Page 172 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
I HAVEN’T BEEN scolded like this since I was a teenager. Although, the constant glares from Natalie all day have come very close.
“This is beyond embarrassing. You’ve turned our booths into a circus.” They’re not his, but I don’t tell him that. “We’ve officially become the laughing-stock of the entire rodeo.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg from the mayor.
I swear a spanking is on the edge of happening.
I haven’t had a spanking since. Well, that depends on the context. A good three years ago, I somehow ended up face-first on a mattress with a woman straddling my back. I got enough unexpected spankings to give me welts for a week.
“Dean, Levi, Bronx, you’re in charge of cleaning this mess.” The mayor won’t even step into the Fox tent.
“Listen here—” Dean starts, but the icy glare from Mayor Banks shuts him down.
He nods in agreement, like all those times we were caught red-handed by Pa doing something we shouldn’t.
“Harper, Natalie, and Celi make a list of ingredients we need for tomorrow and get to the grocery store ASAP before it closes.” When they don’t move, he claps at them. “Hustle.”
The women scatter, practically tripping over one another.
Natalie slaps me on the way past. “Make it right,” she snarls.
She’s not talking about the booth, but she doesn’t understand that I can’t do what she wants me to.
I broke Jade’s heart, and then I spent all these years ensuring she hated me—only she never did. And after everything, to find out she sat around a campfire, years later, listening to the playlist I made her, that slices me up inside.
I don’t deserve her. Shit, she doesn’t need a guy like me. What she needs is for me to stop fighting with her and then step so far away from her that she never thinks about me again.
The mayor stares at his next victims. “Hannah and Josie head back to the campsite for garbage bags, paper towels, and cleaner to bring back and help the boys clean this disaster.”
The two women don’t wait for further instructions and are rushing away as the mayor turns to Dean and the other two.
“What are you guys waiting for?” He throws his hands in the air. “Start lugging this broken stuff to the campground.”
“I can help.” I take one step, and the mayor’s hand is on my chest.
It stings. I’ll bet there’s a nice bruise forming from when Bronx got that punch in. Actually, he got a few in.
I deserved it.
Needed it.
“Not you.”
I fear my punishment might be worse. Why is it that the oldest siblings always get the worst?
“We need a new folding table. Six new blenders. Tablecloths. Sleeves of cups, lids, and straws.” He ticks off the list on his fingers as he continues to name everything destroyed.
I mentally make notes, knowing I’ll forget something and be running around first thing tomorrow morning.
“On it,” I say, and my ma passes me the keys to her truck.
She doesn’t share the same fury. A smile tugs on her lips as she quietly glances back and forth, assessing what she’s stumbled into. Assessing me and Jade in a way that makes me think the matchmakers beside her aren’t a coincidence.
What exactly does she think she walked into?
What exactlydidshe walk into?
I’d usually convince myself she walked into nothing, but everything with Jade is so far from nothing.
I start walking, needing this break to think. I’ve spent the day staying out of sight because that’s what she deserves. Not a constant reminder of me.
