Chapter 12 #2
An actor dressed as a humble friar joined their hands together, reciting the same script he had for every couple that came before them. But what stole her breath was the way they looked at each other. Like they were the main characters in their own love story.
“What are you doing?”
Lilian jumped as the question shattered the quiet moment. An embarrassed excuse rose to her lips when she saw it was Hawk.
“Shhh,” she whispered, waving him over.
His brows drew together in confusion, but he stepped forward anyway and came to a stop just behind her.
Lilian tensed at the heat radiating from his polo.
Even though he wasn’t touching her, she felt his presence like a solid tree at her back.
He was taller, which meant he had to hunch slightly as they peered down the path, sharing the view in front of them.
Lilian forced her voice to be steady as she whispered, “I was passing by when I saw the renewal happening.”
“Mmm.” Hawk’s face was its normal blank mask that he wore at work, but his eyes peered past her to the group.
A rumble of claps echoed as the couple kissed, and for a moment, she and Hawk watched. Paying the moment its proper respect.
It started as a sweet kiss, but then the man took the woman in his arms and deepened it.
God, no one had ever kissed her like that.
Not even her last boyfriend. When they pulled away from each other, she saw a flash of the biggest, giddiest smiles before the man pulled the woman back for another kiss.
She couldn’t help but sigh at the sight. “I love this.”
“Why?” Hawk asked. “It's not real. It's just people in costume, reading a script. It’s not even legally binding.”
She turned to him, eyes wide in abject horror.
“That doesn’t matter. Not to those people.
Look how happy they are.” The couple was now being congratulated by their friends and family, but they still only had eyes for each other.
Maybe they were married and had been for years.
Or maybe they were only dating. It didn’t matter.
In this moment, their love was one of the most real things at the faire.
Hawk snorted. “Is this really the fantasy? To have a pretend wedding with a pretend priest?”
“He’s a friar,” she corrected. “And for some, that doesn’t matter. People come here for fantasy. For this space where they can step back in time and be whomever they want. The walls and the trees surrounding this place transport us all to another time.”
“Is that what you would want?”
Her eyes snapped to him. Well, that was a hell of a personal question, and the pitter patter of her heart was a very personal answer. One she didn’t want to risk letting see the light of day. “I’m nowhere close to getting married, so it doesn’t matter.”
Hawk stared at her.
Heat licked her neck as she turned to him. “What? I know it sounds silly, but you don’t have to be rude about it.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” he said. “It's just… what you said reminds me a lot of someone.”
“Oh, really? Who?”
“My mom.” He shrugged. “My parents got married here. In the Flint Hills. They had a…” He cleared his throat, looking embarrassed to even be saying the next words. “Medieval-themed wedding.”
“That sounds sweet,” Lilian cooed.
His eyes flickered to her, their dark depths suspicious. As if he doubted the sincerity of her reaction. Lilian answered with a reassuring smile.
“I’m sure people thought they were crazy. I know my grandparents did. But here they are, thirty years later, running one of the biggest faires in the country.”
“And helping other couples have their own themed weddings.”
“And that.” Despite his clear embarrassment, he smiled. “I never thought about it like that before. It's kind of nice. Very full circle.”
Lilian nodded, noticing it was the second time he’d mentioned his mother to her, but he rarely talked about his father.
Hawk had never told her what his relationship with his parents was like, but considering that he’d moved all the way back to Kansas to help them with their dream, it couldn’t be terrible.
The need to ask burned through her. But before she could, he was already turning to walk away. She found herself following a step behind.
“So, how is business today?”
“Wow. No, ‘how are you doing?’ Just straight to business, huh?”
“Asking about your business is essentially asking how you are doing,” he pointed out, “because if it’s not going great, then I can assume you aren’t doing great.”
“That… actually makes a lot of sense. Touché.”
They passed a group of the queen’s handmaidens clustered around a flower wagon.
A few heads perked up and followed Hawk with their eyes.
Curious glances lingered on Lilian as they whispered among themselves.
She knew Hawk wasn’t popular with the vendors, but it seemed the opposite might be true for some of the actors at least the female ones.
“The shop is doing great today. It’s been nonstop, actually.”
Hawk smiled. “That’s good.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Business or pleasure?”
Lilian nearly tripped over her feet, but his hand snatched out to steady her. “What?”
Hawk looked nonplussed. “Does this have to do with faire business? Or other stuff?”
“I suppose faire business, but it could be more personal. I assumed you didn’t like all this stuff.” She waved a hand at the surrounding woods. The pastel flowers hanging from every roof, the costumes, the huzzahs as people loudly celebrated some inside joke.
The good-natured smile slipped, and Lilian knew immediately that she had fucked up.
“Who says?” His voice was level, devoid of any and all emotion as they continued down the path, entering the large circular space that hosted the food vendors.
This… thing between them was new and fragile. They weren’t friends, but he also wasn’t horrible company. Which was why she wanted to get to know him better.
“You don’t dress up. You call the vow renewal ceremony a fantasy, and you never really engage with the faire itself. It feels like all you care about is the business side of things.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Right.” She nodded. “So if that’s the only reason you're here, then why work at a place that you don’t care about? Didn’t you tell me a business needs an owner who believes in it?”
To her surprise, the corners of his lips twitched, his smile threatening to come back. But Hawk fought it down. “It’s not that I hate this stuff. It’s just not my thing, you know?”
“That’s obvious.”
He laughed; the sound was joyless. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t so obvious to my parents. They really wanted a son who would do this with them. A boy who was into dragons, and knights, and all this stuff. But you know what I really wanted to do when I was younger?”
“What?”
“Play football with my friends.”
Lilian blinked. “That’s it? Don’t lots of boys do that when they're little?”
“They do,” Hawk agreed. “All my friends played little league football, and my parents said I couldn’t because all the games were on Saturday, and we had faire on the weekends.
They volunteered me to help here. I know it sounds stupid, but it felt like they always picked the thing they wanted to do over my wants every time. ”
“Oh. That’s not stupid. That’s…” Sad.
It was such a simple request. One that most parents would be happy to fulfill. But instead, it was a wound that he obviously still carried with him.
Hawk shrugged off her concern. “It’s not a big deal.
When I got older, I signed myself up and had one of my friends' moms carpool me to practice and games. I was the opposite of what my parents wanted. I was jealous of the attention they gave the faire for a long time. Then when my dad mentioned they could use some business advice, it was like a lifeline. Something we could finally do together.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. All she knew was that here, between a turkey leg stand and a funnel cake shop, Hawk Carlisle had finally opened up to her. It felt like a gift.
She thought about the way the queen had looked in her shop when Hawk walked in. The way her entire face had lit up at the sight of her son. How she had loved those days when she worked the bookshop with her mom. “I bet your parents really enjoy that you’re here with them.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “And I like being here with them. Even if I’m not into all this faire stuff.”
There was more he wasn’t saying, but Hawk suddenly looked like he’d swallowed a vegetarian hotdog. Lilian was nothing if not merciful and offered a change in subject. “So tomorrow’s show is going to be a big one for Romance Weekend.”
Hawk’s face relaxed. “Are you ready?”
“I will be. I plan to dedicate all evening to my script.”
“Hey.” He stopped walking, and she found her feet coming to a halt beside him.
When Lilian looked up, Hawk was standing very close.
The urge to step back pulsed through her chest, but her feet refused to cooperate.
“You’ve been doing a lot of hard work these last couple days… ” he said quietly. “Keep it up.”
Her jaw went slack. Did he know how unusual it was to hear him give a compliment? Probably not. Even more strange was the effect it had on her. Turning her mind to utter mush. She’d once prided herself on being quick to respond to Hawk, now all she could manage was, “Um… thanks.”
For a moment, it looked like he might say more, but a group of men dressed like Vikings came trudging down the path, singing a strange made-up drinking song that interrupted the moment.
Lilian watched him shake off the look in his eye and clear his throat. “Let’s get your water so you can get back to your busy shop.”