Page 103 of Perfect Mess

“I have an idea.”

“Oh, oh.” Gary looked nervous.

“No, this is a good idea this time. Really.”

Gary still didn’t look so sure.

“When I was walking over here, I saw one of the food trucks was selling funnel cake. With whipped cream. And chocolate sauce.”

Gary looked at his watch. “Its nine am.”

“Funnel cake is basically a big, flattened donut without the hole.”

“So?”

“So let’s get some breakfast.”

* * *

The farmer’smarket got busier as the day wore on. The playground filled with laughing children. Happy couples strolled through the gardens holding hands. Joggers and dog walkers packed the sidewalks..

Gary asked Michelle and Joan, the couple in the tent next to ours, to watch his stuff while we got a funnel cake. Michelle made jewelry out of bottle caps, and Joan made bracelets out of hemp. In return for their tent minding, we offered to bring them back some funnel cakes too.

As we walked past a table piled high with crates of zucchinis, Gary asked, “Have you been here before?”

“Not in a long time,” I answered. “When I was little, my dad and I would come every December to see the lights. They would set up Christmas trees all around the water, and the fountain would light up red and green.” Memories of holding my dad’s hand as we peered up at all the colors and sipped hot chocolate came rushing back.Boy, did I miss him.

As we waited in line for the funnel cakes, the mist from the fountain drifted over the breeze. Out on the lake, a flock of swan shaped paddle boats drifted back and forth. More swans, real ones, floated on the water or curled up under the cypress trees.

“You know you’re actually not that bad,” I told Gary, after he paid for the funnel cakes and we waited for our order.

“Gee, thanks?” he replied.

“What I mean is, Janet would be lucky to have someone like you. We just need her to see that you’re better than Jack. Even if she doesn’t see it for herself yet.”

“So we go back to the original plan, then?” Gary asked. “Get Janet to fall for me. So she forgets about Jack?”

“It’s the only way,” I said. “We just need to emphasize your good qualities. Let Janet see you for who you really are.”

“My good qualities?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to think of reasons Janet might be interested in Gary. “You’re good at painting. Artsy stuff. Not so much the houses. Or naming paintings. That could use some work. But you were also an architect. So that’s something I suppose.”

“How does any of that help?”

“You’re a great dad,” I added. “Like super dad level, for sure.”

“Super dad?”

“Super dad,” I confirmed. “But for Janet to see you as a better option than Jack, you’re going to have to meet him head to head. Show dominance in his domain. Strength against strength.”

“So what, like gladiatorial combat? Or a Medieval joust?”

“Do you know how to gladiator combat?”

“Not exactly.”

“Have you ever jousted?”

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