Page 78 of Safe With You

Ethan pretended to be offended. “What are you talking about? I’m great with kids.” He turned to walk back over to Katie, but as soon as his brother wasn’t paying attention, he dabbed a bit of ice cream on Joel’s ear. Joel hunched his shoulders at the cold and swiped it with his hand.

“Ethan!”

This drew uproarious laughter from the kids and some adults, particularly Megan. But Katie’s laughter was the real delight and totally worth annoying his brother for.

Chapter Thirty-four

Katie didn’t think she’d ever had so much fun. Following the wedding awkwardness and her breakup, she might have spent the day on the verge of tears. But she enjoyed every moment and was a little disappointed when it drew to a close. It wasn’t over yet, however. They still had the local parade and fireworks to enjoy.

Everyone pitched in with cleanup as evening descended, still stuffed after snacking on leftovers all afternoon. Once the women had put away any remaining food and the men had carried the tables to the garage, everyone gathered around their vehicles to head into town. Katie followed Ethan to his parents’ truck.

“Is the parade still the same route as when we were kids?”

He nodded, opening the truck door for her to climb in. “Yeah. We still park at church and then find spots to watch like always. Several years ago, they changed the location where they launch the fireworks. It’s still on the lake, but now you can see them really well from the church parking lot. This way, we aren’t fighting for spots at the beach and worrying about everyone who’s been drinking all day.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, especially with all the kids.”

He got in on one side of her while Becca climbed in on the other. As Tom pulled away from the house, Ethan leaned forward to look at Becca.

“Having fun today?”

Katie suspected a deeper curiosity beyond his simple question. While Becca hadn’t spent time exclusively with Adam, they had done a lot together. More than Katie would have expected.

“I am,” she responded, and Ethan wore a distinctly pleased smile. She sent him a warning look. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Adam and I were close friends at one time. Just because we’re working our way back to that doesn’t mean we’re dating.”

Ethan held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

Katie kept her own thoughts to herself, but she glimpsed a smile on Evelyn’s face during the exchange. They all wanted happiness for Becca, whether it involved Adam or not.

In town, Tom pulled into the church parking lot. Several cars belonging to other congregation members had already parked there, and children ran around in the grass. Gathering together as a big group toting camp chairs and blankets, they set off down the sidewalk toward the parade route. Once they found an open area in front of one of the local businesses, they set up the chairs and settled in.

The parade was fun. Katie enjoyed the creative floats that passed by. Watching the kids dash out for candy was the most entertaining part. They had some serious competition going on until they somehow decided to put all the candy together and split it later. It was quite diplomatic of them.

After the final float passed, they returned to the church, where the kids played while waiting for it to get dark. Someone had brought glow sticks for them, and Ethan, Adam, Joel, and a couple of the other dads oversaw the lighting of sparklers. Katie played tag with the kids for a bit before finding a seat on the blanket, where Megan and Becca entertained Harper. The little girl babbled and squealed as the older kids ran around with the sparklers.

A little while later, Ethan dropped down on the blanket next to Katie. Harper toddled over to him to show him the unicorn toy she was playing with. Katie smiled at the sweet interaction between them. Despite Joel’s earlier comment during the ice cream fight, Ethan really was good with kids.

Soon, it grew dark, and most of the adults had found seats. A little shiver prickled over Katie’s skin. After the heat of the day, she hadn’t even thought to bring a sweatshirt. Now that the sun had gone down and the humidity had dropped, the air grew chilly in a tank top. She rubbed the goosebumps on her arms.

“Are you cold?” Ethan asked.

She shrugged sheepishly. She should have thought ahead. “A little bit.”

Megan started to get up. “I think I have one of Harper’s blankets in the car.”

Ethan stopped her. “Here, take this instead.” He pulled off the hoodie he must have put on before joining them and handed it to Katie.

She tried to stop him. “But what about you?”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t even cold to begin with.”

Since she was getting pretty chilled, she didn’t argue with him and pulled the too-large hoodie over her head. It still retained his body heat. She hugged the excess fabric around herself. It was just about the comfiest thing she’d ever worn. Now she understood how girls ended up keeping their boyfriend’s clothing. While Drew had loaned her his coat once, she’d never seen him wear a hoodie. She wasn’t even sure if he owned one.

Nice and cozy now, she settled in with a comfortable sigh. A few minutes later, the first fireworks launched into the sky with a burst of color and an echoing bang. The kids cheered and hurried to sit down with their families or friends. Katie wrapped her arms around her knees and happily enjoyed the show. Her phone buzzed in her pocket at one point, but she ignored it. A little while later, it buzzed again. Who would call her now? The only ones she cared to have contact with were all right here, so again, she ignored it.

While the fireworks weren’t as big as the ones she’d seen in Madison last year with Drew, Katie enjoyed the show immensely. It was a beautiful display, and she wouldn’t have wanted to see them with anyone else.

---