Page 94 of Rainbow Kisses

“Bri, it’s okay.” Linny shooed me with her hands. “Go find Rain. We’ll be fine. We’re just going to get some food. Play a few games. We’ll meet up with you later.”

“Mom, come on. I’m hungry.”

I didn’t think I could eat anything anyway. Tension had settled into my stomach, making it knot. But when I finally caught sight of Rain after making a circuit around the grounds, that tension became something else. A certainty I hadn’t felt until just now.

Carrying a large plastic bin, she hurried from the back entrance of the hall to the bakery stand, set up near one of the larger firepits. Fires gleamed from pits all around the park, tended by the local volunteer firefighters, of course.

I stopped to watch her hand over the bin to Erin, laugh at something her friend said then walk to the next stand. And the next. Checking to make sure everything was running smoothly. I didn’t want to interrupt her while she was busy, but I didn’t want to stalk her like a creep either.

So I took a deep breath and made my way through the growing crowd. I lost sight of her for a second, but the pink puffy coat she wore made her easy to spot when she moved back into view.

Before I could reach her, she disappeared into the town hall again.

I thought about following her, but someone tugged on my coat, I turned and frowned because there didn’t seem to be anyone there. Then I looked down.

“Hi there. What can I do for you?”

“Are you Mr. Whiskers? My mommy said your name is Mr. Whiskers.”

The little girl, who was probably around four or five, stared up at me like I was a problem she needed to solve. “My cat is named Mr. Whiskers.”

The seriousness of her expression made me bite back a smile.

“Did you name it after me?”

A pout. “She’s not a it. She’s a girl. I wanna know why you have the same name as my cat.”

A girl cat named Mr. Whiskers. Okay then.

I went down on my heels, thighs surprisingly not giving me a hassle. “Well, a friend gave me the nickname Mr. Whiskers and it stuck a long time ago.”

“Stuck where?”

My grin got bigger. “It stuck on me. He called me Mr. Whiskers because at the time, I was growing a beard. And I wasn’t doing such a good job of it.”

She patted my face. “You don’t have whiskers now.”

“No, because I still can’t really grow a beard. And Whiskers rhymes with my last name. Fiskers.”

“Your name is Whiskers Fiskers?”

That adorable little face looked at me with so much disbelief, I just shook my head. “No, my name is Brian. Sweetheart, do your parents know where you are? What’s your name?”

She shrugged, white pom-pom bobbing on her purple hat, which totally clashed with the sky-blue coat. “I’m Desi. My moms’ are over there.”

She pointed over her shoulder, but none of the adults I saw appeared to be missing a little girl. Since I couldn’t leaveher alone to pursue Rain, I said, “How about we go find your parents.”

Without hesitation, she held out her arms and let me lift her onto my hip. Seconds later, we weaved through the crowd in search of a police officer to find Desi’s parents. I didn’t need to say anything as we walked because she kept up a running commentary about the Devils. Not about hockey, but about the uniforms. Apparently, she had some suggestions on how to make them better. Mostly the use of colors like pink and purple. And unicorns.

No more than two minutes later, we found a cop and a pair of distressed moms, who rushed me like a couple of professional linebackers. One of them grabbed Desi, the other grabbed me. I thought for a second she was going to deck me. Instead, she gave me a hug that nearly cracked my ribs.

Another few minutes and many thank-yous later, Desi and her parents walked off to get hot chocolate, and I could continue my pursuit of Rain.

“Hey, Mr. Whiskers.”

I was grinning as I turned, the voice coming from behind me.

I had a split second to see Rain covering the distance between us at speed before she launched herself at me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight, her arms around my shoulders.

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