Rose shook her head in Faith’s direction. “Boring.”
“Scott is helping me leave. That is hardly a source of relationship.”
Rose’s nose crinkled. “Who said anything about a relationship? I was just implying a little fun.” She winked.
Scott would be fun. It would be no-strings-attached. No worry about futures and tricky conversations.
“I’ll admit he is hot! You should see him without a shirt.” I gave the girls a chefs kiss for emphasis. “And the thought of kissing him might have crossed my mind tonight.”
Faith squealed and started clapping her hands before she grabbed the steering wheel again.
Rose grinned and looked down at my legs. “So, did he like the outfit?”
I chuckled and matched her sass. “I mean, what’s not to like?”
She laughed. “Yes girl!”
Talking about Scott was not what tonight was about. I had no idea if the PTO mom was still bugging Faith and last I heard Rose was fighting with her sister again.
“Alright, no more about Scott. Tonight is about you, Rose. And giving you the best birthday ever! Wait till you see what I found.” I grabbed the black gift bag with gold stars and handed it up to her. She brushed her hair off her shoulder and laughed as she pulled out the tissue paper.
Chapter Eighteen
MARISSA
I satin my car in front of the B&B. I had come here once or twice a week the last couple of weeks to help with the trunk-or-treat, and each time the pain in my chest eased a bit. When I looked across the field, I remembered picnics with my parents when we would visit Nan, and Christmas pageants on the stage in the barn. I remembered eating fluffy pancakes with Carol and Mom as they laughed and gossiped. There were still moments from their funeral imprinted on my brain, but mixed in with the pain, moments of sunshine were breaking through.
Today we were meeting to finalize all the assignments and finish any last-minute problems. The trunk-or-treat was in seven days.
I didn’t want to take this event on, but I had to admit, I was enjoying the work. Watching people come together and work towards something beautiful, not for money or pride, but for their neighbors, was touching.
The meeting started in twenty minutes. I needed to set everything up. I shut my door with my trademark strong hip thrust andstarted walking across the parking lot. Around the corner, I saw a small pad of concrete and a basketball hoop installed in the ground.
That wasn’t there last week, was it?
I saw the group of boys passing the ball and laughing. It looked like it would get plenty of use.
“Hey, boys,” I called in their direction.
They grinned and waved and went back to dribbling. The back door to the B&B swung open. Scott came out and began walking to the community barn. The boys’ eyes lit up, and they all grinned.
“Scott!” they hollered.
“Hey Scott, do you have time for drills?” Ethan asked.
Even Josh, who didn’t talk to anyone, wanted to talk to him. “Hi, Scott! Watch this!” The boy dribbled the ball between his legs.
Scott grinned at the boys. “That’s awesome!” He rushed over and gave Josh a high five. Scott’s smile grew as he spotted me. “I have a meeting with Marissa now, but we’ll play later.”
The boys made kissing noises. “Scott and Marissa sitting in a tree . . .”
Scott laughed and jogged to meet me, and we headed to the barn together. “Don’t forget you have twenty minutes until you have to come help me,” Scott hollered to the group as they started passing the ball.
“You seem to have made some friends.”
He chuckled. “They’re good kids. We’re almost done painting our fishing booth for the trunk-or-treat. The booth was Josh’s idea.”
“Was the basketball hoop there last week?”
