Page 29 of Lodged

This year, Merlin volunteered to work on the dunk tank because the high school juniors were in charge of it. He and his best friend, Meadow, are taking turns getting dunked, and I love how cute they look together. I hope one day soon he realizes he’s head over heels for her.

“Ruination, long time no see.” I roll my eyes at the nickname. I would recognize the sleazy idiot who calls me that anywhere. Steve Haddock, my high school boyfriend, always loved to call me that. I hated it, but somehow, I believed him when he said it was because I had “ruined him for any other girl.” Ha! Joke’s on me—I caught him kissing Payley McGee under the football field bleachers during our homecoming dance. And sure enough, they ended up having a shotgun wedding not long after we graduated. Now, they have three littles, and he’s still as vexing as six years ago.

“Oh, but if it isn’t Haddock in the paddock,” Rain says as she approaches us.

“Rain,” Steve greets her with a curt nod.

“What do you want, Steve?” Rain asks him, cutting to the chase.

“I just wanted to say hi to an old friend. Last I heard, Ruin was living the life in the big city.” Steve plays with the toothpick he has between his lips, and I can’t help but shiver in disgust. He looks so slimy.

“Well, you’ve said hello already. So unless you’re going to buy something, we need you to move along because the line is backing up.” I try to cover the laugh that bubbles up with a cough, but I don’t think I did a good job because Steve is glaring at us now.

“Bye, Steve, it was good seeing you. Say hi to the missus and the kids for us.” I wave at him and he turns around and leaves, almost running. Rain and I explode in laughter.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that guy, coming to say hi to you. What was he thinking? That you were going to be his new side piece?” Rain asks as I elbow her in the ribs.

“Eww, take that back, Rain MacAllister. There’s no way I’ll ever be anyone’s side piece.”

“Praise the lord,” Granny says behind us, and we both jump.

“Granny, didn’t anyone teach you not to sneak up on people like that? We could have had a heart attack,” Rain admonishes her, but she dismisses us with a hand wave.

“I was doing my tarot reads but had to come see Ruin because this card came for her when I asked the angels.” I look at her confused. “Honey, when the angels want to speak to me they don’t care who’s in line. They just speak.”

Granny takes a tarot card from her apron pocket and hands it to me. It’s a pink, with golden letters that reads:Romantic Feelings. The image shows a couple, almost kissing. It’s cute, butI have no clue what Granny is talking about. Rain snatches the card from my hand, and I laugh.

“You think I’ve lost my marbles, but the angels don’t lie. And that man you met back in Raleigh is the real deal, honey. Trust me.” Granny pats my hand as she takes the card from Rain’s hands and heads back to her booth.

Rain looks at me. “Spill it, sister.” I know I’m blushing because I can feel my face getting warm.

“Later. Look at the line we have now.” I dismiss her quickly, but my twin is relentless.

“Good thing I know where you live, Ruin Josephine. This conversation isn’t over.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I smirk at her as I greet a customer.

It was another amazing day at the fair. Once we sold out all of the pies and butter, Rain and I walked around to see what others were selling. We passed wood statues, homemade lip balm, and kettle popcorn. I got a huge bag of salted caramel popcorn and was enjoying it until Miles decided it was his. He took it right out of my hands and ran. I chased him all over the fairgrounds until he started throwing popcorn back at me. There was a point where I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t keep running after him.

“Miles, give that popcorn back to your sister,” Mama says in hermomvoice. Miles stops running so I can finally catch up to him. He doesn’t give me the popcorn back, though; he goes straight to hug Mama, who melts in his embrace. Mama is such a softie.

“I’m sorry, Mama. I promise it won’t happen again,” Miles says as he sticks his tongue out. I just cackle at his childishness.

“Are you two done playing around? It’s almost time to perform.” River comes to where we’re standing, and Miles sobers up real quick. After hugging Mama and Granny, we make our way to the makeshift stage.

“Are you all ready?” Mr. Tate, the town’s mayor, asks us before our time to sing. River looks each of us in the eyes, and once he’s done his round to ensure we’re ready, he nods at the mayor.

“Alrighty, up you go. I’ll introduce you all after I officially close the fair.” We take our spots on the stage as Mr. Tate thanks everyone for their hard work and for making the Apple Festival another successful event in Azalea Creek.

“And to close the fair with the best band around, I give you the MacAllisters.” The crowd explodes in cheers, and I smile at them as I take the microphone from Mr. Tate.

“Good evening, Azaleans. How are we doing?” I ask, and everyone cheers louder. “I can’t hear you! Did you all have fun?” Everyone shouts this time around, and I nod at the crowd as I smile, letting their energy and enthusiasm run through me.

“Are you all ready for some good ol’ music?” I look at Rain to start the count, and my siblings start playing a song by Shania Twain. I sway to the rhythm, enjoying myself like I always do when I’m on stage with my brothers and sister. When I start singing, everything around me fades, and I lose myself in the words.

This has been such an amazing day. It’s great to be home. The only thing missing is Gio. But all I can do for now is to hope that his words become a reality and that next year, he’ll be here with me.

“Okay, Ruru. Time to spill,” Rain declares as she gets in bed, turning on her side so we’re facing each other.

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