Chapter 8 David
DAVID
David hated crowds.
He stood in the middle of the St. Augustine Festival Fair, surrounded by families and couples and screaming children, his arms laden with bags filled with purchases he hadn’t wanted to make.
Farm-fresh vegetables poked out of one bag.
Artisan bread from another. A jar of local honey that Milly had insisted he needed because “store-bought is full of chemicals, David.”
He shifted the weight of the bags and resisted the urge to walk straight back to the parking lot.
Milly was like a nagging little sister. Always looking after him. Always making sure he ate something other than takeout and microwaved leftovers. She liked to say it was a full-time job looking after him and Dan, that they didn’t know how to look after themselves.
She was right.
Without her, David would be living off fast food and too much coffee, and he’d probably be fat by now. His Achilles’ heel was chocolate. Any kind. Dark, milk, white. Truffles, bars, those terrible gas station candies that tasted more like wax than cocoa. He didn’t discriminate.
Milly kept him in check. Made sure he ate vegetables.
Drank water. Went outside occasionally instead of hiding in his workshop for days at a time.
Then there was Chaos. A present from Dan and Milly to replace the dog he’d lost many years ago, and never got another one.
Chaos ensured David got a lot of exercise.
The dog seemed to operate on high-octane adrenaline and was never still.
Even when Chaos slept, he was moving like he was running in his dream.
A morning run and another two walks a day kept David in shape.
Someone bumped into Dan, who growled an apology, stepped aside, and scowled.
“This place is so darn full,” Dan muttered David’s exact thoughts.
Dan had only agreed to come to the fair if Milly went on a few rides with him.
That was one thing David absolutely refused to do.
His brain couldn’t stop calculating how those things shouldn’t be working at all.
Rusted bolts. Questionable welds. Safety inspections that probably involved a guy with a clipboard nodding and moving on.
The main attraction to the things was probably people’s secret obsession with outwitting death.
“We’re going to the Ferris wheel,” Milly announced, appearing at his side with Dan close behind. She thrust another four bags at him. “Can you hold these?”
David took them without complaint. “Have fun.”
“You sure you don’t want to come?” Dan asked, though his grin suggested he already knew the answer.
“I’m sure.”
Milly patted his arm. “We won’t be long. Maybe an hour.”
“Take your time,” David said. “I’m going to grab a coffee and read the news on my phone.” He pointed to the coffee tent.
“Okay,” Dan and Milly called.
David watched them disappear into the crowd, Milly’s laughter trailing behind them.
He adjusted the bags hanging from his arms and headed for the coffee tent.
It sat near the edge of the fairgrounds, a large white structure with tables scattered inside and out.
He claimed a table in the back corner, pushed two chairs together, and propped the bags onto them before sinking into his own seat with a sigh of relief.
“What can I get you?” a server asked, appearing with a notepad.
“A large coffee. Black.” David watched the young man, who nodded and then disappeared.
David pulled out his phone, intending to catch up on the news, but his attention snagged on two familiar figures walking past the tent entrance.
His heart lurched.
Eve Reynolds moved through the crowd with Lila beside her, both of them carrying shopping bags that looked just as heavy as his own. Eve’s face was flushed, her hair slightly disheveled, and even from this distance, David could see the exhaustion in the way she held her shoulders.
“I need a cup of coffee,” Eve muttered to Lila. “And just to sit for a few minutes. My feet are killing me.”
“I told you not to wear those boots,” Lila said with a grin, her eyes drifting longingly toward the rides in the distance. “I want to go on a ride or two.”
“Oh, sweetheart, let me get a cup of coffee first,” Eve told her. “Once I’m revived and change these shoes, we can go.”
“Okay,” Lila sighed in defeat.
They turned toward the coffee tent, and David quickly looked back at his phone, pretending he hadn’t been watching them.
Milly slipped past them at the entrance, moving fast, her expression somewhere between exasperated and amused.
“David,” she said, hurrying to the table. “Dan put his wallet in one of the bags. Why does he always do that?”
“He’s worried about pickpockets?” David offered.
“Who could just as easily steal a bag,” Milly pointed out, rummaging through the pile. “Where is it?”
“David?” A female voice called.
His head snapped up.
Lila stood near the counter where Eve was ordering, waving at him with a bright smile. “Look, Aunt Eve.” She tugged on Eve’s arm. “There’s David, the man who nearly knocked you over yesterday.”
Eve turned, and their eyes met.
She gave him a tight smile that made his chest tighten in a way he didn’t want to examine too closely.
Milly straightened, having heard the teen, and looked at him knowingly. “That’s the woman and young girl you plowed over yesterday?” Her voice was low and teasing. “Mmm. Now I see why you were doe-eyed. She’s gorgeous.”
David ignored her and waved back.
“Well, invite them over,” Milly told him. She glanced around the tent. “There’s only one single table left, and you have one that could seat six.”
“I’m sure they aren’t sitting,” David said, feeling awkward.
Eve got her coffee and a cup of something for Lila. Her eyes scanned the tent, clearly looking for a place to rest.
Milly punched him discreetly on the arm. “David! Don’t be rude.”
David glared at her, then stood and waved them over. “Hi there. I have room at my table if you’d like to join me?”
Milly found the wallet but didn’t move from her spot as the two women came over.
“Hello again,” Eve said, her smile warmer now that she was off her feet.
Before David could introduce Milly, she stepped forward with her hand extended. “I’m Milly Jones. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Eve Reynolds,” Eve said, shaking her hand. “And this is Lila.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Milly said.
They settled into chairs, Eve groaning slightly as she slipped off one boot and rubbed her foot.
Milly stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat.
David finally said to Milly, “Isn’t your husband waiting for you?”
“Oh, yes,” Milly held up the wallet. “We were going on the rides but couldn’t buy tickets because my husband put his wallet in one of our shopping bags.”
“My late husband used to do that too,” Eve said, exasperation clouding her eyes. “I can’t tell you how many times I found it in one.”
“I know, right?” Milly laughed. “I have no idea what their logic is.”
“Maybe they don’t want it to be pickpocketed?” Lila suggests making David grin. The teen had a sharp mind.
“That’s what he said,” Milly told her, pointing at David. “But I don’t see the logic in it.”
“Thieves go for the pocket or purse,” Lila told them. “If they’ve been scouting you out, they already know what you have in your shopping bag, and a guess, I’d say you found your husband’s wallet in the bag with the less likely to be stolen goods.”
Yup, she really was sharp as a tack. For some reason, David’s heart swelled with pride. Probably because he knew his daughter was just as smart as she was.
“Ahh…” Milly nodded.
“That makes sense,” Eve and Milly said in unison.
“What ride are you going on?” Lila asked, changing the subject at the speed of a high-speed train, like most teenagers. She leaned forward, watching Milly with interest.
Milly named one of the bigger roller coasters, and Lila’s eyes lit up. “I want to go on that so badly.”
“Why don’t you come with us?” Milly said, then quickly looked at Eve for permission. “If you don’t mind, Eve? I promise we’ll look after her.”
Eve hesitated, and David respected that. Lila was a young teenager, and Milly was a stranger.
“I can vouch for them,” David said, knowing it was a weak offer since he was a stranger, too. “Besides, I have Milly’s purse with all her keys and ID in it.”
Eve smiled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. She glanced at Lila. “Sweetheart...”
“Please, Aunt Eve,” Lila pleaded. “I know you don’t really want to go on them.”
“I’ll go with her too,” a young male voice came from behind them.
They all turned.
A teenage boy stood there, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with an easy smile and the kind of wholesome face that made you trust him immediately.
“Brian?” Eve looked at him curiously. “What are you doing here?”
“My grandmother is on the committee that organizes the fair,” Brian told her. “I help out between shifts at the Inn.”
That’s when David recognized the teenage boy. Of course, he was Daisy Norman’s grandson.
Eve seemed to relax completely. “Okay. If Brian goes with you, that’s fine.”
“Great,” Milly said, introducing herself to Brian. “Let’s go look for my husband.”
“Oh, wait,” Eve reached into her purse to pull out some money for Lila.
“Nope,” Milly stopped her. “This is on us. A welcome to St. Augustine from some old locals.”
Eve smiled and thanked her, and just like that, David and Eve were left alone.
The silence stretched for a moment, comfortable but charged with something David couldn’t name.
“I don’t like the rides,” Eve admitted, taking a sip of her coffee. “I’ve just seen too many injuries from when they go bad.”
“I don’t like them either.” David smiled. “Too many variables. And way too much rust.”
“Exactly,” Eve said, her eyes lighting with amusement. “If they’d seen the injuries in the emergency rooms from those things that I had…” She blew out a breath. “No one would ride them.”
“I worked in risk assessment for years,” David said. “I have the same assessment problem with them.”