Giving April a serious look, I tell her point blank, “No.”
“Grumpy,” she mumbles.
“I’m not grumpy. I’m trying to have a weekend with Hadley.” We step forward as the line moves.
“And they are kids. Isn’t gratitude one of Hadley’s theme words at school this week?” She is completely making that up, but it’s effective.
Hissing out my breath, I turn back to the boys and offer a short yet effective wave. The boys instantly grin with excitement before their parents usher them along in the line.
A slow clapping sound hits my ears, and I turn to see April clearly congratulating my efforts. She’s exasperating, but at least her efforts to annoy me are amusing sometimes.
“Daddy, I want to go straight to the log cabin,” Hadley says, pulling my arm.
“You’re the boss.”
After getting our tickets, we enter the fictitious prairie town, a sort of tribute to the area from years far back.
Hadley is already walking in the direction of where we need to go, and I can’t help but notice someone else in our group moving with gusto.
“Someone is excited about the log cabin. When was the last time you were here?”
April glances to her side as we walk. “Years ago, but something tells me it hasn’t changed. I wanted to go a while back for fun, but Je—, I mean, someone thought it was childish, so didn’t want to play along. Besides, can’t you smell the wood burning? I love it.”
Taking a sniff of the air, I do smell the fire.
“I wonder if I can make a candle like last time,” Hadley mentions before interlinking her arm with April’s.
Watching them skip a few steps ahead of me, I don’t like it. Hadley is taking to April, and maybe I wanted Hadley and me to be a team on our tolerance level of April. But now I’m truly two against one, and I can’t help but feel an odd spark inside me that maybe all along I wanted April and Hadley to instantly click.
I do my best to ignore my mind meandering into unknown territory, but I seem to zone out slightly as Hadley and April approach the log cabin with excitement. A woman who looks maybe twenty is dressed up and is stirring a caldron over a fire.
“Something about 1800s-inspired fires just hit the spot.” April takes in a deep inhale, stretching her arms into the sky as she stands next to me and watches Hadley disappear inside the cabin.
“Oh yeah, calms me completely,” I say, sarcastic, as I scan the scene to see that everyone seems to be in their own world.
Hadley waves through an open window, and I return the gesture.
“You know she is completely checking you out,” April points out.
“Who?”
“Witch lady.”
“I don’t think she's a witch; did you not get the memo that pioneer times is the theme?”
April snickers and gives me a knowing grin. “Fine. The twenty-year-old who likes to dress up is checking you out while she stirs the pretend soup.”
I glance at the woman by the fire, and she is shooting me some serious flirty eyes before her hands adjust her costume in a not-so-subtle way to boost her cleavage up. Crossing my arms over my chest, a wide grin spreads on my face when I turn to look at April who almost has a soft pout.
“Unlucky for her, I don’t pick up women when I’m in Hadley's presence.”
“Sounds more like her lucky day then.” April tries to avoid her eyes, meeting my own. “Oh, look at that, the sheriff arrived on a horse, probably to arrest the soup-making pioneer for her scandalous ways.” April is quick to power-walk to the scene to meet Hadley who is curious about the arrival of the character.
I can’t help but smile at the fact that, if I do say, Miss April is a little jealous.
* * *
Endingthe call on my cell phone, I jog to meet up with April and Hadley up ahead. April hands me back my drink without ever losing focus on the brochure she and Hadley are looking at.
