17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter 17
Carnival games lined the festival midway. They were never a big attraction for Linda, as they made her feel like she wasn’t clever enough, strong enough, or fast enough to win a prize.
What she lacked in enthusiasm, Mason made up for in his desire to try everything at least once. Taking a swing of the hammer on the high-striker strongman game, he won a prize, an eighteen-inch-tall gorilla with a white Blueberry and Blues Festival shirt.
“I can’t believe you won something!” Linda bopped the gorilla on the nose as Mason showed it to her.
“I got skills, Lindy! What can I say?”
“Say you’re not going to make me carry that around. It’s ninety degrees out here. Too hot to carry around a stuffed animal.”
He nodded. “That’s right. Hold on.” He scanned the crowd and saw a young boy who was crying. He went over to the boy and his mom and said a few words, Linda was too far away to hear. The young boy broke out into a huge smile when Mason handed him the gorilla. The mom thanked Mason profusely before he rejoined Linda.
“There, no gorilla to deal with,” he said.
Linda leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “My hero,” she drawled. “That was sweet of you.”
He shrugged. “What was I going to do with it? I won it to show off for you. If you didn’t want it, best to give it to a kid.”
“Technically, I didn’t say I didn’t want it,” Linda teased. “I just said I wouldn’t carry it in this heat.”
“What?” Mason put his hand to his heart. “Now you tell me! I would have carried it all day and all night for you.”
Linda laughed at his antics, then turned to look at the next booth. She didn’t want him to see the effect those words had on her. She was sure her cheeks were flushed red from kissing him!
“So, what did you do yesterday?” Mason asked as they strolled along.
“Research and shopping in Tampa.”
“What kind of research?”
Linda pointed at a small food truck with a sign reading “Blueberry Ice Cream” on its side. “Ice cream?”
He nodded, and they stood in line.
After placing their orders and receiving waffle cones filled with two scoops of blueberry ice cream, Linda continued. “Research for my printables business. I was looking for design inspiration.”
“Did you find some?”
“Yes. I’m going to do something with frogs.”
Mason threw his head back and laughed. “That’s wide open.”
Linda smiled. “It is.”
“Tell me more about this side hustle of yours. How did you get started?”
“Sorcha and I were complaining about our rent going up, and we started brainstorming ways to earn a little extra money. I had been experimenting with designing my own organization tools: to-do lists, shopping lists, planners, etc. and thought it would be a straightforward thing to try.”
“Yeah.”
“Easy to try, but difficult to execute at first. I had a lot to learn, but I kept at it, and I’ve had my storefront for a couple years now.”
“It’s profitable?”
“Yes, enough to take the pressure off when unexpected bills hit. And I’m happy to say that I committed to donating ten percent of all my profits to charity.”
“Wow. That’s…which charities?”
Linda took a moment before answering. She took a bite of ice cream to buy some time. She didn’t want to trigger Mason’s sadness.
“Some local organizations that support cancer patients.” Before Mason could respond, she rushed forward. “There’s a group that knits hats for patients going through chemo and another group that focuses on supporting the families, bringing food, driving patients to appointments, driving family members to school, that sort of thing.”
“Amazing, Linda. That’s admirable. Why cancer?”
She took a deep breath and blinked quickly to ward off the tears that threatened. “For your mom.”
Mason held her eyes. He didn’t smile or frown or anything. He looked stunned. Shifting his ice-cream cone to his left hand, he leaned towards her and hugged her with his right arm. He squeezed quickly and let go. “I know. I know. It’s hot. But thank you. That’s wonderful.”
He looked towards the crowd moving towards the long strip of rides. Linda was thankful he’d shifted his gaze. If he’d held her gaze any longer, she would be crying.
“I love the idea of philanthropic entrepreneurship,” she said. “I try to support other small businesses and charities that contribute to making the world a better place.”
Mason turned back towards her. “Other than frogs, any other inspiration?” He was trying to lighten the mood, which Linda appreciated.
She took a bite out of the waffle cone. Mmm, so good. She considered his question. Yes, she was inspired to try some new products. And an itty-bitty idea was taking root in her soul.
Maybe she could open her own store. Yes, a large retail space would be challenging financially, but maybe she could start at farmers’ markets or a co-op retail place.
There were options. She had spent hours the night before looking online and writing out a potential business plan. She wasn’t ready to share that with Mason yet. Too much risk that putting the dream into words would tarnish its glow.
“Yes,” she finally said. “I aim to make physical products, notepads to start. Then see if I can get some retail stores to carry my stuff. I talked to the owner of one store I went into yesterday, and she suggested it. I jotted down some notes last night. That’s why I didn’t go to dinner with you. We’ll see what happens, but I’m excited about the possibilities.”
“That’s great! I want to look at your portfolio. Now and when you develop more.”
“I’ll send you the link to my Etsy store.”
“Do that. You can do anything you set your mind to, Linda, you always have. I know you’ll be successful with this. Never stop chasing your dreams!” Mason finished his cone and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I feel refreshed. Ready to check out the rides?”
“The pie-eating contest starts in twenty minutes.” She reached out and touched his arm. “Can we watch that first?”
“Yeah, sure thing.”
Linda glowed with Mason’s vote of confidence, even if others might confuse that glow with sweat. She wasn’t the only one with beads of perspiration on her forehead, which she swiped at with an extra napkin, hoping it didn’t leave little pieces of lint on her skin.
She could make a go of creating physical products. She would look for printing options next week and made a goal to set up a table at a farmers’ market or vendor fair before the summer was out.
If she could prove to herself that there was a market for the things she wanted to make, she would look at further retail options this fall.
Excitement rippled through her like fast-moving waves under the skin. Raw energy and new ideas were competing for attention. She yearned for her journal so she could scribble the endless thoughts down.
She took a deep breath and looked down at her feet. She wiggled her toes in her tennis shoes, grounding herself in the here and now. Looking up at Mason, she felt a surge of emotions course through her. Thinking about his mom, feeling the love and loss of her, hearing his excitement about her ideas, and seeing his crooked smile, she wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him. But it was too hot. She pointed toward the pie-eating competition and said, “This way.”
Mason couldn’t talk Linda into any of the rides. She refused, saying they all looked like they were held together with zip ties. No, thank you.
They strolled the festival grounds, sampled blueberry bread, blueberry pie, blueberry custard, and blueberry tarts. Mason worried his teeth were going to be stained permanently blue before the day was over.
But it didn’t matter. He got to spend the whole day with Linda. She was relaxed and excited and things felt easy between them.
He caught her enthusiasm about expanding her side hustle. Amazed and proud that she donated a portion of her earnings to charity, he would step up his own financial support for charity. He gave blood every time a hospital or clinic asked or held a drive, but he could do more.
They were moving into a large tent where karaoke was being held, when Linda got a phone call from her sister.
“Tell her I said hello!” Mason shouted as Linda said hello. She raised a hand to him and shushed him.
“Laurel? What’s wrong?” she said into the phone, her eyebrows stitching together tightly.
Mason put his hand on Linda’s lower back to guide her out of the line of people entering the tent. He directed her to an empty bench, and they sat down.
“What? Your veil? Oh, no!” Linda said.
Mason raised his eyebrows. Oh boy.
“My cats? You’re kidding.” She paused, nodding her head.
Mason smiled to himself at her gesture; Laurel couldn’t see the head nod.
“I’m so sorry, Laur’. I’ll pay to replace it.” She winced at Mason, and he wondered how expensive wedding veils were.
Linda murmured agreement several more times before saying goodbye and hanging up.
“That didn’t sound fun,” Mason said, trying to lighten the mood.
“That’s an understatement. Laurel is livid. My cats tore up her veil.”
“How does that happen?”
“Don’t know. I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. Laurel was beside herself. Bride nerves.”
Linda bit her lip and Mason reached out and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Deep breath. Don’t stress.”
“I know. But it’s a four-hundred-dollar veil. And I already have a lot of expenses related to the wedding. Maybe now’s not the time to think about expanding my business.”
“Yes, it is. I’ll help with the cost of the veil.”
“No! Absolutely not. It’s not your responsibility.”
“I know that. But I want to help. Consider it my wedding gift to Laurel. Will she think I’m cheap if I get her a toaster for the wedding?” Mason smiled, pleased when Linda smiled, too.
“She has a hundred-dollar toaster on her registry.”
“What in the world?”
Linda laughed. “It’s a toaster oven, you can bake a pizza in it, too.”
“Wow. I need one of those. No, I don’t. It would take up too much space in my suitcase.” He grinned at her, but the smile fell from her face.
Idiot. Don’t remind her you travel all the time.
“All righty. I’ll find the cheapest thing on the registry.”
“Good luck. She’s got expensive tastes.”
“Let’s forget veils and registries and go sing karaoke.”
Linda gave a deep sigh. “Sure. Duet?”
“Always. ‘You’re the One That I Want?’”
“Yep.”
Two hours later, they left the karaoke tent and found the sun had set. The lights from the festival prevented them from seeing any stars, but Mason knew they were there. He wanted to take a walk on the beach when they got back to the condo building. He hoped Linda would be up for it.
Walking towards the parking lot, they found a large crowd of people leaving at the same time. Linda gave him a mischievous look and took off running. “Race you to the car!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Mason grinned and gave her a few more strides before he took off after her. He caught up to her a few yards from the car and ran past.
“Hey!” she yelled.
When he got to the car, he turned quickly and held out his arms. Not slowing down at all, she ran into him with full force.
“Oomph,” he said as he took the impact of her body. Following her momentum, he picked her up and swung her around to keep from falling over. Setting her on the ground, he laughed and refused to let her go.
Her body shook with laughter, and she threw her head back. He impulsively leaned forward and kissed her lightly on her neck.
She shrieked and wriggled in his grasp, but she didn’t break his grip. “Hey!”
“Hey, yourself. I won.”
“You did.” She stopped moving, and her eyes slid to his lips.
This was the moment he’d anticipated since watching fireworks with her. He didn’t want to rush things, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He leaned forward and kissed her.
Her lips were slightly salty and tasted like the popcorn they’d eaten earlier. He loosened his hold on her. If she wanted to break free, she could, but she remained in place. She kissed him back, slowly and gently, hesitant. She had every right to be cautious.
Much too soon, he broke the kiss and pulled back. He’d happily stand there for an hour kissing her, but he didn’t want to frighten her away.
Everything about kissing her was just as he remembered it. Her lips, the way she felt in his arms, the flowery scent of her. Adrenaline coursed through him. As much as he enjoyed this moment, his chest felt hollow, the knowledge that he’d been the one to leave her six years ago heavy upon his heart.
How many kisses had he given up? How many times could he have held her in his arms? He’d given up so much more than he’d even realized in all his lonely nights.
“You okay?” he asked, pushing a strand of hair off of her face, his hand lingering on her shoulder. He resisted the urge to pull her to him again.
“Yes,” she whispered, blinking slowly.
He kissed her on the nose and stepped back. There was so much he wanted to say, but words failed him.
He clicked the remote on the car and opened her door. “After you, Lindy.”
Settling in the car, Linda let out a huff of air. “Whoa,” she said softly once Mason shut her door.
She hadn’t realized that he had hit the remote start. The air-conditioning was on full blast, and she shivered. A pleasant change from the scorching-hot day.
What just happened?
Challenging him to a foot race was apparently flirting, you fool. No wonder he kissed you.
I kissed him back, to be fair.
You did. Way to go!
Linda smiled to herself as Mason opened the driver’s door. She’d hold all further self-talk, praise, admonishment, or other, until she was alone in the privacy of her uncle’s condo again.
“Had a good day?” Mason asked, snapping on his seatbelt. She remembered to do the same.
“Almost perfect.”
“Almost?” He put his hand on the headrest behind her and glanced all around the car before backing up. “What would have made it better?”
“Seeing you make a pig of yourself in the pie-eating contest,” she teased.
“What? No way. That’s a mess.”
“Didn’t say it wasn’t.”
Exiting the parking lot, Mason asked about her plans for Sunday.
“Hoping for a day of rest and relaxation. It was a hectic week. Much more so than I expected.”
“R&R it is. Mind if I join you?”
Linda laughed. “Not at all.”
How could she mind? Somewhere between the blueberry muffins and the blueberry ice cream, she’d forgiven him. He hadn’t transformed into some cold, heartless monster when he left her six years ago. He’d been protecting his heart. Just what she’d been doing since he’d left.
No wonder she had a hard time dating a man more than a few times. If she left first, they couldn’t beat her to it and hurt her. Protecting her heart, just as Mason had been protecting his heart from the grief that had nearly crushed him when his mom died.
Her heart felt lighter than it had in years. Happier. Today she’d felt like she was fifteen again, when the world was full of possibilities and opportunities. Her fifteen-year-old self would be proud that she was exploring the idea of expanding her business, willing to take on new risks. It was time to let go of list-building and start finger painting again.
Driving back to Seaside Bay, she watched the colors of the Gulf sunset shift from orange to pink to purple. Frogs and sunsets, inspirations for my next designs. She’d set her expectations low for this trip. A fun escapade with Sorcha, some downtime in Florida’s sunshine, and a few new digital designs.
The events of the past week had surpassed her expectations. It seemed she had her friendship with Mason back, inspiration for a whole new side hustle—maybe a new career—and excitement about the future. This trip had already given her oodles more than she’d expected, and she still had a week remaining.
She paused. That kiss had been more than friendly. It alluded to new possibilities and third chances. Was she seriously considering trying again with Mason? How could they make it work if he was unwilling to move home? Should she consider moving? Would she? The excitement from the kiss wore off, and doubt crept back in.