Page 65 of Making New Plans

Upon entering the town, I joined the other townsfolk meandering toward the square. Bonfires stacked with logs as tall as me lit up the park. Vendors with their carts doled out sizzling brats, glazed rolls, and buttery popcorn. Long lines snaked from the beer carts where spirited locals called out features of their home-brewed beers and offered samples. No doubt this place would be a circus on wheels once the fleet of bikes parked on the street were in use.

Hands in my pockets, I made no attempt to disguise the fact that I was searching for one person. I finally caught a glimpse of gold hair between two vendor carts. I also couldn’t help my immediate smile when I saw her. Standing between two people having a shouting match, she looked torn between wanting to flee or knock their heads together.

I recognized Cheryl but not the middle-aged man shaking what looked like fried fish at her.

“I told you, Chloe! I told you I can’t be situated next to this woman because she sabotages me!” the man yelled.

“I do not!” Cheryl lifted her chin indignantly. “Chloe, you tell Bud Cavendish that it was an accident my cart bumped his. And even if it wasn’t an accident, it’s not like he didn’t do the same thing to my cart at the Lemon, Letters, and Love festival in February!”

Chloe pressed her fingers to her temples. “You two have been doing this to each other for over a decade. Either quit now, or, so help me, I’ll bring you two up on charges with the Vendor Committee!”

Both Cheryl and Bud looked away, grumbling but cowed.

“Excellent,” Chloe said with a sigh. Then she spotted me, and her lips twitched upward. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Each vendor went back to their cart with black looks over their shoulders and began handing out their wares to the waiting crowd that had only seemed too happy to watch their spat.

But I forgot about them as Chloe stepped up to me, her emerald-green sweater and skinny jeans making her look effortlessly pretty.

“Hi,” she said, gazing up at me.

“Hi.” I almost reached for her cheek to stroke it, but I held back. “Having fun yet?”

She groaned. “Not exactly. I swear these events will be the death of me. A terribly slow, painful death. Like a sloth squashing a beetle.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “First of all, that’s the weirdest analogy I’ve ever heard. Secondly, you will have fun tonight. I’m making it my personal mission for you to enjoy the event that ranked number five on the polls last year.”

Her smile lit up her oceanic eyes. “You read the Gazette, did you?”

I shrugged, unashamed. “I saw the poll while reading ‘An In-Depth Look at Small Towns—Quirky or Just Insane?’ Whoever that editor is has an extremely dry, addictive sense of humor. Is he even real?”

“John Smith is rarely sighted around town, yet he seems to know everything. Some people think he’s ex-intelligence. Others think he’s a famous writer fallen from grace. He’s our resident mystery man. Who happens to run the newspaper.”

I shook my head with a chuckle. “Oh, Tangled River.”

She grinned. “Yep. Now, how exactly do you plan to keep me from checking on the beer supply and reorganizing the lines to the food carts?”

Was it a trick of the bonfire light or did her eyes have that mischievous sparkle again?

I slipped my hand into one of hers and edged closer. “Oh, I have many plans. But for now, how about we steal a couple of those bikes for a spin around the park?”

Chloe practically glowed, her fingers tightening around my hand. “Let’s do it.”

We made our way to the bikes, where Sheriff Wyatt was barking at each person to wear a helmet before riding. After securing the helmets he shoved at us, we mounted and pedaled away.

It was more of an obstacle course than a bike ride with the chaos that roamed the streets and sidewalks, but Chloe and I talked and laughed our way around the park twice. She pointed out where the new slide was going to go, even though I already knew.

I remembered sitting under that old slide, wishing I could live there instead of my own house when I was younger. But the memory didn’t have as much force as usual. In fact, most of my old, painful memories of the town were fading and giving way to new ones. These past few weeks had softened my view of life here, like how the river washed over and over the rocks until they were the smooth sand on the beach.

Most of it was due to the beautiful, laughing woman next to me, looking at me like she didn’t have a care in the world.

I’d had a hand in that. I could be that person for her, like she was that person for me. The one who made me smile more than I had in years. Incited me to branch out and try new things. Made me realize that I wanted more for myself. And I wanted her.

I clenched my bike’s brakes and screeched to a halt. Chloe stopped a few feet ahead of me and glanced back.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

I parked my bike in the middle of the sidewalk and strode over to her. “Park your bike,” I commanded.

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