Page 24 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

‘Oh.’

‘But there’s a first time for everything.’ He winked at her, the smile back on his face as he pulled her through the crowd. A first time for everything? Wait ... for the entire bachelorette party or the long-term relationship thing?

She was about to ask more questions she shouldn’t, but he was already at the next game booth, handing tickets to the perky high-school attendant and assuring Hazel that squirting targets with a water gun was more his game. And it didn’t matter anyway because she hadn’t intended on anything serious happening between her and Noah this summer. In fact, serious was the opposite of what she intended.

A buzzer sounded and the players, seated on small stools, started shooting their targets. The more you hit it, the faster your little racehorse ran. Noah was competing against two eight-year-olds and the mailman, Mr. Prescott.

Lights flashed and tinny music blared from the speakers. Noah was all focus, though. Hazel couldn’t help but smile as he crouched over the fake gun, a furrow of concentration in his brow. And she also couldn’t help the cheer that escaped her when he won.

‘For you.’ He proudly presented her with a giant penguin. It was easily three feet tall and stuffed with material she could only assume was carcinogenic. The entire thing felt highly flammable and utterly toxic but she held it to her chest like a kid on Christmas.

‘I love him.’

Noah laughed, his eyes crinkling in the corners. ‘Just imagine what the rumor mill will crank out now.’

‘Noah and Hazel elope in Antarctica. Bring home new pet.’

‘Hazel gives birth to three-foot-tall tuxedoed baby.’

Giggles fizzed from her as they walked away from the booth, penguin tucked beneath her arm. The cotton candy was long gone.

She grinned up at him. Maybe she liked the carnival after all.

‘Noah’s much more handsome brother comes to town and sweeps Hazel off her feet.’

He feigned offense at that one. ‘Hey. More handsome? Now that just hurts, Haze.’

‘Do you even have a brother?’

‘Nope. Two sisters. Both older than me. Both smarter and more responsible.’

‘But definitely not handsomer.’

He laughed again, taking her free hand in his. She let him. Let the Dream Harbor rumor mill say what it would. She wasn’t afraid of them.

‘Definitely not. But don’t tell them I said so.’

‘Never.’ They’d wandered toward the food trucks. ‘Should we get something to eat? Like some real food?’

‘Sure.’

After much deliberation they settled on chicken gyros and an absurdly large fresh squeezed lemonade to share. They sat at a sticky picnic table across from each other while small children ran screeching by. The night was hot and humid and Hazel’s thighs stuck to the metal bench, but somehow she didn’t seem to mind as much as she usually did.

‘I’d like to meet them,’ she said.

‘Meet who? The bachelorette party I allegedly debauched? Lovely girls.’

She smacked his arm. ‘No! Your sisters.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, of course.’

‘Why?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. You’re kind of a mystery around here.’

‘A mystery? I like that.’ He waggled his eyebrows, taking another bite of his gyro.