I gasped when I realized how that sounded. Stopping in my tracks, I turned to Jacob and tried to pretend I didn’t see the way his pupils dilated.
Think! Say something funny to cover your blunder!
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Jacob reached up and brushed his knuckles down one of my cheeks. He leaned in close, and I could feel his breath on my lips.
“Sorry!”
I grunted when an elbow bumped against my back, jostling me forward into Jacob’s arms. He caught me and steadied me.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
We stayed like that for a few more minutes, before Jacob finally broke contact and stepped back. He grabbed my hand and wordlessly pulled me along to the Ferris Wheel.
“We didn’t get cotton candy,” I said.
“We’ll get it for the ride home. Right now, I want to be high up in the air with no one around but the two of us.”
I stifled a groan. While I was all for the being alone part, I wasn’t so excited about the being high up in the air. The Ferris Wheel had never been my favorite ride. In fact, it hadn’t even made the list.
I tugged on the safety belt when the attendant turned around, double checking to make sure I was secured. Not that it would do much good in the way of safety if the bottom of the box fell off. I’d just plummet to the ground.
“You okay?” Jacob asked.
I shrugged. “Not really my favorite ride. Especially when we do the slow stopping at the top to let on new riders. It always freaks me out a little.”
He gave me a wolfish grin. “That’s my favorite part.”
I grabbed onto the bar as the ride started, slowly lifting me backward and up into the air. It stopped mid-way up to change riders. The lights from the rides, games, and parking lot were just starting to illuminate Twin Oaks Park. If I weren’t so terrified, I’d have appreciated the view.
Jacob slid his arm across the back of the seat and drew me closer. “Relax.”
I tried, but when the ride slowly started again, I whimpered. Once again it stopped…this time we were at the very top. I closed my eyes. I was pretty sure my knuckles on the bar were white.
“I remember once when my younger brother and I were riding this ride,” Jacob said. “I was probably ten. He was probably seven. He was a live wire. Always into things, running, screaming, jumping.”
I chuckled. “Are you sure that wasn’t you?”
“Oh, I was a typical boy, no doubt. But my brother was always just a little…more. He was impulsive and had a hard time with boundaries.”
“Okay.” The ride started again, and I opened my eyes to take in the park.
“My parents decided he and I could ride this ride together, and they’d ride in the car behind us. My mom kept telling me to make sure he was secured and that he didn’t rock the ride. Just typical parent stuff.” He laid his hand over the top of mine, and I looked up at him. “Everything was fine at first. Then suddenly we stopped at the top to change people, and before I knew it, he’d wiggled the lap belt enough he could get on his knees in the seat. He wasn’t trying to be bad, he just wanted to lean over the back of the ride and yell hello down at my parents. His skinny little arms are waving wildly in the air, and I was so frozen with fear, I didn’t react at first. Not until I heard my mom screaming. But for those brief five seconds when I couldn’t move, images of him falling overboard filled my mind. I was so scared.”
The ride started back up, and I noticed I was more relaxed as he told the story.
“What happened?”
He let out a little laugh. “I yanked his arms down, turned him around, and proceeded to chew his butt out.” He smiled and got a faraway look in his eye. “I didn’t normally yell at Ryan. I couldn’t. I knew he looked up to me, and I loved that. But I was so scared, I just couldn’t help it. He started to cry, and he continued to cry for the rest of the ride.”
We descended, and I laid my head against his shoulder. “You’re a good brother.”
“Not too good. The minute my mom and dad stepped off the Ferris Wheel, I could tell we were dead meat.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “As you know, times were different back then. My dad grabbed up Ryan and gave him a couple hard swats. And then he did the same to me.”
I gasped. “He spanked you? Why?”
“Because the last thing my mother told me to do was to watch after Ryan and make sure nothing happened to him. And I failed. It was the first time I realized how truly important my job as a big brother was.”
