Page 72 of A Summer Mismatch
“Areyousurethisis a good idea?” Smitty asked Horace in the darkness behind the lit-up library. Horace was wrestling a sheep outfit off of Sweetie while Smitty worked to get the Bo-Peep dress off of Bear.
“Absolutely,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel. His mind kept drifting back to the look on Winnie’s face right before he’d stormed out of the house. She’d been angry, sure, but she’d also seemed hurt. And hurting Winnie was the last thing he ever wanted to do.
But she didn’t see why this was so important. He was saving Julia, and once she could understand that, every action that led them to this point would make sense.
Bear was being extremely cooperative—save for the constant licking of Smitty’s face—but the same could not be said of Sweetie. Sweetie’s tail went this way, when Horace needed it to go that way. Her arms went straight when he needed them to bend. And through it all, he constantly checked to make sure that her rubber strap was firmly secured against her mouth.
He’d never wanted to be this close to an alligator before… and he still didn’t want to, but he was committed to his plan. Though that commitment to this particular portion of the plan was definitely waning.
Suddenly warmth spread across his legs, where Sweetie was sprawled as he attempted to pull the puffy cotton fabric over her head. He swore under his breath.
“I think she just peed on me.”
Smitty went still beside him, and then he started to snicker.
“This is not a laughing matter. This suit cost me several thousand dollars.”
That declaration only made Smitty laugh harder. Bear, excited at the happiness, jumped around, undoing most of the work Smitty had done to get him out of the dress.
“We need to hurry,” Horace said. With renewed determination, he got Sweetie out of the costume and used it to soak up as much of the wetness on his pants as he could. Smitty got Bear out of his soon after, and they loaded the animals into the back of Horace’s SUV.
Out of breath, they paused to collect themselves.
“Do you think this is a felony? Alligator-napping? Dog-napping?” Smitty asked.
Despite himself, a chortle escaped from Horace, and then from Smitty. Their eyes met over the hood, full of mirth, before Horace instantly got serious. They needed to stay focused. He couldn’t let himself fall into old patterns of friendship with Smitty.
They got into the SUV, and Smitty tried to call Logan. “He’s not answering,” he grumbled. “Why even have a cell phone if you’re not going to answer?”
“I ask my kids that all the time,” Horace said. It was one of his great pet peeves that his daughter, Flora, and his son, Patrick, didn’t always answer his phone calls. “I’ll touch base with Timothy.”
Timothy answered after the first ring, which renewed Horace’s justification in his quest to bring him and Julia back together again.
“Are you at the gala yet?”
“I’m heading over in a minute,” he said, sounding distracted. “Go! Go! Go! Yes!!!” he yelled, then said, “Fourth quarter, and The Heat are winning.”
Horace stifled his annoyance. “Julia is at the Watermelon Gala with another man, maybe falling in love. The game can wait.”
“Nah. I’ve got this in the bag with Julia. A few minutes isn’t going to make or break anything.”
But Horace had a feeling it would. Timothy was so assured of Julia’s feelings for him, that he wasn’t worried about rushing to the gala and winning her back from Logan. This was not a point in his favor, as Horace had always appreciated a man of action.
“This is different. Too much time has passed already.”
Timothy grumbled, but at least Horace heard the TV turn off in the background. “I’ll head over there now, if it’ll make you feel better. I can get game updates on my phone.”
Horace couldn’t care less how Timothy stayed up-to-date on the game.
He hung up and turned onto the main road heading toward Diamond Cove’s main beach—and right into road construction that had them at a complete standstill. Time was of the essence, and they were at a crawl.
Red brake lights shone into the car, lighting up their faces. Smitty looked out the side window. “Lydia’s mad at me, you know.”
“Winnie too,” Horace said with a sigh, seeing that hurt look on her face once again. It pieced through him in an almost physically painful way.
They were both quiet.
Horace tried not to remember how he’d seen Logan calm Cameron down after the library meltdown. How the two had been so comfortable with one another as they played with Bear, or how Cameron had always been a good judge of character.
