Page 116 of Give Me a Shot

“And thank you, for earlier,” she said.

“For earlier?”

“You said, ‘what Cassie wants.’ You referred to her in the present tense. You’ve…” Mo caught the shimmer of tears in her eyes just before she glanced away. Taking a deep breath, she looked back up at him. “You’ve done it in the past, and it means a lot.” She smiled, waveringly, but warmly.

Mo swallowed, trying to ignore his jackhammering heart. He squeezed her hand again.

“I…I hadn’t noticed. You’re…welcome,” he said through a scratchy throat.

Her eyebrows rumpled. She took a breath like she was going to say something, then looked away, sniffing.

“I wanna say something,” she said, voice tight. “But I can’t right now, not here, with…” She gestured around them, at the people, the stands. “I will, though. Okay?” She looked back up at him, eyes still glistening. His throat sealed shut. He nodded and bent his arm tighter, pulling her close again.

—

When they’d strolled the entire Faire and almost reached the archery stand, Jess stopped and slipped her hand off Mo’s arm.

“Thanks, Mo,” she said, looking up at him.

“You’re welcome, m’—Jess,” he said, his face warming.

She gave him a half-smile.

“Maddie’s at her mom’s tonight, right?” she asked.

“Um…yeah?”

“It’ll take us a bit to get everything closed here, go home, and get cleaned up. But can I stop by? Maybe around nine?” she asked.

Mo’s mind had kind of stuttered off for a second, and he was trying to reboot.

“I mean, I understand if…you know, I’m sorry,” she said. “Never mind, forget—”

“No, yes, yes, it’s fine,” he said quickly. “It’s fine. I’d like that. Nine is good.”

“You’re sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure. Nine is great.”

She smiled.

“Perfect.” She looked at her empty tankard. “Guess we gotta take these back.”

He reached for hers.

“I’ll take it,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said, handing it to him. “See you at nine?”

“See you then.”

Chapter Thirty

Jess

Jess raised her head from her steering wheel, dragging the back of her hand across her cheek to wipe the tears away. She stopped, surprised at the friction, and looked at the back of her hand. The moisture left streaks through dust she hadn’t realized was there.

The first day of the Faire had come to a close, and while she’d been able to change quickly into regular clothes inside the School, she hadn’t been able to stay and chat with the others. The mix of pride at their work, wistfulness, grief about Cassie, and the trepidation of the conversation she was about to have with Mo had been so overwhelming that she’d nearly sprinted to the privacy of her car so she could let it all out in a crying jag. Apparently, in her haste, she hadn’t been thorough in washing the dust of the day off her skin.

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