Page 59 of When Sparks Fly

Me:

You’re impossible.

I start to type out an explanation and decide it would be easier to call, so I do.

He picks up on the first ring. “That’s a funny way ofsaying ‘yes’.”

I roll my eyes even though he can’t see me. “You and I both know I’m talking about the Fall Festival this weekend. I have a plan for a setup, but I have one that seems more fitting, assuming I can get my hands on a trailer.”

He doesn’t respond. There’s shuffling from his end and then my phone vibrates against my ear. I check the notification, assuming it’s a text from Leah or Izzy, but it’s from Sutton.

It’s perfect.

“A simpleyeswould do,” I joke. “Yes, like that.”

“You realize it's had shit in it right? And real animals?”

“I do know how they’re used.”

“I never know with you city women.”

Somehow, I know my huffed sigh elicits a grin on his end. I make an effort for a syrupy, sweet tone. “Would it be a huge inconvenience to bring it to the festival?”

“No,” he says simply. Like it’s already a done deal. “Do you need it both days?

“No, I’m only scheduled for Saturday.”

“Ok.”

Someone walking a dog passes by and the dog barks incessantly at me, bouncing at the end of its leash. I jump initially and glare in their direction.

“When are you coming in?” His tone is measured.

“I was planning on coming Friday.”

“Alright, let me know when you get in. I need to get back to it. These dumb shits need every bit of hand-holding I can offer today.” The last part is growled and a tingle shoots through me.

Friday morning I wake before any light creeps through my blinds, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t wait any longer to get back to Nana’s. If I’m being honest, I want to be close to everyone again.

Pulling into Nana’s drive brings a sense of peace to me. I drag my suitcase in behind me, not bothering to unload any of my equipment. In Austin, I would never leave the equipment loose in my Jeep, but out here, no one is meandering through the driveway, checking out the goods.

As soon as I step inside Nana’s house, I realize that the time away has provided me with clarity. Nana’s house has always been a place where I was welcomed. A second home. But ultimately, it’s not. Not that the apartment is. Not long-term, anyway.

There are too many fond memories here to hand it off to someone outside of our family, and also too much love left to give for it to sit idle. For longer than I keep track of, I stand in the living room, staring up in the loft area and visualizing something different for this home.

Chapter 26

Sutton

Iagreed to meet Maci with the trailer on Saturday because it was a perfectly acceptable reason to see her again, and I was positive I wouldn’t be able to go another day without doing so, even if that meant driving up to Austin. She’s done something to me. Somehow intertwined herself into my DNA make up, leaving it nearly impossible for me to go any length of time without thinking of her. Each day she was gone I grew more and more agitated. Something everyone around me seemed to recognize as well.

Even though I explained this trailer has carried countless animals in it, and has the gashes, scuffs, and manure stains to prove it, I still try to clean up the damn thing before I haul it into town early Saturday morning.

I’ve backed the trailer in, according to the booth map Maci sent me, and I’m opening the back gate when she walks up. The weather is typical for October in Texas, which is to say warm for fall, but she’s dressed in a red flannel shirt with a black puffy vest over jeans. She’s going to be warm, but she’s always in typical fall clothing no matter the weather. I’m beginning to think it’s a compulsion.

Her chestnut hair is tied up in a high ponytail with the ends curled and a few loose pieces framing her face. All I can think as soon as I see her is that I want to wrap that ponytail around my fist and possess her mouth.

I compose my face and she beams, looking from the trailer to me. “Thank you. This is perfect.”

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