Scott stood next to me and nodded to the retreating girl. “I think that will be you someday.”
I felt my stomach drop with panic. “What do you mean?”
“I can see you dressing up your kids and doing the big family matching costumes.” His grin was wide.
Crap! No, no, not having this conversation.
The sensation of ice water rushing through my veins overwhelmed me. Carol looked at me with raised brows. I shook my head.
No. No. I hadn’t told him, and I didn’t need to, right? We were leaving.
Carol nodded and kept walking down the line.
I stepped further away from Scott. “I think I should go check on everyone. Make sure they have enough hot dogs and all that . . .”
“Hey, are you okay?” Scott moved near me. “You are looking a little pale. Do you need to sit down? Did I say something?”
“Excuse me!” A little cowboy held out his bucket, but Scott only watched as I retreated from his car.
“Excuse me!” yelled the child, holding out his bucket further.
“Marissa.” Scott set down the bowl of candy. The young boy decided that meant it was all fair game. Scott came beside me. “Can I get you anything?”
“Yeah. I mean, no.” I stumbled on a tree root, and he reached out and steadied me. “What I meant was no, I don’t need anything. I just realized I needed to check on everyone.” I shook out of his hold.
I could tell he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t press, so I turned and left Peter Pan and any questions behind.
Luckily, the rest of the night I had plenty to do other than think of Scott or kids or any conversations that wouldn’t be happening tonight.
After cleaning up with aching feet, catching two sets of high schoolers making out, and tracking down two lost Power Rangers, the night was finished. I leaned up against my car and sighed. That was a lot. I wasn’t ready to do it all over, but it was awesome.
Someone leaned next to me, and the smell of cinnamon surrounded me. I peeked up at Scott.
“Wow . . .” Scott had a goofy grin on his face. “You did it. This whole thing was amazing.”
“It was great. Thanks for all your help. It wasn’t me, really. Carol has done it for years and had most things figured out.” He turned to me and looked at my face.
He wasn’t going to bring up the kid thing again, was he?
His eyebrows were down, and he was watching me. The silence stretched and pulled around us. “Are we okay?” he asked.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?” My voice was too high. I cleared my throat.
Scott tipped his head to the side but didn’t press. He leaned back against my car and looked up. I followed his gaze. It was a clear night, and I could see Orion’s belt. Maybe I could find Cassiopeia. It was one Mom always pointed out.
Aww, Mom.
If she and Dad were here, they would tell me what to do with everything; Scott, London, the B&B. How do I navigate life without them?
“The stars here amaze me. I still can’t get over it. They are so bright.” He pointed to the sky.
“Yeah.” I shrugged, looking at the stars. “Yes, found it.”
“What?”
“Cassiopeia.”
His body turned, and he began studying me instead of the night sky. “What’s Cassiopeia?” I felt him shift his weight closer.
