge of the lake.”
Gracie let go of the bar and reached up with both hands. “I can almost touch the clouds.”
Kate held her breath until Gracie’s hands were back on the bar.
Just like your father. Her mother’s voice was back in her head. Fearful of everything, even a cruise ship.
Don’t bring that up. Don’t ever put it in my head again.
Thinking it, even in a mean tone, did not erase the words. That was the very thing that had caused the argument between her and her father the night he’d died. She’d given her parents a seven-day cruise to celebrate their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and he’d told her to get her money back, that there was no way he’d get on a ship like that.
Just like Gracie did not cause her father’s death, you did not cause yours, the voice said. This time it was much gentler, and she smiled as the wheel made another turn and her bucket started back up.
“Your arms are longer than mine,” Gracie yelled. “Hold them up and see if your hands disappear in the clouds.”
Kate let go of her death grip on the bar and reached for the clouds. She didn’t touch them, but there was exhilaration in trying. When the ride stopped, she and Gracie were the last ones to join the group waiting on them.
“Can we go have funnel cakes now?” Gracie asked Jamie.