River finishes with his fan, and as she walks away, she turns and calls out, “Oh, and I loved you in that hemorrhoid-cream commercial!”
River turns five shades of red, and I hold in a laugh. That’s the best thing that’s happened since I woke up. I wish I had his face on camera, because I could watch that a zillion times. We walk another block to the town square.
“This is the heart of Willow Shade,” Cricket says, gesturing around the square as we walk.
River nods, still looking a bit shaken from his encounter with his overly enthusiastic fan. “It’s charming.”
“See that fountain?” Cricket points to the center of the square. “The Whitmore family donated it back in the 1980s. They made their fortune in shipping.”
“The colored lights are cool. Has it always been colored like this?”
Cricket shrugs. “No, they added those in the early 2000s. Legend says if you kiss someone next to the fountain after dark, you’ll be together forever.”
I roll my eyes. Of course she’d bring up the kissinglegend. For some reason, that irritates me even more than River pretending they were engaged.
River doesn’t say anything about the kissing legend, but he does smile at Cricket in an annoying way that makes me want to smack him.
“And that’s our courthouse,” Cricket continues, pointing to the brick building with the clock tower. “It was built in 1923 and has survived three hurricanes.”
River looks interested. “Wow, three hurricanes? Did they do a lot of damage?”
“Destroyed some houses, but many are still here from the 1920s,” Cricket says. “The homes here are built strong.”
River’s gaze travels over the courthouse. “That’s good.”
“The clock tower chimes every hour,” Cricket goes on, “and you can hear it from anywhere on the island. During the summer, they set up a farmer’s market here every Saturday morning, and the gazebo over there hosts our Christmas tree lighting ceremony.” She stops. “Wait, that’s going to be this Friday. There’s a parade and everything.”
River grins at her. “We should go.”
Of course he leaves me out completely, which bugs me more than it should. I know he likes her, and I should butt out. He’s obviously a nice guy, not a killer.
Cricket looks pleased. “I’d love to go with you.”
River sighs and looks around the square. “This sounds like a really close-knit community.”
“It is. Sometimes too close-knit. Everyone knows everyone’s business,” I say.
As if to prove my point, an older man walking his dog waves at us. “Good afternoon, Cricket! How’re your parents doing? They’re touring Asia right now, aren’t they?”
“They’re good, Mr. Henderson! Having a blast. Tell Mrs. Henderson I said hi!”
River chuckles. “I see what you mean.”
“This used to be where the old market was, back when everything came by boat,” Cricket explains. “The whole area is decorated for every season—pumpkins in fall, lights in winter, flowers in spring.”
“The steps of the courthouse are where all the high school seniors take their graduation photos,” I add, remembering my own awkward senior portrait session there.
“Including this guy,” Cricket says, nudging me. “Though he spent the whole time complaining about having to wear a tie.”
River grins. “I can picture that.”
Great. Now they’re bonding over my hatred of formal wear. I want to duck out of this day, but I made such a big deal out of coming with them, I feel like I can’t.
As we walk back toward the car, Cricket talks about some of the things we didn’t get to walk by on the island and about the famous annual Willow Shade Festival. I trail along behind them.
I notice Cricket’s walking funny as we near her car. I look down at her sandals and see she’s got a blister forming on the back of her foot. Ouch. It looks nasty.
We say goodbye to River, finally, and get into Cricket’s car. She turns to me and smiles. “That went well, don’t you think?”
