Page 3 of The Wild Card
James frowns. “He does know these games are all rigged, right?”
“He’ll probably charm his way into a prize,” Pat says with a laugh.
At that moment, there’s a clang and then a cheer. We glance over to see our dad wielding a sledgehammer at one of those test-your-strength games. He looks all too pleased with himself. And with his short sleeves pulled up over impressive biceps, he looks pretty dang good for a guy in his early fifties.
A handful of women who are gathered around, ogling, seem to agree.
For a brief moment I’m struck with a kind of panic—what if Dad finds someone to marry before me? Now that Pat married Lindy and adopted Jo, Dad’s a legit grandpa. A hot one. Also agoodone.
He’s never so much as mentioned dating, but if he wanted to …
I swallow around a sudden knot in my throat and watch as Jo jumps up and down. The guy manning the attraction hands her the biggest purple unicorn I’ve ever seen. She disappears behind it.
“Guess he didn’t need his charm, after all,” I say.
“Just his biceps,” Pat says, laughing. “The old man’s still got it! Come on.”
I follow without even questioning, then stop and second guess myself. What do I—Collin Graham—actually want to do at the Sheet Cake Festival?
Do Iwantto go hang with my dad and Jo and my brothers? Or do I want to wander? Harper and Chase are here somewhere and I haven’t seen them yet. Maybe I could try something fried thatisn’tbutter. Maybe win a prize for … someone.
Except thereisno someone. And as hard as I’ve tried to find asomeone, it’s been a ridiculously fruitless search. Worsethan fruitless. More like I’m growing fruit but it’s all rotten, poisoning everything around me.
Sounds extreme. Unless you’ve been on social media lately and seen what’s been said about me. And I’d love tonotdiscuss that.
Now that my siblings are in serious relationships—Pat and Harper both married and James, engaged—my lack of a place in the world seems even more obvious. Because not only am I not sure where I fit between the two of them, but I’m also being left behind. Left out.
Which leaves me and Dad as the single men. And not much sounds more depressing than being a bachelor alongside my old man.
Or, if Tank finds someone, theonlylonely Graham.
“You coming?” James asks, and I realize he’s waiting for me.
With no other good ideas, I join my brothers.
“Daddy!” Jo flings herself at Pat as we approach.
For a moment, I think he’s not going to be able to grab both Jo and the massive unicorn, but James steps in and takes the stuffed animal. Before he can stop me, I pull out my phone and take a picture.
James looks up, scowling, just as I do.
“I’m going to need a copy of that.” Winnie, James’s unquestionably better half, appears beside me and nudges me with her shoulder. She pushes her glasses up her nose while grinning down at my phone screen, displaying a scowling James with the massive purple unicorn clutched to his chest.
“Delete it,” James says.
“Sorry, but no.” Winnie takes the stuffed unicorn from James. It swallows everything but her blond ponytail from sight. “I need it framed on the wall. Poster sized, maybe.”
“No,” James says.
“On it,” I say, uploading the picture to a shared family folder and then also to a photo printing site. I’ll order later, but now, if James gets his hands on my phone, he’s already immortalized in the cloud. I can picture Christmas cards now …
Tank heads our way after he extricates himself from photos with a bunch of strangers. Mostly women. Looks like they got him to sign autographs, too, based on the Sharpie he’s tucking into his jeans pocket.
Wait—did he come prepared with a permanent marker just in case someone stopped him?
I groan and shake my head. Sometimes my family is too much.
“Where’s Lindy?” Pat asks, swinging Jo up on his shoulders with practiced ease.
