Chapter 17
CLIO
When I saw the line for everyone who wanted a slice of pizza, I questioned my own sanity.
On the first day of school, a mom had pulled me aside by the flagpole and asked if I’d help with the annual fall festival.
I’d said yes because I was new in town and needed to make friends, but I had no idea that it was a crazy assignment.
The event was off to a wild success. There were two hundred kids who attended the school, and all of them had to be in attendance along with parents, grandparents, and older and younger siblings. It was a mad house… and everyone was having fun.
JT had come in with me and had seen Remy helping out at the bake table with a woman who introduced herself as Marina.
She invited JT to join them, and I agreed, since otherwise, he’d be stuck serving pizza with me for an hour.
Cookies and his best friend would be way more fun for him.
I pointed out to JT where the pizza table was then offered to Marina to swing by and grab both kids to do the games when my shift was over.
Except now, it seemed like I was going to be here all night.
We’d been serving for over an hour now, and two other volunteers were supposed to replace us thirty minutes ago but hadn’t shown up. My options were to ditch pizza duty and leave the PTA high and dry or disappoint my kid by never taking him around to play the carnival games.
“Did you put the order in for more pepperoni?” I asked Harper, the other mom working the pizza booth. I wiped my brow with the back of my hand. The amount of pizza we’d sold had been insane.
Harper had a perky blonde ponytail and got into the fall theme with a gingham blouse and jean skirt. “Matt, Joey’s dad, is meeting Rowan out front with ten more larges.”
“Who’s Rowan again?” I slid a cheese slice onto a paper plate and passed it to a harried mom carrying a baby and had a toddler holding onto her leg.
She passed me a ticket in return and moved on.
Everything was paid for with tickets which were purchased by the front door, so the money was collected in one location.
We only had to worry about keeping enough pizza available, which was actually a problem.
“Rowan’s the teenage son of Frank, the owner of Lucky Pie, the pizza place on Main. Have you been there yet?”
I shook my head, trying to keep up with the close knit community of a very small town. “Cheese or cheese,” I said to the next person in line. “Pepperoni’s all out for now.”
The teenager smiled. “Cheese sounds great.”
I dished up another slice and traded it for the ticket. Then another person. Then another.
I finally had a second to reply to Harper. “I haven’t been there yet, but based on how many people are in line–” I noticed how it curved around the science fair table and down the length of the gym “–I should definitely get takeout.”
“Lordy, woman, you’re fast.” Harper commented on how quickly I doled out the slices and kept the line moving.
“Former pit crew mechanic,” I replied, holding up the spatula.
“Pit crew? Like for race cars?”
“Yep. IndyCars.”
“Wow. Impressive and such an exciting career. I got a slice of bread stuck in the toaster free one time. That’s as much of a mechanic as I am.
I don’t know a thing about those different screwdriver heads.
But pizza? I know pizza. Go in and get it.
It’s best when hot,” she replied, taking the empty pizza box and sitting it in the stack behind us to be put in recycling.
She came over to stand beside me again–our method was working well, and I couldn’t say I saw the end of the line, but everyone seemed to be happy.
“Speaking of hot,” she leaned in and whispered.
I glanced at her. “What?”
Her eyes weren’t on me but across the gym. “Mr. Rodeo himself.”
I looked that way, and my heart leapt. The kid standing before me cleared his throat because I had been halfway to handing him his plated slice when I froze.
I smiled, passed it to him, got his ticket, then paused.
Sam was here! Whoa. Were those…flutters in my belly?
I couldn’t deny how the sight of him made my body come alive.
He was looking mighty fine if my pussy said so.
It clenched in eagerness to see him in his jeans, white button-up, and white Stetson.
His hair was tamed and only curled slightly from beneath it.
Only the night before had he pulled me into the back seat of his pickup for a little fort fun of our own.
For one brief moment, I thought he might have come knowing I’d be here, but, no.
He wasn’t alone. He held a little girl, maybe three years old, on his hip, just as comfortably as a parent would.
Beside him was a little boy who looked an awful lot like him and a slightly bigger boy.
Both were older than JT but only by a few years.
They walked over to a ring toss game. Sam handed over the ticket to play and passed one of the rings to the little girl as he held the rest. On the first toss, she’d caught it on a nail on a very-handmade board that had a huge orange pumpkin painted on it.
She threw up her hands, and he bounced her on his hip. I’d never seen him smile quite like that before.
The flutters started up again. I took tickets and slung pizza, all the while, trying to keep my eye on him through the crowd.
He gave her little hand a high five. The boys also cheered.
“Have you met Sam Watson, the town heartthrob?” Harper broke me from my ogling.
Shit! Caught looking. I played it off with a laugh. “Heartthrob? Isn’t that something from a tween magazine?” I looked away and handed off another slice.
“Well, it fits. That man’s a ladies’ favorite in this town.” She flipped open the lid on the last box, not enough to feed the still-long line.
“Aren’t you married with like four kids?” I asked her.
She elbowed me. “I’m married, not blind. Tell me he doesn’t melt your butter.”
I wasn’t blind either. But knowing that a woman who’d lived in Cooper Valley her whole life–she’d shared all about herself when we were setting up–labeled Sam a heartthrob meant it’d been a longstanding term. Except Sam had to be in his early twenties, at most.
“He’s a little young for us, don’t you think?”
“Well, like you said, I’m married. But he’s not too young for you.” She tossed the last empty pizza box on the stack.
I didn’t actually know how old he was. I’d been afraid to ask. But based on his skill and talent in and out of the sack, he’d had lots of practice in a short time.
Why was I suddenly jealous of the women in his past? I was the one who wanted no strings. He was giving it to me. The no-strings and his dick.
“Hey, Sam!” Harper called out, waving her arm wildly in the air above her head.
Ack! “What are you doing?” I hissed, feeling my cheeks heat.
“Introducing you. You’re new to town–I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to show you around.”
“Oh, no! I mean, I already know him. He’s been to the shop for a tractor part,” I said.
Harper was still trying to flag him down, but it was way too noisy, and Sam was focused on the little girl he held.
I was pretty sure both ovaries dropped eggs at how freaking sweet they looked together.
I’d never ever thought about having another kid–raising JT on my own had been enough, but I suddenly was picturing what it would be like to raise a kid with a partner.
To have a hunky husband to share the responsibilities and joys of parenting.
Was I nuts to suddenly think of Sam that way?
Yes. Yes, I was. Because Sam was a player, with a capital “P.” If it hadn’t been abundantly obvious from the moment I first laid eyes on him, Ernie had told me that, and now Harper had confirmed it.
I quickly plated the slices. “You don’t need to introduce us. But yeah, he seemed nice.”
Sam had disappeared into the crowd. I should be relieved that he hadn’t heard Harper calling him over, but I felt strangely disappointed.
“Oh, he’s nice all right. Nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He coached my Mark’s T-ball team back in the spring, and his mother and my mother are best friends. He’ll do anything for his family. Those are his sisters’ kids.”
I’d figured. He’d mentioned he had nieces and nephews last night. The little boys looked like him. I’d ruled him out for fatherly potential from the first second I met him, but seeing him with them made me think otherwise. He looked fully comfortable in the role of Cool Uncle.
He was good with Remy and JT.
Clearly, there was so much I didn’t know about him.
The pepperoni boxes finally arrived, carried in by a man who I assumed was Matt, Joey’s dad, and I quickly plated an entire box to set us up while Harper took tickets.
“Hey, Mommy, look at me!” The familiar sound of my son’s joyful voice brought my head up with dismay.
He was supposed to stay with Marina until I could get away.
He must’ve grown bored, and she let him come find me.
It was his school, so he was familiar with the place, but I wasn’t, and it was so crowded.
I scanned the nearby line for my little guy.
“Up here!” He was right beside me, riding on Sam’s shoulders.
I sucked in a quick breath. Damn the millions of tiny fireworks going off in my tummy. What was so melting about a gorgeous young man taking care of your kid? If this were a different century, I probably would’ve swooned.
“Hey there.” Sam’s dimples were in dazzling display. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full here. I thought I’d rescue you.”
Swooning. Still swooning.
“Oh, now I see what’s going on,” Harper teased. “You really do know Sam.”
Shut up, Harper.
I wasn’t the blushing type, but I was pretty sure my face had grown warm.
Sam lifted JT off his shoulders and gently lowered him next to me. He touched my hips lightly, nudging me away from the table. “I’ll take over here.” He tipped his head toward the carnival. “Go have some fun.”
I stared at him, my brain fully scrambled.
Sam was acting just like a partner would. He seemed to understand my situation and smoothly solved the dilemma, even though he’d get the short end of the stick.
“Are you…” I wanted to ask him where his niece and nephews had gone.
If he’d come to the fair for them or for me.
How he intuited what I needed. If he’d known I was here the whole time.
But he was already serving pizza with that megawatt smile, and Lord knew, the pizza line needed him, and JT needed me.
“Go on. Really. I’ve got this.” He spared me a wink, and I turned hot and gooey like warm syrup on pancakes.
“Thanks.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Surprise lit his eyes, and I thought I heard a possessive growl before he turned his attention back to the little kids and their parents in front of him.
The flutters in my belly moved up to my chest. I liked Sam.
A lot.
Suddenly, the new stability I thought I’d find in Cooper Valley felt shaky. I felt shaky.
This felt dangerous.
And exhilarating.
But also, right.
Against my better judgement, I was letting Sam in.
I sure as hell hoped things didn’t blow up.