“Check this out.” Auntie Ezzie came over to his side of the flatbed, flexed her arm and produced a small bulge.
He knew better than to laugh. “Whoa! Muy bueno, tia.”
She grinned. “Wanna arm wrestle?”
“It’s a date. After the parade.”
“Places, everyone! Places!” Betty’s voice blared from her megaphone. A former first-grade teacher, she corralled the participants with the same no-nonsense method that worked for six-year-olds. “We step off in two minutes!”
Nudging Scout into a trot, he joined his four siblings gathered on horseback behind the flatbed. “Everybody ready?”
“I can’t wait.” Greta, his youngest sister, had worn her blinged-out jeans and shirt, her best hat and her fanciest boots. Her golden hair glinted in the sun.
“You’re beautiful. So’s Muffin.”
“It took forever, but it was worth it.” She’d braided ribbons and flowers into her buckskin’s mane and tail.
He glanced at Monty, Zay and Rio. “You guys clean up pretty good, too.”
“Better than last year,” Monty said.
“Yeah, well….” The last July Fourth had been the first one without their dad. They’d struggled to make an effort. “He’d be proud of us today.”
“Gotta make Adam proud, too,” Zay said. “The mayor’s family can’t show up looking like bums.”
Greta sighed. “I am proud of him, but it feels weird that he’s up front instead of back here with us.”
“At least he and Tracy insisted on riding Banjo and Moonlight instead of cruising along in somebody’s ragtop doing the royal wave.” Rio made a face. “That’s so not Bridger Bunch style. We?—”
“And we’re rolling!” Betty called out and the band struck up Stars and Stripes Forever.
“Show time.” Zay tilted his head toward Rio and the two wheeled their horses in behind Greta.
Also riding abreast, Luis and Monty took the rear so they could monitor everything ahead of them. Since Laughing Creek Ranch’s entry was in the middle of the procession, they were in sight of the square within a few minutes.
“You did great, bro.” Monty raised his voice to be heard over the band. “I can tell you’re stressed, but you should be able to relax, now. The hardest part’s over.”
“Maybe.” The sun beat down on him, which explained why he was sweating. It wasn’t the thought of seeing Jordan. “It’s a parade, though. Things can still go sideways.”
“The weather’s gorgeous so let’s think positive.”
“Alrighty.” If he kept his gaze unfocused, he might not notice her in the crush of folks on the sidewalk. That was probably the smart move. No telling how he’d react if he saw her.
Then again, he might not even recognize her. She could have changed her hair color, put on weight, lost weight. Five years was a lot. People changed. She could look totally?—
Beautiful. The breath left his lungs. She was here, unmistakable in the crowd gathered in front of the Golden Nugget. She hadn’t worn a hat and her blonde hair shone bright even in the shade.
Yearnings he would have sworn he’d ditched years ago swept through him.
She hadn’t spotted him yet. She was too enthralled by the show happening on the flatbed.
He should stop looking at her. But she drew him like a magnet, exactly the way she had five years ago. Had he known this might happen?
Yes, dammit. On some level he’d suspected the fire still burned. No wonder he’d avoided mentioning Jordan to his family, to anyone. He’d known it would provide oxygen to the simmering coals.
Was that true for her? Is that why she’d come to the parade and signed up for the tour? He’d done a good sales job on his family and the wild horse sanctuary, but maybe she was here because of him.
In which case he needed to figure out what he wanted to do about it.
