He sighed. “Consider it done.”
“I’m sorry, Ethan. I wish I could help, but, this is… yeah… no.” She shook her head. “I can’t.”
He’d have to figure out something else. “I s’pose it is what it is.”
“I believe the words you’re searching so hard for are, ‘thank you, Em, for helping me see that this idea is not a good one.’” The little half grin made him sort of wish he could ask her to be his actual girlfriend.
But even if she wanted it, which she’d made it clear she didn’t,thatsituation would definitely not be fair to anyone. Not at all. If all went to plan, he’d soon have network filming and the like to juggle with his schedule. There would be no time left for that kind of reality with her to work out.
“You make me raspberry sauce and I will go all out and fix you more treats,” she said with big eyes. “And then I’ll even check on your house when you are out of town again next time.”
He chuckled. “I knew I liked you, Em.”
She gave him a sidelong glance with a wry smile. “I mean, what’s not to like?”
“Indeed,” he agreed. “Indeed.”
Chapter Nine
EMMALINE
The thingEm forgot about living in a small community was how overlapped everyone’s lives became. And how quickly it happened.
Like today at the elementary school Summer Splash Carnival—a PTA fundraiser. She stared at a formerly blank wall of the school as a new mural to supervise, her dad and all of her brothers brought a firetruck over for the kids to inspect, and Ethan manned the grill serving up fancy hot dogs for only five dollars.
Lauren and Cress got roped into serving at the bake sale table on the other side of Ethan’s grill. Annie helped them keep things moving.
Barbie and a whole crew from the cat house had a fresh batch of cats and kittens all ready to be cuddled and, hopefully, adopted. Fiona had no problem volunteering to help snuggle all the animals.
Families scattered across the basketball courts for horseshoes and a bean bag toss. There were booths for face painting, balloon animals, and several inflatable bounce houses and huge inflatable slides near the playground. The high school jazz band even stopped in to play for everyone. It was lively... and surprisingly fun. There were kids everywhere and the vibe was filled with excitement.
“Oh, hon, careful,” Em said to one of the kids as she knelt to clean up the paint splatters dripping off the side of a pink paint can. “Let the grown-ups get that.”
For only a few dollars, kids could graffiti up the side of the school—under her supervision. They were calling it a mural, which was definitely a word...that’s for sure. Lucky for them, they were already planning to repaint over the, well, mural, before school came back in session in August. Which was a solid choice given how it all didn’t come together.
“You need a break, and some of that man’s meat,” Cress said, practically skipping over to where Em was supervising paint splatters.
Cress pointed to Ethan.
Em glanced over in his direction. He was serving hot dogs like they were free diamonds. His line was insane.
Hot dogs and signing autographs and…this was a charade. She couldn’t say how she knew he wasn’t enjoying himself. But he wasn’t. He was great at putting up a front, smiling and being charming and patient despite the over-the-top manhandling by every woman in line, but she could tell that he was sort of miserable.
Somehow he seemed to sense Em’s gaze on him. He glanced her way, waved a little with his tongs, and mouthed ‘help’, before getting sucked back into the fray.
Em had shared with her friends Ethan’s request and her adamant dismissal of the idea. Which was, she was pretty certain, why Lauren decided to sell T-shirts at the carnival with Ethan’s hashtag across the chest. And, also, why Cress wore one of those white T-shirts with the black block font right across her tatas.
“Skip the line,” Cress said. “Jack has a plate ready for you and the other volunteers.”
Em gave Cress a quick briefing on how the painting went and then she headed over to where Jack had plates all ready for volunteers.
It wasn’t the usual carnival food that one would expect at something like this. No, this event was Ethanized and everything managed to look gourmet even on paper plates.
Gourmet with all sorts of toppings from cheese to jalapeños and even truffle oil. Freshly baked buns topped with seasonings—rosemary to garlic parm, and even a special spicy mustard version.
Em grabbed a plate and watched as Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face.
“He’s losing his mind,” Jack said, clearly talking about Ethan.
