Chapter
Fourteen
Aelin and Baileystood on the crowded sidewalk, the morning sun already beating down on their shoulders. Bailey tugged on her shirt, eyes wide as the band marched down the street at the start of the Canada Day parade. Floats adorned in red and white crept down the street, people waved Canadian flags, and children darted past the curb to collect the candy that was most certainly cracked and crumbled inside the wrappers.
Aelin leaned down to Bailey. "Remember when we went to the Rose Parade with Grandma and Grandpa?"
Bailey nodded. "Yeah, there weren't any bagpipes."
Aelin laughed. "True, definitely lacking in bagpipes." She looked back at the procession of men in kilts.
“I want to be in a parade.” Bailey grabbed a sucker that landed next to her shoe.
Aelin smiled, ruffling her daughter's hair. "Ooh, you guys should do it as a choir next year!"
Bailey beamed at her. “Do you think they’d let us?”
Aelin shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
After they were hot and sweaty from walking through the Indigenous Artisans Market and watching a few performances on the main stage, they made their way to Megan's house.
The backyard was a welcome haven from the crowds at the Confluence and the parking lot on all the streets leading from the East Village. Tag stood in front of the grill manning the burgers, and Aelin took her dill pickle salad to join the rest of the sides on the picnic table.
"Glad you made it!" Megan greeted them with a bright smile and a wave. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a sleeveless blouse and denim shorts that showed off her somehow already-tan legs.
Aelin gave her a hug, and Tag waved from the grill. "Hope you're hungry. I put on extra burgers."
Aelin nodded. "Starving. Thanks for having us." She followed Megan into the kitchen and helped transport paper products outside as neighbours and friends began arriving, then set up camping chairs and jumped into small talk with some of the people she’d met last year.
Bailey disappeared after only eating half her burger and some chips and spent the rest of the afternoon playing dodgeball on the neighbour’s trampoline. After dinner was put away and a few wine coolers later, Aelin and Bailey walked with the others along the sidewalk toward the park.
It was only seven thirty. They still had three-plus hours to wait until fireworks but there were horseshoe pits, a playground, and a disc golf course to keep them busy. They played and chatted until it started to get dark, then staked out their spot on the hill.
Megan was talking with some women from her neighbourhood, so Aelin pulled out her phone and scrolled to her sister's contact. After a couple of rings, Mariah's voice came through.
"Happy Canada Day!"
Aelin laughed. “I know you don’t think it’s a real holiday. You don’t have to pretend.”
"They still have the queen on their money. That’s all I’m saying."
Aelin stood and walked up the hill a ways. "Ugh. I miss you. Why is it still two weeks until we get to hang out?"
"Okay . . . speaking of which. I have some bad news."
Aelin’s stomach dropped. “If you tell me you’re not coming?—”
“No! No, we’re coming for sure, but Blake dropped out.”
Aelin groaned. “Seriously? He’s known about this for over six months.” Blake, their youngest brother, wasn’t flaky, and he loved Flathead more than both of them combined. “What happened?”
Mariah sighed. “He got some opportunity to backpack in Switzerland.”
Aelin pursed her lips. Okay. So that was a pretty damn good excuse. “Are his friends still coming?”
“No, they decided it would be weird if he wasn’t there.”
Not wrong. But that left her and Mariah footing the bill for five cabins between the two of them. Aelin’s pulse thrummed in her ears. That was three hundred a night times five. Times seven nights.
