Page 115 of Give Me a Shot

“If I do, I won’t be able to come back.”

Mo nodded and began slowly rubbing her back. He wanted to take her in his arms, but that probably wouldn’t look right, and he didn’t know if it was what she wanted. She took a long, deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she picked up her tankard for another drink. The bar wench who’d served him earlier came by and raised an eyebrow.

“You all right?” she asked Jess.

Jess nodded.

“A little too much heat,” she said.

The bar wench nodded and grabbed her tankard. She added more ice and a little pop.

“Normal,” she said as she returned it. “ ’Specially the first time.”

“Thanks,” said Jess, taking another drink. The bar wench winked at her and left.

“I think everyone would understand if you had to go,” Mo said under the noise around them, leaning close. Jess shook her head again, the air filling with vanilla. He swallowed hard.

“I had a plan,” she said. “And everything was going okay…ish. I was going to focus on the things to do, give the patrons a good time. Think about her when I got home. But now…” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she straightened her shoulders. “I can do this. Cassie would want me to. She wouldn’t want me to run away. She’d want me to have fun.”

Jess did not look like she was having fun, but Mo certainly wasn’t going to point that out. While being beside her had washed away the Jess-ache, seeing her struggle was twisting his insides.

“Okay,” he said. “You got a couple minutes? Need to get back to your stand, or have another show soon?”

“No, no show. And I’m sure the guys have everything under control.”

“All right.” He caught the bar wench’s attention. “Can we bring these back?” he asked, gesturing at the tankards.

“Sure,” she said.

“Come on,” he said to Jess, taking her hand and curving it in the crook of his elbow.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she let him pull her away from the ale house.

“Doing what Cassie wants. We’re having some fun.”

—

They strolled down the paths, past ax throws and strongman games. The experienced Rennies and School volunteers manning them encouraged Mo to compete, but he brushed them off for another time. Jess actually smiled when a tarot reader told her thata handsome, bearded man would beat out two competitors for her heart while glancing meaningfully at Mo. Jess suggested bringing Maddie to see the live mermaids and the petting zoo, and he agreed that it was an excellent idea. She tugged at his arm, pulling him to the far side of the path as they passed a roasted turkey leg stand. Confused, he raised an eyebrow at her. She tapped the side of her nose.

“Not too much for you?” she asked. “Lots of smells, too.”

His cheeks heated, and he tucked his chin at her concern. “Thanks, but it’s okay right now,” he said.

—

As they passed the stage just after the bend in the horseshoe of the path, Jess slowed down. Mo thought it was because she was trying to find a path around the large group gathered between two booths, but she surprised him by trying to make her way to the front. A woman wearing an ivy crown and with long brown hair gilded by a ray of sunlight was singing and playing a harp. Mo thought the music sounded Celtic, but he didn’t know enough to be sure. He was struck by the silence of the people listening. Shifting his attention from Jess, he caught sad half-smiles on the patrons’ faces that he could see. Their positive mood warmed him, like what he’d picked up on in the rest of the Faire, but it was crinkled with a little wistfulness. He saw Jess’s hand dart up to her face, even though her back was to him.

“…it will not be long, love, till our wedding day…” sang the woman playing the harp. She repeated the phrase, gracefully drawing and curving the lyrics in that Celtic way as she brought the song to an end. There was a moment of complete silence before the crowd applauded. The woman bowed her head as people stepped forward to put coins in a decorated basket on a stool in front of her. Jess turned around and walked back to Mo. Her eyes were glistening. Mo offered her his arm. She tucked her hand into the crook again.

“Are you okay?” he asked as they moved through the dispersing group. She nodded.

“Cassie loved that song,” she said.

“It’s not too hard hearing it?”

Jess shrugged.

“A little bit. Especially as some interpretations say that the couple didn’t get married because the woman died,” she said. Mo squeezed her hand on his arm. “But…it’s nice hearing it. Here. With you.” She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back.

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