“Some of the carnival games from back in the day were… not so nice,” she admitted with a grimace. “There was a lot of jeering at people just because they were different. Obviously, we will not be including that part.”
“Wise,” he agreed.
“But,” she went on, “there are definitely some things that we can bring to the present. And then it’s learning, fun, andfunds for the society.”
“Did you steal my pun?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she admitted, totally unrepentant. “I absolutely did.”
He found that he didn’t mind, not in the least.
They worked together for a little while longer, each cheerfully shooting out any ideas that crossed their minds while Winnie made a list of possibilities.
“My brain is too fried to narrow these down tonight,” she said eventually, closing her laptop and pushing it away.
Ithadgrown rather late, Shane realized with a little jolt of surprise. Whoops. So much for telling Eleanor he wouldn’t be out long.
“I should get out of your hair,” he said to Winnie, feeling a little reluctance. It had just been really, really nice to spend this time with her, even if they had spent so much of it working.
As he drove himself home, he thought about the way Eleanor had talked about the quiet nights at home with Garrett. He wondered what it would be like if he had his own person who felt like a missing piece. He thought that it would probably be really, really wonderful.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Winnie put the finishing touches on the carrot cake cupcakes that she’d made for this week’s book club and found that Shane’s advice kept running through her mind.
Sometimes, she had to be brave enough to make herself vulnerable. Sometimes she had to take the leap.
She stole a spoonful of cream cheese frosting as fortification. Being brave washard.
But the more she’d mulled over Shane’s advice, the more it had made sense… especially once she’d taken off her fear-colored glasses. Why would her friends want to be close to her when she was keeping them at arm’s distance? How could she expect them to want to be involved in her life when she made it basically impossible for them to get involved?
By the time she’d worked through the slightly fussy task of making the cupcakes, letting them cool, and then frosting them, however, she felt that she had a plan in place, at least in her own mind.
She was going to be the bravest Winnie she knew how to be. She was going to embrace discomfort, rather than trying to hide from it. She was going to let the other book club members seethe real her and trust that her friends would continue to like her anyway.
Trust, as it turned out, was really hard. Pretty much just as hard as being brave. But she told herself that it would get easier. Things did, when you practiced them, after all.
One of these days, she was going to try something easy. Like jigsaw puzzles. But ones with not a lot of pieces.
Winnie pushed into the bookstore, smiling at her own inner silliness. Eleanor saw her right away and gave her a broad smile in return.
“You’re looking cheerful today, Win,” she said, and the nickname made Winnie feel like she might blush, as foolish as that was. “I’m so glad to see it.”
Winnie felt even lighter at the pleasant welcome. “Thanks, Eleanor,” she said brightly. “I’ve got cupcakes tonight.”
“Ugh, you’re a joy,” Eleanor said. “You know where they go. Make sure you save yourself one if you want, since these vultures will be on those quickly.” She pitched her voice loud enough so that her friends could all hear her teasing words.
“Rude!” Cadence exclaimed, but she was grinning too. “Hey, Winnie, good to see you.”
Winnie gave a little wave to the group as she set down her cupcakes. To her delight, Dianna’s eyes went wide with excitement and she scooped one up right away.
“June isn’t going to make it,” Eleanor said, reading off her phone screen, sounding disappointed. “I guess poor Benjamin still isn’t feeling well, and she doesn’t want to leave him with a babysitter.”
Sounds of dismay went around the room in a chorus as Winnie took a seat.
“I was going to run over there to check on them tomorrow, but now I’ll make double certain that I do,” Cadence said, a worried frown on her face. “Poor kid has been under the weatherfor a while, and I know that will be as hard on June as it is on him.”
“We should make them some food and bring it over,” Diana chimed in. “A pot of soup, since that always helps when you’re sick, and some pie, because that helps whether you’re sick or not.”
