CHAPTER 25
Harper
I keep myself busy, eyes down, hard as it is, for about a half hour. Lewis doesn’t come by the booth and I don’t go out of my way to greet him. I don’t miss him or want him or any of that. It’s just awkward. So I keep to myself at my booth. Until my phone buzzes in my pocket.
Steven: You need to see this, get down to the shore ASAP
Harper: I know he’s here
Steven: Did you know he was bringing Stuart?
Harper: Why does Lewis have Stuart?
I look up and stand on my toes. If I get on a crate I could maybe see whatever is happening at the shoreline.
Steven: Not Lewis, Aiden! Aiden brought Stuart here and Lewis spotted some other dude with your dog and you need to get over here!
“Madison, I’ll be right back!” I call out before taking off like a rocket.
I sprint through the crowd filling the grassy area between the booths and the dock.
Near the pier, everyone is gathered for the first race.
We have a few various races set up throughout the weekend.
Swimming, paddle boarding, canoes, all kinds of stuff.
It all starts at the end of this pier. We’ve set up a podium, where Steven should be starting a race but he’s just staring… at Aiden and Lewis.
“This is my dog, man, I’m just saying hello,” I hear Lewis say with his signature easy-going smile. I reach him the same time Aiden does, just after Stuart does. Lewis smiles up at me from his squat, “Hey, Harp.”
“You’re Lewis then?” Aiden asks with a tone that would personally make me want to claim to be anyone other than the man in question.
“That’s right,” Lewis says slowly as he stands, sensing a threat.
I almost laugh at the face-off. Lewis is a handsome guy, but average.
He’s maybe 5’11 and lean. Aiden towers over him looking exactly as rich and powerful as he is.
While midnighting as a Ralph Lauren underwear model because only underwear models have the V thing that goes down to their…
“And?” Aiden’s tone snaps me back to…what might be a fight about to break out. He looks at me for a beat, then back at my ex and pushes the question, “And what are you doing back here?”
Lewis frowns and tosses a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the lake, “Entered into some of the races.” Aiden inches closer, and Lewis frowns, about to inch right up into Aiden’s face when Steven finally takes charge.
“That’s right!” The megaphone blares, “It’s time for our next race everybody, the wildcard race! If you have your ticket, line up at the end of the pier please.”
“Harper, you know this guy?” Lewis asks me.
“Yes,” I say.
“He bothering you?”
Aiden bristles even more, “Bothering, now listen, you—”
“No! No, he’s renting the Newman place,” I reach between them to take the leash from Aiden and hopefully end this stare down. “He just, uh, watches Stuart for me sometimes, that’s all. So, you should…” I motion with my chin toward the line forming for the first race.
“Yeah, okay,” Lewis says, eyeing us both for a moment before he looks down at the dog. Then he locks eyes with me, “Good to see you, Harper. You look good.”
“Oh, uh, thanks,” I say, blushing because I look the exact same as always—sweaty, flushed and in a dusty bakery shirt with cruddy jeans.
“I entered a bunch of races for ya, so…I better get after it,” Lewis says slowly, staring at me, ignoring Aiden’s death stare at him.
“Oh. Thanks,” I say, more focused on petting Stuart than looking up at either man.
Aiden’s intense glare watches Lewis’s back as he walks away. I can feel, without looking up, when it shifts to me.
“Did you invite him here then?”
“What?” I finally look up, “No, he just wanted to, uh, help the town, I guess? Lots of people from Cedar Point and Pine Bluff are here to show their support.”
“Right,” Aiden says. He looks over at the pier and absently repeats himself. “Right.”
He starts to walk away. “Aiden?” I start, but he’s already long gone, stalking through the crowds oh his long legs like a man on a mission. Stuart barks and pulls on his leash so I start walking, letting the dog follow his unlikely billionaire best friend down to the water.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, on your marks!” Steven’s voice carries over the water.
Aiden is ahead of us, arguing with one of the kids taking tickets. He doesn’t have a ticket so…wait, is he going to race?
This race?
Oh no.
“Aiden! Wait!” I try.
“Get set…Go!” Steven calls and the air horn blasts. Racers scream, sprinting toward the water’s edge. They’re headed to the next starting line, about 100 yards down the shore where the vessels are set up. Aiden shoves a huge wad of cash at the teen then takes off after the other racers.
But this is the wildcard race and he entered late.
I rush to the podium and climb up a few rungs on the side to watch.
“Oh!” Steven calls out the play by play, “Kayak is already snatched up, rowboat and paddle boat too! I see a few paddle boards left!”
“Aiden, don’t!” I try to yell over the commotion but he’s already running. Running fast, wow. I know he runs but apparently he runs. And if I know him, which I suppose I do, he’s made up his mind. He’s competing in this race.
“And with one last vessel left, a few racers are still in the…oh, ladies and gentlemen! Aiden Vanderwell has made a last minute entry and boy is he fast!” The crowd who can’t see starts to cheer like they’re listening to an Olympic race.
“Congratulations Vandy, you got the last vessel, the mighty Swan! Everyone else, you are out!”
“What’s this?” I hear Aiden call back to us.
Steven puts the megaphone down and yells back, “That’s your vessel!”
Aiden frowns, panting, hands on hips, pissed and if I’m being honest, so, so hot. He asks us loudly, “Where are the other boats?”
My friend makes an obvious gesture out over the water and then says in the megaphone to the crowd, but really to Aiden, “That’s right everyone, the Wildcard race is all about choosing the vessel and finishing strong.
Each vessel is…unique. Our paddle boat is missing some pedals, we’ve got a couple kayaks with leaks, a half-inflated dingy, you get the idea.
It’s going to be wild out there! Now, take your marks again! Ready, racers…get set…and GO!”
The crowd erupts, calling out names and mostly laughing. Each “vessel” is barely moving. There’s a lot of splashing and grunting, more than one person is turning in circles.
“Oh, look out, Lewis Grandsby is taking an early lead on a paddle board with no paddle! He’s decided to go full boogie board and is making good time! Remember, everyone who makes it to the other side gets a derby medal. The most medals at the end of this weekend is our grand champion!”
At the mention of Lewis’s name, Aiden transforms. Into…a crazy person. The Swan is not a vessel, it’s a giant inflatable float. And all of us gasp when he jumps on it like a wild cowboy would mount a horse in a bad western! In his nice slacks!
Did he even take his shoes off? Does he have a paddle?
A laugh escapes me.
A laugh escapes out of everyone on shore because the swan did come with a paddle. A big ladle spoon. Which he is trying to use.
“Come on, bloody wanker!” I can hear him scolding the big plastic bird, even from here. I hear a whole slew of choice words as he finally ditches his makeshift paddle. He…he’s trying to paddle with his legs and move his upper body forward? I…I can’t.
Aiden Vanderwell is riding an inflatable swan like a mechanical bull.
And going absolutely nowhere.
Aiden yells out more of his favorite expletives and flips everyone the bird as he jumps all the way off the tube and into the water.
“Shit, that’s cold!” I hear before Steven starts narrating again.
“Oh we’ve got another swimmer! Looks like Vandy is going to boogie board the swan’s tail feathers all the way across!
” The crowd cheers again, with many of us doubled over laughing.
There’s a teen with a speaker somewhere and they just started up Shake Ya Tailfeather.
Aiden tries the new technique for a minute or so then decides to just swim, pushing the swan with one hand periodically with each stroke.
“Remember, this is a boat race not a swimming race, to get that medal you have to be on your vessel when you reach the other side!” Steven says over the megaphone.
Aiden looks back with a glare that could probably kill one of the Aunts or any of the other frail elderly folks in town if it was directed at them.
I would shudder in fear but I’m too busy laughing.
Lewis is nearing the shore. The crowd cheers for him.
Two more racers close in. More than one flail in circles in the center of the lake.
Aiden zeroes in on Lewis, narrowing his eyes and muttering something as he picks up speed.
“Remember everyone, you have to be on your dingy to get your medal!” Steven says again. “Oh! We have a winner! Braxton and his broken canoe! Second place is Lewis on the board, let’s see who else is getting a medal today! On their vessel.”
Aiden glides near the far shore so he pauses to climb back up on the big float.
And he can’t.
His clothes are dragging, he’s too slippery and the swan is huge and high out of the water. He grips the neck, slips, disappears. Aiden’s head pops up, he curses at all of us, grabs the swan tail and watches the swan rocket across the water a few feet.
“Is someone taking video of this?” Steven yells down at me without the megaphone.
“I…hope….so” I say between laughing so hard I have to wipe my eyes.
Aiden, determined to get his medal, apparently, finds the little valve and lets out some air, I think. Either that or he’s trying to bite the swan’s neck, a sight that’s definitely going to go viral online later.
After at least a few long minutes, while almost every other racer passes him and gets a medal—and some serious side eye from Aiden—the swan starts to deflate. Aiden is able to squash down one side and climb back on.
The water is shallow enough where he is that he’s basically waddling across the water, pushing with his feet. Which is hilarious all over again because the swan’s neck is deflated just enough that it flies left to right with each big step Aiden takes.
“It looks like the swan is saying ‘No’ all the way to the finish!” Someone below me says in between cackles.
Finally Aiden reaches shore, climbs out and turns around to face all of us watching. The Assistant Mayor hands him his medal. He thanks him then grabs the medal in his fist and throws up an arm up in triumph.
The crowd erupts at his surprise show—both arms now up in victory.
Everyone watches and claps. But his deep black eyes aren’t looking at them.
They’re focused squarely on me. And even though he’s across an entire lake…
his angry jaw, soaking wet clothes clinging to his cut body, the glare…
I feel his attention in my whole body. Heck, I feel it in my soul.
Someone shoves the swan next to him to take a photo and I can’t help but smile wide. I didn’t expect him to be such a good sport. As soon as my smile takes over my face, cheeks aching from laughing so hard this whole race, something shutters in Aiden’s features. Then he turns away.
My stomach sinks down off of the podium into the ground.
So.
I guess we’re still avoiding each other.
Good. Fine. Great.
I climb down and give Stu a tug. We mosey through the crowd, Stuart greeting everyone and enjoying the attention. I let him sniff every single blade of grass and enjoy all the new scents.
“Here, let me,” a deep voice, one I’m starting to hear in my sleep, finds my back.
“Hey,” I say, losing my breath at the sight of him up close. Shirtless, dripping wet. He’s hot, of course, but he's also…more than a person somehow? Strength, power, determination, wrapped in so. Many. Muscles.
“I’ll take him home for you,” he says, not making eye contact with me.
“Oh,” my voice sounds all breathy and weird, “You’re all wet, I can—”
“No, I’m just someone who watches your dog for you, yeah? Let me do it then,” he huffs.
I inhale, dragging my eyes away from his built chest and bracing myself for yet another argument with him. I breathe out the words, “I’m sorry I said that.”
“Why,” he scoffs, “it’s true. You’ve got a booth to run. Go,” he says looking past me toward the vendor area.
“Aiden…” I say. He doesn’t look at me.
“Come Stuart,” he commands the dog as he walks away.
Of course, my dog obeys, trotting off happily.
I let go of the leash and let him follow his favorite person.
Aiden gives my dog, who used to be a total hellion, one scratch behind the ear before grabbing the leash that is apparently no longer necessary.
I turn in the opposite direction to go back and help at my booth.
But I really don’t want to.
I really want to turn around and pull a Stuart, willing to follow Aiden wherever he wants to go. Which is bad because the truth is I can’t. He can go all over the world. I’m stuck in Juniper Falls.
And no one would choose me over the whole entire world.