Chapter 14 Sparklers and Sparks #2
"Good luck at your stations!" Eloise said as she waved and walked down the street.
"Save me some peach shortcake!" Tilly called.
They each branched off to where Jen had assigned them, and Tilly was reading the map, looking for tent 43 when she felt something.
It was a light tapping inside of her mind; not unpleasant, but she was pulled from the map and stopped walking, causing someone to bump into her.
Apologies and hand-waving ensued until that odd feeling dissipated and she reoriented herself.
Tent 43. Right. She looked up to get her bearings once again and saw that she stood directly next to what she was searching for.
A navy blue tent with white stars and a beautiful display of balloons; silver balloons and ones shaped like exploding fireworks.
The twinkle lights dancing and blinking along the top of the tent added a sparkle of charm.
And when she looked inside of the tent behind the table where anyone could trade a ticket for a small pack of sparklers, her insides dipped when she saw that Jen had filled her partner spot.
And the partner she had chosen was staring at her intently with dark eyes and a stoic face.
Chief Theodore Landry stood there, tall and unbearably handsome in a white shirt and jeans.
She pulled in a breath and held it there, feeling like sparklers were going off inside of her.
Men were not going to change her. They were not going to dictate how she lived or moved about this town.
After a night of feeling embarrassed and a little angry with the letdown that was Ronnie, she had awoken the next day light and not bogged down by sadness or disappointment.
And she realized that she was okay, and she always would end up being okay.
She also woke up to an apology text from Ronnie with a tale of bumping into old friends and losing track of time. The text went unanswered.
And her heart lifted considerably.
Because she didn't want Ronnie. What she wanted was to not feel taken advantage of. And that was up to her.
"Chief," she said, with chin raised as she entered the back of the tent.
"Miss Nguyen," he replied with a dip of his. "You've been avoiding me. Again. Scared to have a conversation with me?"
Her eyes flashed and she felt a rolling heat hit her. "I most certainly am not. I happen to be very busy."
He tilted his head a notch. "So you're not frightened to be caught with me?"
"No," she replied indignantly. Both hands were on her hips. "You don't frighten me and I have no problem being around you."
"Have dinner with me."
Her heart stopped. "What?"
"You're not avoiding me. I don't frighten you. You have no problem being around me."
"That doesn't all translate to me wanting to be around you," she argued.
He almost smiled. She could see it in the way his eyes crinkled the slightest at their edges.
When he stepped behind her she sucked in a breath wondering what he was doing but two teenagers had come to their booth and were exchanging tickets for sparklers. She was far too jumpy and he was going to catch on.
"I can hear your heartbeat speed up," he whispered against her ear. "Either you're lying about me frightening you or about not wanting to be around me."
The warm breath and dark whispers were not helping the speed of her heart, but thankfully he stepped back into place next to her, a respectable distance even.
Another group came for their sparklers. She smiled and watched as he chatted, did his job until they were alone again.
"So, how does this work?" She looked at the neatly organized table and ran a fingertip over the white and blue hydrangeas to give her hands something to do.
"Well," he drew the word slowly, his southern drawl making her stomach dip. "I usually like to start with how you've been, what you've been up to, like how running the Crescent Inn is going." He waved between them. "And then you reciprocate by asking me similar questions."
She rolled her eyes. "I know how to have conversation. I meant how is this booth supposed to work."
He did smile then, enjoying the way he riled her up. She could sense it. It bubbled and made her feet shift. He gave her the exact instructions that Jen gave him, except for one that Tilly's friend had given him personally. He kept that tucked into his jeans pocket for now.
A zipping energy was buzzing through her and she wouldn't stop to analyze where it was coming from but when her shoulder brushed against his chest as a mom and her young boy visited to exchange tickets for sparklers, she felt the same energy from him.
It was a matching feeling like something falling into place.
She shot away from him, disconcerted, and when she flicked her eyes up to his face she saw him watching her, looking for something, and she fumbled the box of sparklers, cursing softly under her breath as they fell off of the table.
The mom smiled warmly at her and picked them up, handing them to her son as she thanked them.
More people came by, a steady stream wanting to make sure that they had the different colored sparklers ready for the fireworks show.
"Tilly."
The sound of her name in a tone that made her feel like she was fifteen years old and about to be knocked down made her close her eyes and gather herself before opening them and putting a smile on her face.
Fae looked beautiful in a white sundress, the thin straps showing off her hard-earned figure.
"Fae," she said brightly. It was forced and did not match the dread inside of her. "You made it!"
"Well, there's nothing to do here. And you won't make time for me so what choice do I have?" Her usually pinched look turned scrutinizing as she looked over Tilly. "You still haven't stopped dying your hair juvenile colors."
"I've had green in my hair since you got here."
"And I had a lot on my mind and a lot to take in so now I'm pointing it out. You're nearly forty, and looking it, the odd color only dramatizes that age. Mom would be disappointed."
"Well, I do like to stick to tradition. It is the Nguyen way," Tilly quipped with a smile that was starting to hurt.
"The Nguyen way is to conduct yourself in a manner fitting the name, Tilly. Which you have never quite grasped."
Tilly felt a wall of anger hit her right side and seep into her. She barely kept herself from glancing at the chief, but she could pick out his emotions in colors of dark red and grey, could feel their ice. Which was interesting.
"As much fun as this public dressing down is," Tilly said between clenched teeth. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah. Point me to a booth that won't make me look bloated. And a bookstore. Your library at the motel only has outdated fiction."
Deep breath in. "There is a power bowl and salad tent on the main strip. Green tent. Can't miss the cheerful owners. And Bookstores are closed, as is the library."
"Thank you," she said pointedly. Then her look turned over and up to where Tilly's booth partner stood silently.
A feline smile crooked her mouth as her eyes dragged down and back up.
"Well, you're bound to sell a lot of sparklers.
" She leaned closer to Tilly and cupped her mouth in a faux whisper that he could hear, "Too bad you're not like the main women in your favorite novels. He would be cast as the lead."
"That's not," she waved a hand at a curious chief, then rolled her eyes. "This is our chief of police. Theodore Landry. Chief Theodore," she tried out and shook her head. "Landry. Chief Landry?" She finally turned to him. "What do you like to be called?"
There was a glint in his dark eyes that said something to her, something intimate and tilting, but she couldn't quite grasp it before he turned, and it was gone as he looked at her sister holding out his strong hand. It gulfed her sister's slim one as she took it smiling up at him.
"Chief Landry. Though Tilly calls me Theo.
I'd like to think I'd be one of the dark, handsome vampires in one of her books.
" Tilly's eyes shot wide. His joke, not a joke unbeknownst to her sister, and the familiarity with which he spoke her name felt like a caress.
It started at her shoulders in a whisper and trailed down both arms in a frisure that made her bite her lip. What was he doing?
Fae's eyes narrowed slightly before she pulled her hand back. "It's nice that you're friendly with the townspeople. Speaks of a good leader."
"I'm not," he said simply. "I'm very standoffish.
" Tilly's eyebrows rose at his self-described characterization.
"But Tilly pulls out a," he paused and looked down at her in a moment of heat, his tongue just barely touching the tip of his tooth before he looked back at Fae and finished, "friendlier side. "
Tilly's mouth was open but then she snapped it shut as her sister's eyes turned shrewd as they slid to her. Finished with not getting what she intended, Tilly's embarrassment, she was bored.
"Call me later. I shouldn't be abandoned by family right now." And then she was gone. Walking in her pert way, leaving behind her signature unkindness.
It was loud, what was left behind. That was true about both kindness and unkindness; they left either music or the echo that would multiply inner turmoil.
"So, that's my sister."
He didn't respond with words, but his look said what he thought of her.
"So, I hope you know I'm going to call you Theo now."
"I was hoping."
She hid her smile by turning and busying her hands straightening the sparklers.
She hadn't answered him about dinner. It hung there between them, but to his credit, he didn't push it.
"How is the inn?" he asked during a lull.
"Oh, it's good. I mean, it's a lot to learn. I've never run an inn before. I," she stopped her confession from pouring out of her mouth, and before he could pull it from her, a new crowd of people came with their tickets ready.
"Oh, hey Freida," Tilly said cheerfully.