“Here you go.” River’s tiny voice chirped as she strained to lift her basket up to me.
I chuckled, tousling her already windblown hair. “Did you help paint these?” I asked, and she smiled proudly, nodding that she did. I dug through the sparkly, puff-painted eggs and selected a gold one. “Thanks, River.”
“You’re welcome.” She grinned shyly and then skipped over to the girls, whooohed and awedover her. I chuckled, watching River eat the attention right up.
Sara shot me a mischievous look before squatting down and whispering something into River’s ear from behind a mitten’d hand. River laughed gleefully before sprinting away, and I chuckled watching her lose half her eggs in the process.
“What was that all about?” I closed the distance between us and nudged Sara’s shoulder.
“Just a little surprise for later.” Sara shrugged, her expression giving way to a genuine grin.
“Great, I can’t wait.” I rolled my eyes, secretly eating it up. I’d always loved Sara’s mischievous streak, and being on the receiving end of whatever little prank she was planning, brought me immense relief.
Actually, after our little chat this morning, she’d been all smiles, acting like nothing had ever been wrong. It made me feel like an idiot for staying so distant these last few years. It was Sara.Of course, we were fine.I was such a moron for letting years slip by, thinking she hated my guts. Regret didn’t even begin to cover it.
“So who’s going first?” I asked, already formulating a plan. “Ladies first?”
“Absolutely not.” Sara raised a brow suspiciously. “Youcan go first.”
“As you wish.” I shrugged, concealing a smile becauseshe’d taken the bait all too easily. She was going to attempt to wear me out by making me run first. Too bad it wouldn’t work.
“Alright, the first Egg Master can line up.” Charlotte’s voice crackled through the bullhorn. “And as a reminder, the Egg Masters will get a four-second head start,and no cheating.” She emphasized. “I’m looking at you, Damon Kingsley.”
“I would never.” Theo’s older cousin clutched his chest and shouted back with a devious grin, several paces away from us.
The long row of people next to us rolled their eyes in unison. A competitive streak ran through nearly everyone here. The unspoken rule was towin,no matter what. We all took that extremely seriously, because the Egg Master Crown was the highest honor you could earn at the Turkey Games.
“Ready?” I asked, carefully holding my sparkly hard-boiled egg.
“Are you?” Sara postured, with a little smirk.
I crossed my arms to hide the slight tremor in my hands. “Oh, I was born ready,” I smirked, stealing a second glance the second she wasn’t looking. Seeing her today—it was difficult not to stare.
River’s tiny voice crackled through the bullhorn. “On your mark, get set, go!”
I snapped back to reality, and heart already pounding, I took off, running towards the other side of the still-green lawn. Several seconds later, I heard River’s tiny voice again. “Chasers go!”
When I was almost to the podium, lined with colorful bowls—one for each team—I felt Sara’s fingertips graze my back. “Gotcha!” She shouted, slightly out of breath.
I chuckled with a shrug. “Damn, girl, I guess you’re still faster.”
She raised her eyebrows, panting hard. “Told ya.”
“Double or nothing?” I extended my hand, adding my gold egg to her red one.
“Double.” She agreed, taking the egg with a determined glimmer in her eye, and I realized wewere making up our own rules now.
While the teams lined up to switch, River used her opportunity with the bullhorn to tell everyone what she wanted for Christmas,though she forgot to push the button for half of it.
Sara was already in a runner’s stance, stretching, when I leaned over the top of her, catching a familiar whiff of something sweet that made me swallow hard.
I whispered into her ear with a chuckle, “Hey Rookie.”
“Hmm?”
“You’d better give it all you’ve got, because Iletyou catch me.” I admitted with a smirk.
Sara’s eyes snapped up to mine with wide-eyed understanding, right as River shouted. “Go!”
