“This place is so darn full,” Dan muttered David’s exact thoughts.
Dan had only agreed to come to the fair if Milly went on a few rides with him. That was one thing David absolutely refused to do. His brain couldn’t stop calculating how those things shouldn’t be working at all. Rusted bolts. Questionable welds. Safety inspections that probably involved a guy with a clipboard nodding and moving on. The main attraction to the things was probably people’s secret obsession with outwitting death.
“We’re going to the Ferris wheel,” Milly announced, appearing at his side with Dan close behind. She thrust another four bags at him. “Can you hold these?”
David took them without complaint. “Have fun.”
“You sure you don’t want to come?” Dan asked, though his grin suggested he already knew the answer.
“I’m sure.”
Milly patted his arm. “We won’t be long. Maybe an hour.”
“Take your time,” David said. “I’m going to grab a coffee and read the news on my phone.” He pointed to the coffee tent.
“Okay,” Dan and Milly called.
David watched them disappear into the crowd, Milly’s laughter trailing behind them.
He adjusted the bags hanging from his arms and headed for the coffee tent. It sat near the edge of the fairgrounds, a large white structure with tables scattered inside and out. He claimed a table in the back corner, pushed two chairs together, and propped the bags onto them before sinking into his own seat with a sigh of relief.
“What can I get you?” a server asked, appearing with a notepad.
“A large coffee. Black.” David watched the young man, who nodded and then disappeared.
David pulled out his phone, intending to catch up on the news, but his attention snagged on two familiar figures walking past the tent entrance.
His heart lurched.
Eve Reynolds moved through the crowd with Lila beside her, both of them carrying shopping bags that looked just as heavy as his own. Eve’s face was flushed, her hair slightly disheveled, and even from this distance, David could see the exhaustion in the way she held her shoulders.
“I need a cup of coffee,” Eve muttered to Lila. “And just to sit for a few minutes. My feet are killing me.”
“I told you not to wear those boots,” Lila said with a grin, her eyes drifting longingly toward the rides in the distance. “I want to go on a ride or two.”
“Oh, sweetheart, let me get a cup of coffee first,” Eve told her. “Once I’m revived and change these shoes, we can go.”
“Okay,” Lila sighed in defeat.
They turned toward the coffee tent, and David quickly looked back at his phone, pretending he hadn’t been watching them.
Milly slipped past them at the entrance, moving fast, her expression somewhere between exasperated and amused.
“David,” she said, hurrying to the table. “Dan put his wallet in one of the bags. Why does he always do that?”
“He’s worried about pickpockets?” David offered.
“Who could just as easily steal a bag,” Milly pointed out, rummaging through the pile. “Where is it?”
“David?” A female voice called.
His head snapped up.
Lila stood near the counter where Eve was ordering, waving at him with a bright smile. “Look, Aunt Eve.” She tugged on Eve’s arm. “There’s David, the man who nearly knocked you over yesterday.”
Eve turned, and their eyes met.
She gave him a tight smile that made his chest tighten in a way he didn’t want to examine too closely.
