Alton dug out a hearty forkful and blew on it. “Miss Savannah is smart. She knows who loves her.”
He sighed. “Grace loves her as much as she can love another person.” Even as he said the words, he knew it was a sad excuse. “I should have chosen better. Someone with a shred of maternal instinct.”
Avery Croft and her long, curly hair popped in his head. She’d done well with Savannah at the shop, helping her feel grown-up and not at all embarrassed about trying on her first set of bras, while Ben had made her feel like a child who wasn’t ready to step into the next phase of life. He could learn a thing or two from Avery Croft.
Chapter Ten
Avery
The smell of caramel popcorn in the booth on Avery’s right mixed with the smell of melting cheese from the booth on her left. The combination wasn’t all that bad. When she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, she could almost feel the bag of Costco brand caramel and cheddar popcorn in her hands. Curse Evelyn for bringing the wonderful temptation into her house.
Avery hadn’t drawn the caramel or cheddar popcorn stands for carnival assignments. She’d gotten a toddler game. The elementary-aged kids wanted to throw darts at balloons and shoot basketballs, but the little ones enjoyed getting wet and earning prizes. Rubber duckies definitely didn’t win her cool points with Landon. She should have signed up for a specific booth, but she’d done what she normally did and told them she’d work wherever they needed her. They’d stuck her and Claire here for the evening. Claire had run off to the bathroom, and Avery was seriously looking forward to her turn to pee, because she’d get to see the rest of the fundraiser.
She smiled as a mom she didn’t recognize brought over two-year-old twin boys who were so adorable in their matching jeans and polo shirts that her ovaries were screaming. “Hi.” Avery waved. “You guys want to play?”
They nodded.
“Okay, so pick a duck—any duck you want. If he has a red belly, then you get a prize.” They all had red bellies.
They dove for the water in unison, nearly going headfirst into the pool. The mom saved one, and Avery was able to save the other. She laughed as she pulled him away from the water. Their mom looked less than thrilled.
“Sorry, guys. You have to stay outside of the pool.”
“Or no prizes,” griped their mom.
Avery bit back her instinct to disagree. She’d hand over a whole bag of taffy to these two in a heartbeat. Besides, they’d likely be her only customers. She handed fishnets to each of the boys and let them get to work. When they netted their ducks, Avery exclaimed, “You won!” They grinned up at her with gap-toothed smiles and chubby cheeks.
Seriously, ovaries!
As she was saying goodbye to the adorable crew now happily munching on taffy, a commotion happened across the six-foot walkway that drew the attention of every person in the gym. The happy chaos of voices quieted, revealing the undertone of beeps and boops from the carnival games and the sound of hundreds of feet drumming against the gym floor.
Principal Brown, in old-fashioned red-and-white-striped swim trunks, made his way to the dunk tank directly across from Avery’s booth. He waved his arms and bowed to those who whistled and teased.
Avery stood in front of the pool to make sure no one was pushed into it on accident. The sheer number of students clutching tickets in their fists, ready to soak their principal, was a force.
Claire managed to push her way through the crowd and added her body to the human shield. “Can you believe this?”
“I didn’t realize he was so popular.” Avery scooted closer so they didn’t have to yell.
“He’s been talking smack all week. Really building this up.”
“Why?”
“Our main sponsor for the trip pulled out. Her kids graduated, and she wants to donate the money to their colleges instead. We have to cover the hotel with what we make tonight.”
Avery nodded. It happened. It wasn’t great timing, but what could they do about that? Sometimes life handed you lemons and you had to climb into a dunk tank. “At least they didn’t ask me to sit in that frigid tank.” She shuddered at the thought of a sudden plunge into the cold water.
“The kids would feel bad dunking you. We wouldn’t make any cash.”
Avery got up on her tiptoes to see over the sixth-grade boys hovering near the front. They wanted first shot. Landon’s dark hair caught her eye. He wanted to be in with the older kids, to be part of their crowd. She hadn’t seen him since they’d arrived, so it was good to know he’d stuck to the gym like she’d told him to. He ran with a group of five buddies who were dying to be the top of the elementary school pack next year. They thought they were so big and grown-up already. It was adorable. The fact that she found it adorable was humiliating to Landon, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.
Her gaze traveled around as the first few contestants took aim and threw. Nothing got close to the target. The younger kids wanted to get back to playing games, so they peeled off the edges. Parents, grandparents, and nannies followed as time after time, students missed.
Principal Brown hooted as he splashed his toes in the water. “Looks like that’s all that’s going to get wet tonight. Come on, Trent—let’s see you throw.”
Trent wound up and hurled the ball, missing by two inches. A collective groan went through the group.
Avery’s eyes landed on the man taking tickets at the front of the line. “I don’t believe it,” she muttered.
