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She laughed and leaned her shoulder against the marquee pole. “Clearly.”
Gabe set the rest of his pastry on the crate beside him and drew her closer.
Mara leaned into him, her hands on his shoulders as he kissed her. For a little while the noise from the field faded behind them.
When they separated, Mara stayed close. “I like this.”
“What?” Gabe didn’t let her go.
“This. Us when we’re not trying to stop something from going wrong.”
“Me too.”
A cheer went up from the main tables before either of them could say anything else.
They went back around the marquee together and found Karina at the cash table, one hand pressed to her mouth.
“We’ve passed it,” she said when the noise died down enough for anyone to hear, and her voice caught on the words. “The range is covered. And if the rest of today goes anything like this morning, we’ll have enough for the refrigerator too.”
Mara grabbed Gabe’s hand. “We really did it.”
He squeezed her hand, wanting to hold on to her and this moment forever. “We did.”
By late afternoon, the rush had thinned to a steady trickle. The cinnamon bears were gone, only a few pear-and-ginger hand pies remained, and Karina was already talking about adding the apple ones to next year’s charity bake menu.
When the last cinnamon bear left in a customer’s hand, Karina watched it go and sighed. “Fine. They were better than reasonable.”
“Can I get that in writing?” Gabe asked.
“No.”
Someone had lit the firepit near the far end. Woodsmoke drifted through the remaining crowd while people stood around with cider and the last of the pastries.
For the first time all day, Gabe found himself with nothing immediately to do.
Mara appeared beside him. “I keep thinking I’ve forgotten something.”
“You probably have.”
She looked at him sharply. “Like what?”
Gabe smiled. “You’ve forgotten you’re allowed to stop now.”
Her breath turned into a laugh. “That may take some practice.”
“I can help.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s one of your favorite things to say.”
“Only when I mean it.” Gabe took her hand, and they stood there for a while doing absolutely nothing useful.
Karina came over a few minutes later with the final total. They had raised enough for the range, the refrigerator, and some money toward the remaining kitchen upgrades.
“That’s amazing.” Mara’s smile spread across her face.
“It is.” Karina looked at both of them. “And I know I’ve said thank you already, but I mean it.”
“You would have done the same for us,” Gabe told her.
