Hazel hurried to his side. ‘We’re losing them again.’
‘Nah,’ Noah assured her, scanning the crowd. ‘That’s why I strapped those balloons to their wrists. See, there they go.’ He pointed to the two pink balloons floating ahead of them.
‘Your nieces are back in town?’ Daisy asked with a laugh and Noah smiled.
‘They are back. And I told my sisters that Hazel and I would take them to the festival while they take the night off.’
‘You’re a good brother,’ Elliot said.
Noah shrugged. ‘Making up for lost time.’
‘We should probably catch up to them,’ Hazel said, pulling him along. ‘See you two later!’ They disappeared into the rest of the commotion.
‘So, Beltane…’ Elliot said when the silence had dragged on for too long. Or what felt like too long anyway.
‘Just your typical pagan festival,’ Daisy said as though every town hosted an annual Beltane festival. ‘Bonfires and maypoles and all that.’
‘A bit syncretic,’ Elliot said as they made their way down Main toward the town square and the green space beside it where most of today’s activities would take place.
‘Syncretic?’
‘Uh… melding practices from different cultures. The maypole has Germanic roots while the bonfire tradition has Celtic origins.’
Daisy stopped and looked up at him with a curious smile. ‘You should have brought that up at a town meeting.’
‘I wouldn’t dare.’
Daisy laughed, some of their earlier awkwardness fading.
‘I never met anyone who uses words like syncretic before. Or knew about the origins of maypoles,’ she said as they continued their walk, the crowd thickening as they got closer.
‘The symbolism of the maypole is still debated, you know,’ Elliot said, rambling on as though Daisy cared about maypoles. Rambling about history happened to be a nervous habit. One he’d bored several blind dates with. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself. It was either talking about the historical significance of the maypole or rehashing their fuck-buddy conversation. History was much safer. ‘Some scholars think the shape represents the Earth’s axis, while others think it’s more likely a representation of a sacred tree.’ They were approaching the town square now, where the maypole rose from the lawn in front of the town hall decorated with ribbons and greenery. ‘Of course, some people think it’s just a big phallic symbol.’
Daisy stopped in her tracks and stared up at the maypole, while Elliot wished for the power to go back in time and shut the hell up.
And then she started giggling, beautiful, fizzy, delighted giggles.
‘That’s a really big phallic symbol,’ she said, laughter still bubbling out of her and Elliot had to join her, his own laughter easing the sting of embarrassment in his gut. If Daisy found his rambling funny, then he’d happily keep talking.
‘Yep.’
‘You are just full of interesting facts,’ she said, turning away from the pole and heading toward her booth.
‘Sorry. I tend to spew facts when I’m nervous.’
‘You’re nervous?’
‘A bit, yeah.’
She stopped, having arrived at her designated spot.
‘Why are you nervous?’
‘I don’t want to let you down.’
‘You won’t.’
Elliot scoffed. ‘Don’t be so sure. There’s a reason I’ve only ever dated one woman. I’m not very good at this.’
