Chapter 17 #2
“I wouldn’t forget.” He surprised her by pulling a small bouquet of red and white flowers from behind his back. “Let the date begin.” He laughed as she buried her face in the flowers.
The event was in full swing as they set off to explore.
There were booths from nearly every store that lined the perimeter of the town square.
Classy & Sassy had racks of patriotic sunhats, sun dresses, and swim suits.
She stopped and purchased a silk scarf. The Coast Guard Training Center had a mini obstacle course for kids, and they stopped and cheered the kids on.
The fire department was letting little ones spray water from a low-pressure hose at a cardboard “flame wall.” Another booth had a dunk tank going, and Nate managed to dunk Dr. Stevens twice.
Someone from the general store was passing out American flag pins and cold bottled water.
Baked, Pride Pueblo Cocina, and the Golden Oar all had food trucks that had lines already forming.
As they strolled hand in hand past a stall filled with handmade jams, cakes, and jewelry, music drifted from the gazebo.
The town’s house band—complete with a fiddle player, keyboardist, and someone’s uncle on a very energetic banjo—launched into a folk-style rendition of “America the Beautiful” to get everyone’s attention.
Then Mayor Lacey Stevens stepped up to the mic in a red dress with stars all over it and white cowboy boots. The crowd quieted.
“Good morning, Pride!” she called out. “Happy Fourth of July!”
Cheers erupted.
“First off, I want to thank the skies for not raining on us.” Everyone laughed.
“A huge shout out to every single person who worked so hard to pull this together, again,” she continued.
“And most importantly, I want to take a moment to honor the men and women who’ve served and continue to serve this great country.
Your sacrifices mean more than words can say.
Let’s give them the loudest round of applause they’ve ever heard! ”
Applause broke out across the square—long, genuine, full of pride. Faye’s throat tightened as she clapped along.
When the music started again, they continued exploring booths for a bit longer, stopping to say hi to friends and sample candied nuts and kettle corn. Everywhere they went, someone waved or grinned and asked Nate how the house was coming along or if Brew-Ha-Ha had more tote bags in stock.
As the sun rose higher, heating the pavement and giving the square that unmistakable smell of summer—sunscreen, grilled food, warm pastries—they made their way back to their booth.
Lena handed Faye a fresh caramel iced coffee and nodded toward the register. “We’ve got this. Go enjoy your date, bosses. I hear it’s about time for the paddle board race.”
Faye grinned, saluted with her drink, and took a long, refreshing sip. “I’m ready.”
She and Nate wandered toward the docks, weaving through the crowd gathered around the beach games and ice cream carts. The scent of grilled hot dogs and salty air drifted through the breeze, mixing with laughter and the occasional patriotic song from the gazebo area.
Near the water, contestants were already gathering for the annual Stars & Stripes Paddle Battle. A long strip of beach had been roped off, and colorful paddle boards were stacked along the shoreline, some decked out with mini flags or painted red, white, and blue.
They spotted a clipboard-wielding volunteer calling out names, and Nate jogged over to check them in.
“You sure you’re up for this?” he asked once he returned with their life vests.
She stripped off her sundress, exposing the new red swimsuit that she’d purchased at Classy and Sassy, and handed him a life vest. “You’re not backing out now, are you?”
“I’m just making sure you’re in tip-top shape.” His eyes ran over her with appreciation. “It’s going to be hard not to be distracted while you’re wearing that.” He wiggled his eyebrows as his smile grew, and her knees went weak.
“Eyes up.” She laughed. “I’m ready to whoop your butt. What, are you afraid I’ll beat you?”
“Big words,” he said, strapping on his life vest, then helping her on with hers. “Let’s see how good you are.”
They joined the line of participants, most of them locals, though a few tourists had jumped in for fun. The course was simple: paddle out around a buoy anchored a few hundred yards from shore, then loop back in to tag the finish line with your paddle. Easy.
Faye got onto her board like she’d done it a hundred times—which, of course, she hadn’t. Nate, less gracefully, nearly lost his balance before getting himself steady.
“You sure you don’t want a head start?” she teased.
He squinted at her. “Not even a little.”
“Alright, racers!” the volunteer shouted through a megaphone as they all lined up at the flags, fighting to keep the boards pointing in the right direction in the waves.
“You know the drill. Around the flag buoy and back! First one to tap the finish line wins bragging rights, several gift cards from local businesses, and this snazzy paddle-shaped trophy!”
“I want that trophy,” Nate muttered.
Faye smirked. “Then paddle hard, baby.”
A cheer went up as the countdown began—“Three! Two! One! Go!”
Water splashed and boards rocked as everyone launched forward.
Faye dug in with smooth strokes, the cool ocean breeze whipping through her braid as water splashed her, cooling her off further.
Nate was right beside her, keeping pace surprisingly well.
They veered around a few competitors. More than half of the contestants were in the water within the first minute.
They passed a wobbly teen who’d started strong but was quickly fading, and surged toward the buoy neck and neck.
At the turn, Nate leaned into it and edged ahead.
“Oh no you don’t,” she growled, and paddled harder.
The race back in was a blur—laughing, splashing, the sound of cheering from the docks.
With a little over twenty people still in the water at this point, it was almost impossible to get a clear shot to the beach front. Still, they somehow cleared a path together and reached the shore in tandem, their paddles hitting the dry sand at nearly the same time.
“Who won?” Nate asked, breathless.
The volunteer looked between them, then shrugged. “I think we’re calling it a tie.”
“A tie?” Faye scoffed, trying to settle her own breathing. “I definitely hit first,” she joked.
“You cut me off at the buoy,” he countered with a grin. “Sabotage.”
“You’ll survive.” She laughed, tossing her wet braid over her shoulder as she climbed out of the water.
They were both soaked, breathless, and grinning like idiots.
Back on shore, someone handed them a pair of tiny paddle-shaped trophies along with the promised gift cards. Nate held his trophy up triumphantly. “Victory looks good on me.” He laughed.
Faye rolled her eyes, but her smile was genuine. “We should make a shelf just for these,” she said as he hugged her.
“For all our future joint wins?” He leaned down and kissed her, and cheers erupted around them.
She bumped her shoulder into his. “Only if you keep letting me win,” she said once she leaned back. “I know you pulled back at the last second.”
“Nope. You beat me fair and square.” He winked.
As the crowd dispersed and the next beach event got underway, they dried themselves off and she put her sundress back on. Then they wandered back up the beach toward the town square—laughing, teasing, and basking in the kind of joy you couldn’t fake.
“Think it’ll slow down later?” she asked looking around at the hundreds of people enjoying themselves.
“Not likely,” Nate said with a grin. “But I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than with you and a town full of over-caffeinated locals waving sparklers.”
She bumped her shoulder against his. “Just wait ’til the fireworks.”
“Oh, I have big plans when they start going off.”
“Oh?” she asked as he pulled her into a slow dance as the music played. She laughed and almost stepped on his feet several times. She had never danced with anyone but didn’t want him to know that, so she tried to keep up.
“Yeah. I brought a blanket and plan on lying in the grass with you, kissing you as the sky explodes.”
She sighed and rested her head against his chest. “How many of these have you been to?” she asked, absently.
“Well, since I’ll be twenty-eight in two weeks”—he tilted his head as if he was doing the math—“I guess that makes it twenty-seven. Twenty-eight if you count the time I was still in my mother’s stomach.”
She laughed. “So it’s a family tradition?”
“Absolutely. Just like attending the holiday festivities in December.”
“Your folks are here?”
“Yeah, they returned from their cruise.” He glanced around. “They usually hang out… there.” He pointed.
There was a large blue tent near the entrance of the town’s square, and she saw his parents sitting together, sipping iced coffees. They looked happy and, while they both watched, his dad leaned in and kissed his mother, who laughed and hugged him.
“It must have been nice growing up with such a happy family,” she said and instantly wished her mind hadn’t gone to the darker place of her childhood.
Faye watched Nate’s parents from across the square, the warmth between them so evident it made her chest ache.
His dad whispered something into his mom’s ear that made her laugh and swat at him like a teenager.
It was a glimpse into what enduring love could look like—and it stirred something deep inside her.
“It was,” Nate said, his voice softer now. He must’ve caught the slight shift in her tone.
“I don’t mean to sound, I don’t know, broken or bitter. But it’s hard to imagine what it even feels like to grow up with a loving family. My mom loved us fiercely, no doubt about that. But most of my memories are about surviving, not thriving. We were on cleanup most days with my health.”
Nate didn’t say anything at first. Instead, he took her hand and guided her away from the foot traffic, toward a quieter corner near the flower carts that the local flower shop, All in Bloom, had set up. The scent of lavender and salt air mingled between them.
“You’re not broken,” he said. “And you’ve never sounded bitter to me. Just real. And brave as hell.”
She smiled faintly, blinking away the sudden burn in her eyes. “I used to watch the way my mom locked the doors every night like someone was coming for us. The way she checked the windows three times before going to bed. I thought that was normal. That love came with fear. And silence.”
Nate’s fingers tightened around hers. “That’s not the kind of love I want you to have.”
She looked up at him, the breeze tugging a few loose strands from her braid. “I’m trying. Being with you feels like the world’s opening up for the first time.”
He leaned down, kissed her temple, then rested his forehead against hers. “We’ll keep building this new world together. And take it as slow as you need.”
Her throat tightened, but in a good way this time. “You’re going to make me cry in front of an entire town full of people.”
“Well,” he said, stepping back with a grin, “it wouldn’t be the most dramatic thing to happen in Pride.”
She laughed, brushing her eyes and giving him a playful shove. “Come on. How about we use our gift cards and grab some tacos? I’m starving after whooping your ass on the paddle board.”
He laughed and took her hand in his.