Chapter 37

HANNAH

As the local fire trucks drove down Main Street, lights flashing, George flipped the sign on Novel Gossip’s front door to Closed and grabbed my hand.

“It’s your first Fourth of July in Sapphire Springs. Let’s make it a memorable one!” she said with a grin as she tugged me to the edge of the sidewalk to watch the Fourth of July parade.

George had decided to close Novel Gossip early so we could enjoy the festivities. It was a shame George’s mom had left yesterday, as I was sure Helen would have loved the celebrations. George had been spot-on about her mom. While we didn’t have a lot in common, we’d still gotten along very well. And we did have one, very important, thing in common—George.

As the fire trucks drove out of view, fifteen bagpipe players and drummers marched by, cheered on by locals who lined the streets. Various community groups followed: the local Lions Club, the Scouts and the group that ran the community garden. A random teenager walked by with two alpacas. Every so often, I’d recognize one of our regulars from the café and give them an encouraging yell.

George glanced at her watch. “I’d better go get Max ready for the pet parade. You’re more than welcome to stay and watch if you want.”

“Are you sure?” I was fairly confident George could manage Max and was excited to see who would appear next in the parade. Not only was I getting a kick out of seeing our regulars in a completely different context, learning more about them in the process (who would have thought that Mrs. Harding was a bagpipe player?) but I was also enjoying the real community feel of the festivities. The Thanksgiving and Pride parades I’d been to in New York had been massive, well-oiled, commercialized affairs full of floats promoting businesses and overwhelming crowds. You would never have seen two random alpacas or a minibus packed full of residents from the local retirement home waving American flags.

An excited sniffing at my knees ten minutes later caught my attention, and I looked down to see Max, his golden hair freshly brushed and shining in the sunlight, wearing a tiny red sequin hat on his head and a red-white-and-blue bandana around his neck. On his red harness, George had attached the white and blue cardboard stars we’d cut out on the floor of her living room last night.

“Aww, who’s a gorgeous boy.” I gave Max a pat, carefully not to damage his outfit. I’d become very attached to Max during the past few weeks. He was intelligent, gentle, and affectionate—not unlike his owner. Although, thankfully, his owner didn’t drool or snore as much. I smiled to myself. The term golden retriever was often used by romance readers to describe love interests who were kind, loyal, loving, and reliable, which fit George perfectly. It seemed appropriate that she had a golden retriever of her own. My smile widened as I realized another romance term for George’s personality was a cinnamon roll—also perfect given George’s baking skills. I bet she makes a mean cinnamon roll. I looked over at George, my chest full of love. While I hadn’t told George yet how I felt, I planned to. I was just waiting for the right time.

“I also got something for you. To celebrate your first Fourth of July at Sapphire Springs,” George said, grinning.

It took me a moment to realize what George was handing me. It was a fanny pack, decorated in sequins depicting the American flag.

I burst into laughter. “Oh my god! I love it.”

There was something inside. I unzipped it to find a travel-sized bottle of sunscreen, lip balm and hand sanitizer.

“This is amazing, thank you,” I said, leaning into give George a kiss.

“Don’t feel you have to wear it. I just saw it when I was buying Max’s hat and couldn’t resist getting it for you.” George said, as I wrapped it around my waist and clipped it on.

“Nope, I love it,” I said, peering down to admire it. I pulled my phone out of the satchel I had been wearing and transferred it to my fanny pack. “I’ll drop my bag inside, since I’ve got this much more practical and very patriotic fanny pack to carry my belongings now.”

I ran back into Novel Gossip and left my satchel on one of the café’s tables, and then went back out to join George and Max.

“I don’t think the hat is going to last long,” George said, just as Max rubbed his head against the lamppost, dislodging his hat in the process. “Yep, okay, I’ll just carry that until we’re down at the waterfront.”

We walked along Main Street in time with a group of cheerleaders from the local high school dressed in blue-and-white Lycra tops and matching skirts or shorts, shiny blue pom poms waving wildly. I’d never been the cheerleading type, but their enthusiasm was contagious, and my step had a decided bounce to it.

Dockside Park was buzzing with energy when we arrived. Lines had formed in front of food and drink stalls, kids were screaming with glee as they launched themselves into the air on colorful jumping castles, and a bluegrass band was playing from a stage on the opposite side of the park. Groups of locals sat on picnic blankets or folding chairs, listening to the music. The scent of barbecued meats and hot fries hung in the air. I spotted even more Novel Gossip regulars, many of whom said hi or gave us a wave in acknowledgement. On the other side of the park, the Hudson River sparkled in the sunlight, a deep blue reflecting the almost cloudless sky.

“Wow, this is amazing!” I said, taking it all in. There’d never been anything like this growing up in Chicago or on the Upper West Side. This level of community spirit was completely foreign to me, but I absolutely loved it.

George grinned. “It’s one of my favorite days of the year.” She tugged at Max’s leash to stop him from going after a toddler holding a half-eaten hot dog, tomato sauce smeared all over her face. “Now, where is the pet p?—”

“Hey! Are you guys heading to the pet parade?” Jenny walked into our line of sight, holding an extremely handsome golden-brown toy poodle—her dog, Walter. A white wig and navy tricorn hat adorned his head, which was framed by white ruffles around his collar. A tiny waistcoat with a small Declaration of Independence attached to it completed the outfit.

George nodded, and Jenny showed us the way while I gushed over how cute Walter looked. As much as I loved Max to bits, there was no way he was winning the competition with Walter in contention. We arrived at a small stage near a large oak tree where a number of pets and their owners had gathered. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of dogs, but other animals were featured as well, some much more surprising. The two alpacas we’d seen earlier in the parade were now wearing matching red hats with white stars, large American flags attached to their backs. A turtle had blue and red tinsel on its shell, a white hat perched on top. There was even a green-and-yellow parrot in a bird cage who seemed to be lacking any decorations.

The sun’s rays were still strong, so we stood under a tree, chatting with Jenny, and were soon joined by Blake, who’d decided not to involve her cat in the competition but had come to cheer on Walter. Max quickly fell asleep, snoring at our feet.

The MC started calling pets and their owners to walk across the stage in front of the three judges.

George knelt down next to Max and gave him a pat. “Okay, Max, it could be our turn any minute. Let’s get this hat on you, big fella, before they call you up.” He snorted but didn’t rouse.

I gazed down at George. “Your dog seems to sleep as soundly as you do,” I said, smiling.

Our eyes locked, and George grinned back at me, sending a burst of warmth through my veins. George’s impressive ability to sleep through Max’s snoring and her mom puttering around the kitchen loudly in the mornings had been the subject of some gentle teasing from me over the past few days.

George chuckled and gave him a gentle shake.

“C’mon, Max.” He opened one eye and glared at her before closing it again.

“Maybe he’s just waiting for the official announcement,” I offered.

George got to her feet, shaking her head. “Yeah, maybe.” She didn’t sound convinced.

The MC announced Walter’s name, and Walter, accompanied by Jenny, walked in a very stately manner up onto the stage, unfazed by clapping from the onlookers.

“Wow, he’s a pro,” I murmured to George.

“Yeah, Jenny used to dress him up all the time for social media, so he’s used to it,” George said as she watched them.

Stevie, the parrot, was called up next, now wearing a little red-white-and-blue frilly collar around its neck. Stevie perched on its owner’s hand, singing “America the Beautiful.” I turned down my hearing aid temporarily. As impressive as Stevie’s vocal range was, she—or he, I wasn’t sure—was a little screechy.

Two alpacas followed Stevie, and then Max was called.

“Max, it’s your time to shine,” George said. But Max was in a deep sleep, twitching as though he might be dreaming about chasing squirrels. “Max!” I patted his head and then tugged gently on his lead.

George tried to push his butt up. Nothing.

We looked at each other, shaking our heads. At this point, if Max had been my dog, I would have given up. But George was clearly keen to give Max his minute of glory. She bent at the knees and enveloped Max in a bear hug. I held Max’s lead as George carried him toward the stage, wobbling up the stairs and depositing him at the top.

“Come on, Max!” George said encouragingly.

Awake now, Max just stood at the edge of the stage and stared at her, unimpressed.

I tugged gently on the lead without any success. Conscious that we had about fifty people’s eyes on us, I looked around for inspiration and spotted a man walking past, digging into a German sausage with mustard.

“I’ll go halves with you on a sausage if you come with me. See, sausage!” I pointed at the man.

Max sprang up, giving my arms a vigorous yank, and bounded across the stage, in pursuit of the unsuspecting sausage eater, his hat falling off his head again in the process. George rushed to help me, and I briefly registered some applause and laughter as we wrestled Max back under control.

“I’m sorry,” I said to George as we did a walk of shame back to Jenny, Blake, and Walter. “I didn’t think my bribe would be so effective.”

George laughed. “It certainly worked. You got him across the stage, although he was moving so quickly I suspect all the judges saw was a flash of color. But I think we both know he never had a hope of winning anyway,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“Well, it was certainly a dramatic return to the stage after a fifteen-year plus absence.”

George’s face clouded. “Oh shit, I didn’t even think about your history, babe. I hope it wasn’t too upsetting.

I smiled. “It’s fine. It was very different being up there with you and Max. And we all know who the center of attention was just then, and it wasn’t me.” I looked fondly down at Max.

When we reached the others, George wrapped her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. Max collapsed back onto the ground and snored all the way through Walter winning the parade.

After the awards had been handed out, we made our way to a red-and-white striped tent where the pie contest was about be held. After winning the contest for the past two years, George had been appointed to the judging panel. Based on the number of pies on the long banquet tables, the pie contest was very popular.

George’s eyes widened as she took in the amount of food before her.

“It looks like I’m going to be here a while. Rather than watch me gorge on pies, do you want to go wander around and come back in half an hour?

Two hours later, George, Blake, Jenny, Olivia, Amanda, and I were relaxing on two tartan picnic rugs, a blues band playing in the background. I was devouring a German sausage, which I’d been craving ever since the pet parade incident, while George, who’d sworn she’d never eat again after the pie winners were announced, had almost finished a serving of barbecue ribs and cornbread. I grinned at her, fingers sticky with barbecue sauce, as she devoured them with relish.

I washed down the last bite of sausage with a gulp of cider and leaned back on my arms, letting my body relax. Since dogs and fireworks didn’t mix, we’d dropped off Walter and Max back at home. Now it was evening, and the strength had faded from the sun’s rays.

“How are you doing, gorgeous?” George asked, wrapping an arm around me.

“Good. Perfect, actually,” I said, turning my head to smile at her.

Today had been perfect. I’d sent the rest of my manuscript off to Michael this morning, FaceTimed Barb to fill her in on recent events and let her know that George and I were planning to visit in August, worked a shift at Novel Gossip, and then spent the rest of the day enjoying the Fourth of July celebrations. And now, here I was, lounging outside with George and my friends on a beautiful summer evening.

As we sat together on the picnic rug, another stunning yellow, red, and purple sunset appeared and faded, and then the fireworks, launched from a barge on the river, propelled bursts of vibrant colors into the night’s sky. Star bursts, circles, and showers of light exploded around us, and I couldn’t help squealing with glee. I snuggled closer into George. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

The words that I’d been wanting to say for some time now suddenly became too urgent not to express.

“Hey, George,” I murmured.

“Mmm?” George hummed softly in my ear.

I looked up at her. A mixture of nerves and adrenaline rushed through me at the thought of what I was about to say.

I took a deep breath, and then let the words come out. “I love you.”

Her face burst into a smile as bright as the fireworks we’d just watched and any worries I’d had about how George would react vanished.

“I love you too,” she said, giving me slow, tender kiss.

I melted into the kiss, savoring her soft lips on mine. An even more perfect ending to an already perfect day.

As George and I walked home, hand in hand, George leaned close to my ear. “When we get home, I’m keen to give you an intimate pyrotechnics show with a hopefully explosive finale,” she murmured.

My heart full, I laughed, tilting my head up to kiss her again. “Don’t you need a license for that? But I’m not at all averse to ending the night with a bang.”