Page 91 of Pity Parade

What is he doing? I try to ignore him, but he follows that up with, “You are an amazing woman. I know I totally blew it with you last year, and I’m sorry. Please go out with me again. I promise I’m a changed man.”

The crowd loves the scene he’s making, and people start to call out things like, “Go out with him, Trina!” and “What happened on your date last year?” One woman yells, “If you don’t go out with him, I will!”

I force a smile onto my face which probably looks more like constipation than anything else. Then I lean over the edge of the float and hiss, “Leave me alone, Heath.”

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a bunch of flowers. One by one, he starts tossing them up at me. But instead of catching them, I let them fall onto the road. “Why are you doing this?” I demand.

Turning off his microphone, he tells me, “I’m trying to tell you that I’m sorry for what I told Trent. I acted like a child, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t forgive me, but I’m really hoping you will.”

“Are you serious?” I ask. The questions I don’t give voice to include: Have you been drinking? Why in the world would I ever give you another chance? And have you changed your mind about getting serious with someone? The last one makes me question my sanity as he’s made it perfectly clear that’s never going to happen.

“I’m very serious, Trina.” Before he can say more, the band starts playing “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Heath gets into it and starts skipping along the side the float like he’s playacting Yankee Doodle himself. The crowd adores him, which really annoys me.

I go over to Paige’s bucket of water balloons and grab as many as I can carry. Then I walk back to the edge of the float. Heath is still hamming it up for the crowd, so he doesn’t see the first balloon set sail. When it hits him in the back of the head, he screams like a little girl before turning around to see where it came from.

Oh yeah, buddy, it’s on... I release another as he comes closer. He doesn’t so much as break his stride so I throw the rest at him as fast as I can. Heath is soaked, and against my will I can’t help but think he would definitely win the wet T-shirt contest.

That’s when an older lady from the crowd steps forward and yells at Heath, “Take it off!”

An even older one pulls out her wallet and waves it above her head while shouting, “Shake your moneymaker so I can tuck a buck!” The music stops abruptly due to the scene the women are making.

The geriatric duo incite a near riot as other women step forward and start chanting things like, “Take it off!” and “Show us the goods!” Heath looks mortified, which I find truly satisfying.

I expect the whole scene to anger Heath, but instead of being mad, he turns his microphone back on and repeats his earlier question. “Will you please go out with me, Trina?”

The crowd roars its approval—which I’m guessing is much greater since Heath was such a good sport about my attack.

“I don’t trust you,” I tell him plainly.

“I don’t blame you,” he says. “You’re a wonderful woman. You’re smart, talented, and very beautiful, and I have not treated you well. But I promise from this point on, I will do everything in my power to prove to you that I’m not the man you think I am.”

I feel myself softening toward him, but then the devil on my shoulder warns, “He’ll burn you again. Don’t do it.”

The angel on the other shoulder suggests, “Maybe he’s learned his lesson.”

“Why should I believe you?” I ask him. But then the band starts playing “God Bless America,” so I can’t hear his answer.

Heath puts the mic back in his bag, and when the song ends and the float starts to move again, he tells me, “I went back to Chicago and made my peace with some things. I’d like to talk to you about that after the parade.”

The battle waging inside me is fierce. How could I trust a man who spread such malicious gossip about me? But then I remember how hard it has been to push Heath out of my thoughts. Maybe I owe it to myself to find out what he has to say.

“Fine,” I tell him. “Meet me at the end of the parade route. I’ll give you ten minutes.”

Instead of going to stand on the sidewalk, Heath runs back and picks up all the flowers I let fall to the ground. Then he comes back and hands me the bouquet. “Thank you, Trina. I promise you won’t regret it.”

The crowd cheers when I take the flowers. Heath looks so sincere I can’t help but hope I’ll be able to forgive him. The only problem is that Heath Fox could seriously break my heart and I’m not sure I’m up for taking a chance like that.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

HEATH

I finish walking the parade route next to Trina’s float. I figure that way, if she changes her mind about hearing me out, she can’t slip away from me. By the time it’s over, the butterflies in my stomach are the size of bats. When the flatbed with Trina and her singles stops moving, she lets everyone off before her. As she steps down, I’m right there waiting for her.

“Thank you for agreeing to talk to me,” I tell her.

“You don’t deserve it,” she replies.

“I know.” Leading her toward the park, I say, “I acted like a fool, and I’m sorry. I was jealous that Tim was trying to set you up with other men, and I behaved like a child.”

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