Chapter 10

Grace

"Are you sure, Mabel?" The old woman was trying her hand a matchmaking and I wasn't fooled one bit. But I couldn't deny my desire to spend more time with Maverick.

Mabel nodded, a wide smile on her face. "Oh, I'm positive. You kids, big and small, go on to the carnival and have a good time. Just bring me some funnel cake and take some photos, and we're good."

Mabel was a perfectly capable woman despite her age. Sure, she forgot a few things, but nothing to justify a full-time caregiver. Still, I felt bad leaving her alone for the afternoon. "What will you do?"

She waved a dismissive hand in my direction. "I'll find something to busy myself, don't you worry, Ruby."

But I was worried, after mulling it over for a while I suddenly had an idea. "I'm just popping out for five minutes, I'll be right back." I slipped on my shoes and drove down a block to my old residence.

***

I parked my car and ran up the steps and knocked on the door. After what seemed like an age, it opened, and my old neighbor peered out. "Mrs. P, how are you?"

The older woman eyed me suspiciously. "I'm fine, Ruby. What's going on?"

"I have someone I want you to meet."

Her brows rose into exaggerated arches. "Like a man?"

I smiled. "Not yet, but my eyes are open, I swear. It's someone you can spend time with." She looked skeptical, so I channeled my daughter and gave my best pouty face. "You both need to spend time with people your own age so you can complain about kids these days."

A smile played on her lips and she wagged a finger at me. "Yeah, all right fine. Is this a fun friend or a stick in the mud?"

"Fun," I assured her. "In fact, I'd say she's a hoot."

"All right." She pushed off the sofa and shuffled around the living room and then the kitchen with her purse in hand. Ten minutes later, she was ready to go and we drove back to Mabel's house.

"Mabel," I said as I stepped inside. "This is my friend, Mrs. Peterson. Mrs. P, this is Mabel."

The older women sized each other up for a quick moment, but Mabel spoke first. "Brenda, you've gotten old."

"Mabel," she trilled with a smile. "You've gotten chubby."

Uh-oh.

A beat later they both laughed, and Mrs. P made her way to the sofa. "It's been, what, twenty years?"

"More like twenty-five," Mabel offered as she patted Mrs. P's leg. "Good to see you again."

"You never said you knew each other."

Both women shrugged.

"We don't know each other anymore. Life kind of got in the way and we drifted apart." Mrs. P smiled at Mabel and then me.

"You can all go now," Mabel offered. "Thank you, Ruby, but we're a little too old for playdates."

"Never," I answered with a smile. "Be back soon, but don't hesitate to call if you ladies need anything."

"We have bourbon," Mrs. P began.

"And leftover tacos," Mabel finished. "We'll be just fine."

With no more excuses, I turned to the impatient faces of Sophie and Leo. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Leo had so much energy I wasn't sure how we'd keep up with him at the carnival.

"I'm ready, Mommy."

The carnival wasn't packed but there were more people than I expected considering it was the middle of a weekday. "Okay, kids. It's decision time. Rides or games?"

"Rides," they chimed in simultaneously.

We started with the teacups and what both kids called the baby roller coaster.

"They look like they're having a good time, don't you think?"

Maverick nodded, a small smile curling his lips as he watched them chat together while waiting for the ride to begin. "What do you think they're talking about?"

I laughed. "I have no idea. They just met and they are literally babies. Probably the state of the world or their favorite tacos."

"Remember when life was that easy?" he asked, his tone light and casual, but I knew he was burning with curiosity about my circumstances.

"Hardly." It seemed like many lifetimes ago that I was Sophie's age, and even longer that I was carefree and happy. "She's happy and that makes me happy. Kids should have an easy life." That was my goal, that's why I was here in Nevada. For Sophie.

"Agreed." The weight of Maverick's stare was as heavy as a caress on the side of my face. His curiosity burned and I felt bad for lying to him.

"That was so fun!" Leo's face was flushed pink, his eyes were wide, and excitement practically radiated from him. "Can we go again?"

Sophie wore an identical expression. "Can we, please?"

"One more and then we move on or else you won't get to see what other rides are here."

The kids smiled wide and took off to the line once again, leaving Maverick and me to follow at a slower pace to pay for their ride in tickets.

"What school will Sophie be attending?" Maverick's question came out of left field, and I froze.

"I'm, uh, not sure yet." Without ID I wasn't sure how I was going to enroll her in school. That was something I was still trying to figure out. "I still have time. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged casually, but I wasn't fooled. "Since she now has a friend in Leo, I figured I could pass your number on to Ellie for pointers."

"Leo seems like a good kid," I said.

"Yeah, considering what he's been through. He's actually Ellie's sister's boy, but she was murdered not long after he was born."

"Oh my, the poor baby!" My gaze landed on the kid, and he didn't seem to be traumatized, at least not outwardly. He was friendly and outgoing and he seemed incredibly happy.

"Yeah. He was too young to know what happened, but seeing as he's not long started elementary school, Ellie might be able to give you pointers. Diesel talked about it enough that we were all on the journey with them as they chose a school." He huffed out a laugh and I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks. Maybe that could be helpful." I wasn't sure if he was digging or genuinely trying to help, but it couldn't hurt to make nice with Leo's mother since he and Sophie seemed to get along well.

We watched in silence for a while and a shiver stole down my spine. I recognized it immediately. Fear. My gaze darted around the circle around the ride, scanning in search of a familiar face. There was no one around, at least not that I could see, but my tension was so high that when Maverick touched my shoulder, I practically jumped out of my skin.

"Don't do that," I said, and smacked his forearm.

"What's going on?" Maverick's brows dipped into a frown and he looked left and right, in search of what spooked me.

"Nothing," I said a little too quickly. "I just felt like someone was watching me."

Maverick's lips pulled into a grin. "That's the risk of being a beautiful woman."

I wanted to roll my eyes at another obvious line, but it felt false. Maverick wasn't a liar. He didn't waste breath on words he didn't mean, which was special to me. But after years of being told how lucky I was to have a man like Trent, it was still hard to believe. "Thank you, but I'm not sure that was it."

He looked around as if he might see someone with a look of evil intent or some other indicator, and finding none, he shrugged it off. "Is someone giving you the creeps?"

"No." I shook my head, noticing the kids had finished the ride and were running back towards us. "Just a feeling. Forget about it. I'm probably just being paranoid."

I looked around once more just to be sure Trent wasn't lurking in the shadows, watching me and waiting to follow us home. When I didn't spot him, or other signs of danger, I pasted a smile on my face and greeted the kids with hugs.

It was just anxiety, a figment of my imagination. No real threat.

That was the lie I told myself until, slowly, I started to believe it.