Bennett groaned so loud that Nancy cleared her throat and glared at him.
‘Sorry,’ he mouthed and gave Daisy and Elliot an apologetic smile before turning around.
‘I liked the changes to the pancake house. Seemed like a good reason to vote for the owner. What should I have been looking for in a May Queen?’ he whispered, sounding suddenly concerned, like his vote for May Queen could have actual consequences.
Daisy patted his knee. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it. The May Queen doesn’t exactly have a lot of political sway. It’s more of a figurehead position.’
He huffed a laugh.
‘We also need a volunteer to add up the money we took in from the sale of the voting ballots,’ Marissa added.
‘And what exactly does the Beltane committee do?’ Daisy asked, eliciting a laugh from Annie and a glare from Tammy.
‘We’ve been planning the logistics for months,’ Marissa said, not deterred by Daisy’s comment.
Daisy was being unnecessarily rude. She knew that. She normally saved her town meeting arguments for important things, like the fight to put a cap on town bake sales (an insane idea) or the petition to move the farmer’s market inside of the town hall for the winter (very smart and something she argued in favor of for months). Hassling the Beltane committee about their work wasn’t exactly a hot button issue for her. But Elliot’s leg was pressed against hers and his steady presence was making her feel…
Like she may burst.
‘And you’ve done a wonderful job.’ Mayor Kelly stepped back up to the podium. ‘Anything else we haven’t covered?’
Nancy looked back at her notes. ‘Let’s see… the fire department is going to handle the raising of the maypole. Miss Janet’s Little Tots dance class have been rehearsing the maypole dance for months.’
‘Since Christmas!’ Janet called from her seat in the crowd. ‘And they’ve really got it down. They rarely get tangled in each other’s ribbons anymore.’
Nancy looked at her skeptically. ‘Let’s try to make sure they don’t get tangled at all.’
‘Of course.’ But even Janet looked skeptical now. Daisy didn’t envy her the job of getting twenty five-year-olds to weave in and out and back and forth around a giant pole holding a forty-foot-long ribbon and somehow not crash into each other.
‘Cliff’s Midnight Dreamers are set to perform.’
Noah hooted from the back and Daisy caught sight of Cliff shaking his head with a begrudging smile.
‘And Logan and Bennett have offered to keep our bonfire going all night.’
‘Ben sure keepsmegoing all night,’ Kira said to plenty of whistles and laughs from the crowd.
Nancy just pursed her lips like she was still dealing with kindergarteners and continued down her list. ‘Daisy, how are the flower crowns coming?’
‘Nearly done.’ She and Iris had worked their fingers to the bone to get them finished in time. Daisy braced herself for someone to argue about her providing the flowers again, but no one did. Elliot gave her knee a squeeze. Daisy didn’t dare look at him. If he was smiling at her with that damn blush on his cheeks, she might implode.
‘Great,’ Nancy tucked away her list into her back pocket. ‘Then I think we are all set to welcome summer!’
‘Everyone knows it’s only the first of May, and still far too cold out to be summer, right?’ Kira whispered.
Annie leaned forward. ‘It’s an ancient tradition,babe. Plus, it’s fun. Just go with it.’
‘You can hang out by the fire with me,’ Bennett said, slinging his arm around Kira’s shoulders, and she immediately leaned into him.
Daisy sat up straighter to avoid pressing her arm against Elliot’s even as he leaned to whisper in her ear again.
‘I’m excited to go with you,’ he said, his words tickling her skin. ‘Sounds like a fun night.’
A fun night.
A fun night of simultaneously wanting to let Elliot do magic with his hands again and wanting to run far away from this thing that was definitely going to break her heart.
A fun night for sure.
