Chapter 32 #2
“Beginner’s luck.” She shrugs then drops her voice. “And I might’ve taken some archery classes at summer camp.”
“Daddy!” A little girl’s high-pitched shriek comes from behind us. “Look at that kitty!”
It takes me a second to realize that she’s pointing at the head bulging out of my backpack.
“Daddy, can I have one?” She looks up at her father with a pleading expression. “Pretty please?”
“Sweetie, I already told you, we’ve used all our tickets,” the exhausted-looking father replies. “We can’t buy any more.”
I watch as her dad kneels next to her, wearing a sad smile while smoothing down her wild hair.
“But, Daddy…” Her voice wavers, on the verge of tears. “Please.”
“Maybe we’ll come back in a few weeks, angel,” Her father pulls her in for a hug. “Remember what I said about having to be careful with what we spend? We can try to win a different one next time. We need to head home soon, so I can get ready for work.”
“Excuse me.” I have to step in, scooping Larry 2.0 out of my backpack. “I was hoping you could help me.”
I duck down in front of the girl. She can’t be more than six years old.
“I’m looking for someone to take care of my little friend, Larry, here.” I manipulate the doll’s face to look at her. “We have no space at home for him, and I work an awful lot, so he’d get very lonely. Do you think you could take good care of him for me?”
Nodding seriously, her previously scrunched-up face lights up with pure elation. “Yes. I’ll take good care of Larry. What do you think, Daddy?”
The dad’s lips flatten into a line flush. “You really don’t have to.”
“She’ll be doing me a favor,” I retort.
“Please can we keep him, Daddy?” She hits him with the biggest puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen. “Please! I’ll look after him so good. I can take him everywhere!”
“If you’re sure.” Her dad looks at me again.
As soon as I hand Larry over, she pulls him in to her little body, hugging him. “Thank you, mister!”
“Take good care of him, okay?” I rise again. “Have a fun night.”
She makes Larry 2.0 wave goodbye to me with his misshapen paw before they head off. I watch her speaking animatedly to her new toy.
Kady studies me, her head slowly swaying side to side. “You’re full of surprises, Calder.”
I shrug. “One Larry is already enough to handle.”
To my surprise, Kady slips her hand through mine as we stroll, making my stomach flip.
We soak in the atmosphere, chatting and laughing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot her eyeballing the donut stand.
I pull her toward the sound of batter sizzling in oil and the smell of hot sugar mixed with a hint of cinnamon.
After I buy us some sugar-dusted treats to eat, we find a bench to sit down at. “I didn’t think I could eat anything else after Winnie’s cobbler.” She sinks her teeth into a mini donut, panting when she discovers how hot it is. “But who can say no to donuts?”
“Did you enjoy meeting Winnie and Nick?” I ask.
“They were lovely, but I can’t stop thinking about…” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“No, go on,” I insist. “What were you going to say?”
Her eyebrows lower in a frown. “It’s probably not my place to say.”
“I’m a reporter too, remember?” I take a bite of the sugary treat. “I can tell when people are hiding things.”
“It’s about Hale’s dad’s company.”
“Ahh.” I see where this is going. “I guess Hale finally told you about that, huh?”
“Nick dropped it into the conversation.” I mentally pray I don’t get hard, watching her lick some sugar from her thumb. “I wish someone had told me sooner. When Hale talks about the company, he doesn’t seem…” Her lips twist.
“Happy?” I offer. “Fulfilled?”
“Exactly!” She angrily tears off some donut with her teeth, giving herself a sugar beard. It’s adorable, so I decide not to tell her just yet. “I know he wants to run the company because it’s his dad’s legacy, but at what cost? When we were at Dr. Otto’s, his whole face lit up.”
“Hale is my pack leader, so I have to respect his decisions, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.” I sigh. “Hale loves his father more than anything, and Nick thinks Hale loves the company as much as he does.”
“Why doesn’t he tell his dad the truth?”
“When Nick first got sick, it hit Hale hard. When Hale dropped out of college to take over, it breathed a new sense of life into Nick.” I hand Kady the bag of donuts, losing my appetite. “Hale thinks he’s doing what’s best.”
“He’s wrong.” Kady’s nostrils flare as she inhales loudly. The fact that she hasn’t known us very long but isn’t afraid to speak her mind gives me an even greater respect for her. “All Nick and Winnie seem to want is for their son to be happy.”
“We’ve all told him that a thousand times.
” I extend my legs in front of me. “In honesty, we’ve kinda given up now.
At this point, we just try to make sure he eats regular meals and takes breaks from his laptop.
The time he spent with you today is the longest he’s taken off from work in over a year. ”
Kady harrumphs, setting the almost empty bag of donuts down, steepling her fingers as her eyes gaze down at the ground before she says, “Leave it to me.”
“This isn’t the same as campaigning for omega-only workout zones in the gym on a college campus,” I say. “You can’t fix everything.”
“Try me.” She narrows her eyes on me in suspicion. “And how do you know about that campaign?”
Fuck, she caught me there. Time to come clean. “I might have done a little research about you.”
“Research?”
“Well, I had a lot of material at my fingertips when I was reorganizing The Valley Voice archives.”
What I don’t say is how I specifically sought out anything mentioning her.
I’ve read every word she’s ever written for the paper, so I read about how the college gym took her suggestions onboard within a few months of her starting, how she raised funds for improvements to the campus wellbeing center, and how she led a rally to show solidarity for an omega who’d been forced into an arranged bonding.
“Hmm.” I can’t help squirming as her blue eyes sweep over me.
“Come on!” I toss up my hands. “Don’t tell me you haven’t researched me.”
She keeps her lips pressed shut.
“I wouldn’t blame you, if you did,” I continue. “After some of the things I said the last time we met, I know I would have. Did you find the articles about how my mother was a runaway bride?”
“I didn’t find anything that you hadn’t already told me.” She offers me the last donut before crumpling up the empty bag. “And for the record, I don’t believe everything that I read. Especially when I have the primary source in front of me.”
I smile, then without thinking, wipe the sugar off her chin. Which is a big mistake as it only draws my attention to her plump lips that I’m dying to kiss.
Forcing my gaze elsewhere, I stand and offer my hand. Accepting, we continue exploring until we find ourselves before the imposing Ferris wheel.
“Can we go on?” As she gazes up at it, I’m struck by how pretty her profile is.
But then her question registers, and my stomach drops as my palms start to sweat.
I’m not the biggest fan of heights. Okay, that’s the understatement of the century.
I’m terrified of them, but I’m not going to tell her that with the way she’s beaming up at me.
I can deal with sitting on a swaying death machine that towers above the ground for a few minutes, right?
“Calder!” A familiar voice comes from behind us, the momentary distraction slowing my thundering heart. “Is that you?”
“Hi, Pearl.” I smile at the kind diner owner who knows everything that goes on in this town. “It’s been a while.”
“Showing Kady around, huh?” She grins knowingly. “Your pack will be complete in no time.”
Kady shifts from one foot to the other, smiling politely, but I can sense her discomfort. The last thing I want is for her to feel any pressure. We promised her a weekend of fun, nothing too heavy. So the last thing we need is nosey locals meddling in our business.
I put my arm around Kady’s shoulders protectively. “We’re just heading on the Ferris wheel, Pearl.”
Pride surges through me when Kady’s grin brightens.
“Oh, have fun!” Pearl waves. “See you later, sweet peas!”
“Sorry about that.” I shake my head. “Rose Harbor is a small place, as you’ve probably gathered by now.”
“Not so different from SVU, then.” Her tone has changed, and her eyes are darting about, seeming to be a little distracted.
“We can head back to the cabin, if you prefer?” I offer. “We don’t have to stay here.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “Not unless you want to?”
“Actually, I’m really enjoying having you all to myself.”
She chuckles, a lightness settling over her features as if her earlier tension has gone as we get in line. “Are you sure your professional ethics allow you to fraternize with a direct report?”
“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?” My gaze lingers on her gorgeous lips for a few seconds too long then trails farther down to admire the way her sweater hugs her sexy figure. “And I don’t see anyone from SVU around with a camera, so I think we’re safe.”
“Next!”
Realizing it’s our turn rekindles my nerves. In her company, I’d almost forgotten that we were about to do something death defying.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask, hoping that she may be having second thoughts. “I know not everyone likes heights.”
“I love heights.” Kady marches forward with confidence before getting comfortable on the seat.
I slide into the space next to her as someone roughly shoves a rickety metal bar down over our laps. Knowing that this bar is all that’s stopping us from tumbling to our deaths, I grip onto it tightly while Kady continues talking about how she loves flying and being high in the sky.
It feels like my stomach is left on the ground as the wheel lurches into life. I clench my fists around the bar so tightly that my knuckles turn white when the small cart sways, Kady happily swinging her feet.