Page 104 of Summer Ever After
I feel myself giving in.
Jane
I rockedroller skates in the parade, riding alongside Mayor Barnes and Betsy’s golf cart. When I got to the end of the route, Walker was there, passing out water bottles to everyone who’d just finished. But we couldn’t talk, since I had to go to the beach to make sure everything was set up for the games.
I ran the spike ball game on the beach but had a perfect view of Walker playing bocce ball with a bunch of twelve-year-olds. While every other adult was sitting and chatting, Walker played. I cannot even tell you how attractive that was.
The next time I turn around, Walker is flipping hamburgers at Marlyss’s Beach Break canopy she set up. It’s not like he gets paid to help her, and standing at the grill on a hot July afternoon is miserable. Nobody wants that job, leaving me wondering how he ended up with it in the first place. But when I ask Marlyss, she says Walker just appeared and started helping.
Is this his plan? Torture me all day by being right in my eyesight but never close enough to talk to? And to make things worse, I’m turned on by community service. Walker has suddenly become Mr. Sunset Harbor. My heart is a gooey mess. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
In the midst of one of my busiest workdays of the year, I can’t stop thinking about him, and his words from this morning, and the cocky way he said them. I’m literally throwing a giant party for the whole island, but I’m wondering if Walker has had a chance to try out the soft-serve ice cream machine or the dunk tank. Then my mind drifts to licking the ice cream off his lips or imagining how his shirt would cling to his body if he got dunked wearing it. I’m like a lustful teenager, daydreaming in class. I’m the one who should be dunked in the dunk tank to cool off.
The sun drops below the horizon, shooting pastel oranges and pinks against the scattered clouds. Games on the beach have long been replaced by bonfires, trickling smoke upward with families circling around them, waiting for the fireworks to start. There’s a big crowd in the parking lot, dancing along to Mo and the Kokomos as they play music from the makeshift stage.
I take a seat at one of the tables, resting my feet as I listen to the crowd belt out “Sweet Caroline.” People jump up and down, chanting the ‘So good! So good!’ part back to Mo.
My eyes swing from one clump of people to the next, looking for Walker. By how seriously I’m taking my hunt, you’d think I was the leader of a search-and-rescue team. But it’s dark, and I can’t find him anywhere. Fatal disappointment brews as I realize he’s most likely gone home for the night.
Would he really leave without saying something?
I don’t think so.
You don’t look at a woman the way he looked at me, suggestively whispering that you have a few ideas of what we could do together, then leave before elaborating on those ideas.
“It’s another successful Sunset Harbor Fourth of Julybash, thanks to Jane Hayes!” Capri pats me on the shoulder as she passes behind me and takes the seat next to mine.
“Where’s Tristan?” I ask, noticing she’s without him for the first time today.
“He went to buy me a drink. We thought it best not to be by each other’s side all the time or else people might notice.” The happiness behind her smile is the best thing I’ve ever seen.
“Look at you, so in love.” I push her shoulder.
“It’s weird, right?”
“Not for me. I always knew it would work.”
“You’re next.” She smiles.
“Jane’s next for what?” Cat plops down at our table.
“For falling in love,” Capri answers, and it’s kind of nice to see her confidence coming through. Usually, she hangs back whenever other people are around. I guess I can thank Tristan for bringing that out in her.
Cat nudges me. “I saw you and Walker at the pancake breakfast this morning. Something was definitely sparking between you two.”
I feel Capri’s eyes weigh me down, and I hate it. “No, I don’t think so.” I shake my head, trying to play it off.
“Jane, you’re being careful around Walker, right? He’s bad news for your heart.”
Bad news. Fake news. No news. I don’t even care.
I’ll take whatever he’s dishing out. I just don’t want Capri to know it.
“Relax, there’s nothing between us. It was just pancakes.” I smile, reassuring her. Part of me hates myself, but the part that wants to see thirteen-year-old Jane happy is all for it.
“Okay, good.” Capri breathes a sigh of relief, and I quickly switch the subject, looking at Cat.
“Where’s Holland?”
