Page 45 of Wed to You

She cocked her head to the side. “You wouldn’t go with me?”

He looked over at the ride and winced as the seats dropped and screams tore over the park. “I’m not that brave.”

The swings stopped and Kaden rushed toward them. “I want to go over there.” He pointed across the way. “They have toys.”

Chelsea looked to the game section of the fair.

“You have to win those, buddy.” Jagger rested his hand on Kaden’s shoulder.

“I want to win one.” Kaden tugged on Jagger’s hand. “Can I?”

In Chelsea’s experience, most carnival games were nearly impossible to win. But Jagger indulged Kaden, paying for him to fish out a plastic shark and toss a ring around an old-fashioned milk bottle.

“It’s too hard.” Kaden pouted.

“Maybe you should try.” Chelsea smirked at Jagger.

His brows rose. “Do I detect a hint of doubt in my carnival game ability?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Can you, Jagger? Can you win me something?”

“How about the basketball hoop?”

“Do you play basket ball?” Chelsea wondered if he’d played sports in school, as she had.

“I played lacrosse.”

She rolled her eyes. Of course he had.

“It’s all hand-eye coordination right?”

“Let’s see what you’ve got, Michael Jordon.” Chelsea laughed and took Kaden’s hand as they walked with Jagger to the basketball hoop game. Twenty-five dollars later, he’d won a five-dollar stuffed turtle for Kaden. It only took him another fifteen dollars to win Chelsea a tiny stuffed bear.

“Can you win something, Miss Beemer?” Kaden asked as they left the basketball hoops.

“The only game I might be able to win is the target shooting.”

“You can shoot a gun?” Kaden looked up at her with wide eyes.

She nodded. “Yes. I used to hunt with my brother.”

“Did you kill animals?”

Chelsea was well aware that some people felt hunting was for boys and was cruel for killing animals for sport. For her family, as for many other rural families in the South, hunting wasn’t a game. “We hunted for food. I’m famous for my venison burgers.”

“Really?” Jagger cocked brow hinted at intrigue. “BBQ and now venison.”

They reached the shooting game and Chelsea set her money on the counter. She hadn’t hunted since she was a teenager. Without Brian, it wasn’t the same. Mitch invited her along when he went, but she declined. Since he was always bringing her ground venison, it seemed he hunted enough for both of them.

She hit only two targets on the first try, but on the next two rounds won a stuffed tiger for Kaden and a stuffed banana, which she gave to Jagger.

Thirty minutes later, Jagger carried a nearly sleeping Kaden to the car. Chelsea walked with them, carrying their winnings. Jagger opened the door to his SUV and strapped Kaden into his car seat.

“I want to go on rides.” Kaden’s words were heavy with sleep and his lids drooped.

“We need to get ready for Miss Beemer to come to dinner tonight.”

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