Page 119 of Call it Reckless

His eyes narrowed. “You seem very confident. You’re not planning on doing something with the ballots, are you?”

I threw my hands in the air. “Why does everyone think I’d tamper with ballots?”

* * *

It was finallythe first official day of summer vacation.

“Let’s get some ice cream,” I suggested as we made our way back into town.

We’d spent the morning on a hike, and we were all a little hot and sticky.

“Oh, look! They have the flea market set up already,” I said as the three of us walked slowly down Main Street, licking our ice cream cones and enjoying the day. We headed to the park across from The Dogtrot.

As we browsed the tables, we bumped into Zach and Emalee.

“Did you just get off from work?” I ask Zach, pointing to the stethoscope around his neck.

His mouth flattened as Em giggled. “No. I had the day off,” Zach answered. “But as we walked past Tillie’s table, I found this. Can you believe she wanted to charge me for my own property?”

I glanced between them. “I don’t get it. Why did Tillie have your stethoscope? Did you leave it somewhere?”

“Oh, he did. He left it on his car seat with the window down while he was at lunch,” Em informed me. “Anything shiny tends to get taken by little bandits, if you get my drift.”

Reid laughed. “Plenty of people find their belongings at her table. She’s usually pretty good at just giving things back unless she thinks she can get away with charging them.”

Zach shook his head. “Crazy town,” he mumbled.

“But it’s home,” I corrected softly.

Em beamed at me. “Glad you finally figured that out.”

EPILOGUE

Bristol

Two months later

My feet kept time to the music as I listened from one of the porch swings of The Dogtrot. The Pink Laurels, a bluegrass band from Gatlinburg, was currently performing on the huge stage set up in the park that divided Main and Market Streets, both of which were closed to traffic. The Milling About Barbecue and Bluegrass Festival was officially underway.

The music wasn’t something I listened to on my own time, but it went hand in hand with racing, so I’d been exposed to it on several occasions. This particular band was a great blend of bluegrass with some rock overtones.

Reid had to report at five o’clock this morning to work the first half of the day, but it was worth it since he’d be able to spend the afternoon and evening with us when the better-known bands went on.

We had decided to slowly consider making the transition from Reid’s house to mine. We weren’t in a rush. We were simply enjoying our time together. We thought we’d see how Lex adapted spending her afternoons at my house after I left work while her dad was still at work. We’d bounced the idea off Lexi, who enthusiastically agreed to spend more time at my house.

I’d pick her up from camp or a sitter’s house after I left work, and Reid would meet us there. Sometimes, we’d meet at his house, but more often, they would stay over at mine. She’d already picked the room with the turret as her own, and Reid and I painted and decorated it the way she wanted. In the evenings, she and Reid loved throwing a ball in the big yard for Buddy to chase, who equally loved the extra attention. After she went to bed, Reid and I would sit on the porch and talk and watch the fireflies or the lightning streak across the mountain. Either home, we spent the nights in each other’s arms.

Lexi and I spent the morning at The Dogtrot with Em and her family so we wouldn’t have to worry about finding parking. There were so many visitors that the town had to pay school bus drivers to shuttle them from a field about a mile away.

Finally, a familiar face walked up the front steps. He grasped the back of the swing and held it still while he bent down to kiss me. “Hi.”

“Hi.” I smiled at him, then continued to rock. This slower-paced life had grown on me.

“I need to change clothes. Then let’s get something to eat. I’ve had to smell that food all day, and I’m starving,” he said.

“Maybe a little raccoon stew?” I teased.

“I’m hungry enough, I wouldn’t care,” he answered. Right on cue, his stomach growled.

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