Page 108 of Somewhere You Belong

Dallas’s mom comes waltzing over, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up again.

I know I need to talk to her, but now is not the time or the place.

“Congratulations, Dallas!” She hugs her eldest son as I stand back and admire the love he has for her. Every time he speaks about his mother, you can tell he holds a soft spot for the woman, but it’s a totally different experience to see it in front of me.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Your sons are about to be legends, Mom.” Penn comes up to her next, scooping her up in his arms.

“Put me down, Penn!”

“Never!” He runs around the sand with her, finally depositing her back on her feet, the two of them bursting out in laughter.

“One more game, babe. And then we can go home and celebrate,” Dallas whispers in my ear from behind, wrapping his arms around me.

And for the next hour until the final game, I choose to focus on fantasizing about thecelebration.

***

“I don’t think I’m going to be much help on this last one.”

Astrid stands next to me, rubbing my shoulder. “You don’t know that. They could ask us anything.”

The final game, which is always a surprise the day of, happens to be a scavenger hunt consisting of questions relating to Carrington Cove. Everyone on the team has to hand in their cell phones so no one has access to Google, and each item you have to collect must be brought before the judges in person.

“I know, but I don’t know the town like you do.”

“You know bits and pieces. Trust me, you will be able to contribute, and be prepared to. If Dallas doesn’t win this game, he might punch a hole through the wall of the restaurant.”

“Why are men so damn competitive?”

Astrid shrugs. “Too much testosterone?” We share a laugh. “But honestly, I like to win too, so I can’t blame them.”

“This is pretty exciting. I can see why people love this tradition.” My eyes cast over the scene around us, people milling about on the edge of the beach, sitting in their chairs, waiting for the final game to start. A few local businesses have set up booths on the boardwalk to sell food, hats and umbrellas to ward off the sun, and foam fingers and t-shirts to commemorate the event.

“It’s part of who we are,” Astrid says. “But next year, I’ll have my own team, and I’m so grateful to you for that.”

I squeeze her hand. “You deserve it.”

Friday morning, I went to the bank with Astrid to co-sign the loan for the bakery. As of next month, Astrid will be the full-time owner of the Sunshine Bakery, and I can’t wait to see what she does with the place.

“I seriously can’t thank you enough, Willow. You’ve changed my life.”

“You’ve changed mine too,” I whisper as Dallas comes over to where we’re standing.

“Everything okay?” he asks, watching me blink away tears.

“Yeah, Willow just got something in her eye again,” Astrid answers for me, winking at me discretely.

“Well, get it out because we have a cup to win.” Dallas grabs my hand, leading me over to the table where the judges sit, waiting for the paper to start the scavenger hunt. And as soon as we and the team from Franny’s Crab Shack all gather around, the final game begins.

After gathering a hammer from Hansen’s Hardware Store, a coffee from Keely’s Caffeine Kick, and a tourist guide from Cove Real Estate, we’re scurrying along the boardwalk back toward the beach for the final clue.

Most of us split up as we had to search for each object, but I see Penn and Astrid heading in our direction, as well as a few of the other employees from the restaurant.

“Did you get the bingo chips from Baron, Harold, and Thompson?” Dallas calls out to Penn as he gets closer.

Penn holds up the yellow and red markers. “Sure did. That journey to the Veteran’s Center was no joke though.”

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