“Not me. I love the Ferris wheel.”
Waylon sat down in the fourth chair and reached for a bite of the cake. “Good mornin’, all y’all. I hear the picnic for Monday has been approved. What do I need to do or cook, Hattie?”
“You have the stagecoach ready, and me and Victor will bring the rest of it,” Hattie answered. “Right now, we’re going to go ride that Ferris wheel, aren’t we, Victor?”
“Yes, ma’am, we are.” He grinned. “And I won’t eat another bite of this cake, so I’ll have plenty of room to share one with you when we get done.”
Kate loved these two old folks and would gladly adopt them. She’d send presents on their birthdays, for Christmas, and even Grandparents Day if they’d let her call them her own.
She waited until they were out of hearing distance before she said, “We should turn the tables on those two and get them together in their golden years.”
“They are together,” Waylon said.
“I mean in one house and married.”
“Whole town has been trying to do that since before my mother died. They are happy, but they will never get married. They’re too set in their ways. Are you going to ride the Ferris wheel with me?”
“What does riding the Ferris wheel mean? That we are friends for life?” She was flirting and knew it, but right then she felt as free and as excited about the day as Gracie.
He picked up the last of the funnel cake, tore it in two pieces, and fed half to her. His fingertips grazing her lips ignited sparks that flitted around the air like fireflies. Turnabout was fair play. She quickly picked up what was left and fed it to him, deliberately brushing the back of her hand across his freshly shaven cheek.
His sudden intake of breath and the way his eyes went all dreamy gave testimony that she’d had the same effect on him that he’d had on her.
“So?” she asked.
“So what? More funnel cake?”
“No. If I ride the Ferris wheel with you, does that make us friends for life like Hattie and Victor?” She hoped he said no—suddenly she wanted to be more than friends. It wasn’t possible, but then, it wasn’t a sin to want something even if there wasn’t a chance in hell of ever getting it.
“Of course. And before I forget, here’s my part of that flower and balloon order.” He slipped a bill into her shirt pocket. The touch of his fingertips brushing across her breast sent another shock wave through her body.
She quickly jerked the money out and handed it back to him. “I didn’t sign either of our names, and it’s already taken care of.”
“But they know I was in on it.” He dropped the money into her purse. “Gracie hugged me and thanked me a dozen times for her balloons. And I pay my bills, so don’t argue with me about this, Kate.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Detective Kramer.” She dragged out his name.
Damn! Damn! Damn! Now he’d gone and spoiled the whole feeling.
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.