Chapter 10

Early on Friday evening, Scott and I arrived at the bandstand for the night market. It was outside of town hall, in Heritage Park, and it was shaping up to be a beautiful night for being outdoors. Twinkle lights had been strung in the trees and a popular local band was playing Brown-Eyed Girl.

The sun had started to set in the distance, painting the sky in pinks and oranges while a nice breeze drifted off the lake to break the heat of the day. Surrounded by laughter and chatter, Scott glanced at me and motioned toward a stand selling cold lemonade.

“You want one?”

“You bet,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the stand. It was manned by a kid I knew from our neighborhood and I’d promised her I’d stop by. Peeling off a couple bills, I handed them over and smiled at her. “How are you doing tonight, Lacey? We’ll take two please.”

“You came!” she said excitedly as she added our money to her box and grabbed two plastic cups. “It’s not going so well yet, but it will. People are only really starting to get here now.”

I nodded, waiting patiently as she poured our drinks. “It’s nice and warm tonight. I’m sure you’re going to make a killing, but even if you don’t, it’s still fun, right?”

She smiled. “Sure is! Would you mind spreading the word that it’s the best lemonade you’ve ever tasted?”

“Consider it done, kiddo,” Scott said, grinning. He took his first sip. I watched him closely, nearly laughing at his attempt to fight a grimace. Thankfully, he succeeded and gave her a wide grin instead. “Yum, that’s great. Did you add the sugar to this yourself?”

“I tweaked my mother’s recipe,” she said, beaming at him.

Understanding flashed in his eyes as he gave her another smile. Then I took my cup from her as well and thanked her before we took off. I glanced at him. “It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s ninety-nine percent sugar,” he said, giving my drink a pointed look. “Taste it. You’ll see.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re going back to get another one after this, and you promised we’d spread the word.”

He sighed. “Sure. I’ll do it, but we might need to warn people.”

I chuckled. “Lacey’s lemonade has always been sweet. It’ll be fine.”

“Not this sweet.” He held his nose as he drank the rest of his in one gulp, then tossed the cup in the nearest recycle bin and winced once he was done. “I need a beer. You see any yet?”

“I think Britt mentioned there’s a beer tent outside of Gaston’s,” I said. “Which makes sense, considering it’s a pub.”

“Let’s go,” he said and we wandered through the crowd, greeting people we knew—which was almost everyone.

We hardly ever missed a Friday night market in the summer, and besides, there wasn’t much to do in a town like ours, so almost everyone always showed up for this. It was a favorite event for every local, and as a result, most tourists in the area got invited too.

At the thought, Captain Intimidation’s face flickered through my mind and I groaned softly, reminding myself that I’d resolved not think about him anymore. I focused on chatting to nice people instead of wasting my brain power on the rudest one I’d ever met.

As the sun set and the band kept playing golden oldies that everyone knew, kids chased each other through the crowd and adults congregated in front of the band to dance. Parents filmed their kids or dragged them over to dance with them. Older siblings on babysitting duty pouted and the scent of barbecue and onions wafted in the air.

When we finally reached Gaston’s, a pub bordering the park, Brittany and Tiff were already there and I downed my sickly sweet lemonade before gratefully accepting a glass of beer from Tiff’s pitcher. We sat down with them at a small table, catching up before we went in search of food.

“Oh, Susie’s here,” Tiff said happily, sending us an apologetic smile. “I’ll see you guys later, okay?”

“See you later,” Brittany called when her sister took off to join her friends. Then she groaned as she glanced at me. “Why is it that whenever her friends show up, we’re not good enough anymore?”

“Because we’re old and boring,” Scott joked. “I’d rather spend time with her friends myself, to be honest.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “So go then. Go be old and boring among the youngsters. We’ll see how long it takes them to send you back to us.”

“Probably won’t be long,” he admitted, laughing as he guided us toward the section of the park containing the food trucks. “What are you guys in the mood for?”

“Retirement,” Brittany lamented. “My body is so sore from all the cleaning today. We need to find a spot to sit. I can’t walk much more tonight.”

“Oh, wow. You really are old,” I teased. “I’m feeling fine. Sprightly, even.”

“Sprightly?” Scott chuckled as he arched an eyebrow at me. “Weren’t you just complaining about your back before we got here?”

I waved him off. “It was just a joke. No backache here. I’m too sprightly for that.”

As he laughed, Brittany’s gaze suddenly left us and zeroed in on something behind my back. “Isn’t that the fancy city boy and his son?”

She inclined her head at the duo, and I spun around. My eyes narrowed when I realized he was probably going to ruin it for me. Crap.

I knew it was better to turn around and walk away, but I stayed rooted to my spot like a deer in the headlights, just waiting to be hit. In my defense though, all three of us watched them as they started strolling through the market.

Locals sold hand-crafted products and baked goods here, as well as home-brewed wine and beers. There was no shortage of talent in our town, and to my surprise, Captain Intimidation actually stopped to look at a few things.

Wow. I’d have thought anything here was beneath him. But nope. He even purchased a leather belt and some kind of game for his son before they’d even been there two minutes.

“Verna told me they’re in town all summer,” Brittany murmured. “I went to grab a coffee earlier and she mentioned there were people living in the Styles Manor. I asked how she knew and she said they came in this morning.”

“That must’ve been where they were coming from when they nearly ran me over,” I mused out loud, huffing out a heavy breath. “That’s great, though. That they’re going to be hanging around for the whole damn summer. Think we can cancel the season and try again next year?”

Scott shrugged. “I mean, we could try, but it probably wouldn’t be a great idea. If we cancel it, he might leave but so will all the other tourists, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.”

I sighed and sent him a disappointed pout. “Stop with your crazy logic.”

He chuckled. “Just stay out of his way, Jewel. Literally.”

Just as the ass took a sip of the lemonade he’d purchased, he glanced my way and our eyes locked. Despite the distance between us, it was intense.

I felt a sudden rush of vulnerability, like he was looking right into my soul, and I quickly averted my gaze, turning toward Brittany. “Is he still staring?”

“Yep,” she responded.

“He’s also walking this way,” Scott added. “Probably wants to give you a piece of his mind after your little showdown this morning. Run, Brit. Or else we’re going to need popcorn for this.”

My traitorous friend giggled like Scott had said the funniest thing ever. Then she jerked her head toward Elvis, who was legitimately walking around with a tray of popcorn he was selling. “Would you look at that? I don’t even need to run. Elvis is bringing the popcorn to us.”

Searching wildly for an escape, I came up empty. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that he was moving too fast. The only way of getting out of this would’ve been to flee, and I definitely wasn’t giving him that kind of satisfaction.

Before I even knew it, I felt a tap on my shoulder. My breath caught and I turned around, bracing myself for his bad attitude and piercing glare. But instead, I wasn’t greeted by any of that.

A smile that shocked me with how kind it looked graced his face, and his green eyes were warm as they hooked on mine. Jeez. If he keeps this up, I’m going to need to come up with a new nickname for him.

“Hi,” he said in a voice as warm as sunshine and as sweet as honey. “I’m sorry for interrupting you. I just wanted to apologize for earlier.”

My eyes widened as shock cascaded through me. When he glanced at his son, I looked too, leaning past him just in time to see him giving his dad an enthusiastic thumbs-up. The man chuckled, the sound rich and surprisingly easy.

I wouldn’t have thought he knew how to laugh. Let alone how to do it while making it look natural. He succeeded spectacularly, though.

Moving those eyes back to mine, he even managed to seem genuine. “My son gave me a lesson in manners today. I haven’t been very kind or even very polite to you at all, and I’m sorry.”

Shocked speechless, I just stood there staring at him like an idiot while he rubbed the back of his neck and disarmed me with another smile. “Really. I’ve been a jerk. I was taking some pent-up stress out on you and that’s not right.”

When I still didn’t say anything, Brittany jabbed me in the ribs and I blinked hard, clearing my throat as I held out my hand. “It’s okay. I’m Jewel. It’s, uh, it’s interesting to finally meet you.”

He chuckled again, sliding his palm into mine and making tingles race up my arm at the touch. “Landon. It’s interesting to finally meet you too.” Doing a half-turn, he motioned for his son to come closer. “This is Colten. The ten-year-old I got schooled by today.”

I grinned at the boy, extracting my hand from his father’s to offer it to him instead. “Hi, Colten. I’m Jewel. Thanks for teaching your dad a lesson.”

“No problem,” he said as he returned my grin. “He had it coming.”

“He sure did.” I chuckled, then swept a hand toward my friend and my brother. “This is Brittany and Scott.”

Landon shook with them, his gaze lingering on Scott’s before he turned back to me. “Okay, so thanks for hearing me out.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “You owe me a lemonade at least.”

He glanced at Scott again but then agreed with a curt nod and a sweep of his arm toward Lacey’s stand. “That seems fair. Shall we?”

“We shall.” I took a step away from my little group and turned to wink at them as I walked away with Landon and Colten.

Brittany shot me a thumbs-up and Scott rolled his eyes, but neither of them tried to stop me. As we joined the line for some more lemonade, I smiled at my new companions. “Since I probably owe you too, how about I take you guys on a tour of the market? I know where all the best stuff is, and since you’re going to be here all summer, you’re probably going to come to the market every weekend. It’ll help to get to know the vendors.”

Landon glanced back in the direction we’d come from. “Wouldn’t your boyfriend mind?”

“Boyfriend?” My face scrunched up and I burst out laughing when I figured out who he was referring to. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. Scott isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my brother.”

Landon blinked a few times in surprise, then smiled and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. “Wow. That’s embarrassing for me, but in that case, we’d love to take you up on the tour.”

We got our too sweet lemonades, then strolled through the market. I pointed out my favorite places to stop every Friday night. Colten and Landon seemed happy to listen, and I was genuinely surprised by how pleasant he was being.

“How did you know we were going to be here all summer?” he asked.

I chuckled. “Verna. From the cafe? You should be careful about what you tell people around here unless you want everyone to know about it. We’re a pretty tight knit community.”

“I’m starting to realize that,” he said good-naturedly. “Thank you for the tour, though. And the warning. There’s a surprising amount of booths here.”

Instead of admitting that it was because most people in town made and sold things to supplement their income, I finally blurted out the question I’d been wanting to ask him since that day on the road. “I hope this isn’t too intrusive, but why on earth did you pick June Lake for your vacation? No offense, I mean, I love this town and everything, but you’re not the typical tourists we get around here.”

A faint frown creased his brow. He gave his head a quick shake and chuckled. “Yeah, why is that? What exactly is it that makes us so different?”