Page 38 of Smoky Mountain Dreams

Perfect.

It was a busy Sunday morning at Smoky Mountain Dreams,and Christopher had two hours to kill before his next performance. The crowdsof people moved back and forth between Smoky Show Village and Starlight City,and Christopher milled around with them. He stopped by Old Country Jack’s pizzastand to grab a slice and a cola before wandering over to Holly’s crazy-hatstand to chat with her while he ate.

“I like your hair,” he said around a bite, examining hisfriend’s new cut and color. The brunette was gone and replaced with a vibrantblue he suspected would fade quickly, but was definitely amazing now. It stoodout against her pale skin, making her look like an exceptionally voluptuousmer-girl of the mountains.

“Thanks. Decided to try something new. Gotta bring it if anyguys are ever gonna notice me.”

“You’re definitely noticeable now.”

Holly whapped him on the arm, and he chuckled and settleddown in the chair next to her register. Kids stopped and tried on hats, theirparents snapping shots of them on their phone before moving along. A few otherslooked at the price tags, expressed horror at what they saw there—and really,what did they expect at a theme park?—before shaking their heads and draggingtheir disappointed kids away.

“So?”

“So what?” Christopher said around the last bite ofpepperoni, cheese, and sauce. It wasn’t the best pizza, but it wasn’t the worsteither. It was hot, and that hit the spot in the chilly autumn air.

She leaned closer and whispered with innuendo slutting upher voice, “How was Mr. Jesse Birch?”

Christopher coughed and took a fast swig of cola. “What?”

Holly’s right eyebrow arched, always a dangerous thing. Herlips twisted with a smile that made Christopher’s palms sweat despite themorning cold. “Well, I was wondering how the meeting went about your Gran’snecklace, butnowI think I want to know a hell of alot more than that.”

Christopher made a face and shook his head. “What? I don’t…thenecklace is fine. It’s great. You were right. He makes nice stuff.” He tookanother sip of his cola and nodded at a kid who was twisting the fabric hornson the baseball cap proclaiming the wearer was a Redneck Viking—the title ofone of Melissa Mundy’s hit songs. “He’s gonna rip those off.”

“He is not,” Holly said. “The last time you turned that redwhen I mentioned someone’s name was during the height of the Gareth bullshit,which, by the way, he still isn’t over.”

“Don’t start this again.”

“What?”

“You know what. Gareth is absolutely over what happenedbetween us,” Christopher said. “I don’t know why you think otherwise.”

Normally Christopher hated talking about the Garethsituation, but he leapt on it like a starving wolf leaps on a defenseless deer.He wasn’t ready to talk about Jesse yet. Not until he figured out if it wasgoing to be just another notch on his bedpost of Mortifying Attempts atSomething Beyond Sex. The thing with Gareth was bad enough. He didn’t want tokeep giving his friends reasons to think he was going to end up alone andmiserable.

“Then why does he stare at you all the time with this moonyexpression but when you look his way he gets all pissed off?”

“Nope. Nope. Nope.” Christopher shook his head. “No moonyexpression. Just hate. Pure hate. Who knew having awesome sex with someonecould make them hate you so much?” He rolled his eyes.

“Because he wants you, dumbass.”

“He’s the one who ended things. Very firmly. And keepsending them over and over and over, like he thinks I’m a masochist who enjoysthe repeated humiliation of continual rejection.”

“What’s that Macbeth quote? ‘The lady doth protest too much’?”

“That’s Hamlet, dork.”

“Whatever, some of us didn’t go to a prissy private school.It doesn’t change the fact that he’s way too big on pushing you away, and that’sbecause he wants to drag you closer and make out with your pouty face.”

“He’s got a boyfriend and he lives with him.”

“Yes, yes, the ex who came back from Afghanistan. I know, Iknow.” Holly rolled her eyes and turned to where the little boy was stilltwisting the horns on the baseball cap. “Hey, honey, if you want to buy thatbring it on up to the register, please. Otherwise be a little more careful, allright? Thanks, sugar.”

The boy put down the hat and moved on to a different one.

“See how I did that? All those honeys and sugars take thesting right out. Confuses the Northerners too. Always gotta love that.”

“Bless their hearts.”

“Anyway, I saw Gareth the other night at one of your shows.I stopped by to see you before going home. You sounded real good, hon, just soyou know.”