The story of Maureen and me hadn’t been very nice so far. Not neat, or clear, or calm. From the beginning, there had been heat, mutual attraction, and admiration. A rare level of connection. But there had also been lies and half-truths, cowardice and pain. Years of silence. Anger and misunderstanding. Penance. Grace.
So much intensity between us. Yet now—there was this.
Fingers entwined. Our relationship as scarred as my hand. It would never look entirely nice, but it was okay.
“Hey, Will?” Maureen’s voice broke into my thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“Do you mind if I take a solo ride on the Ferris wheel? You shouldn’t risk it because of your head, but I’d love to get some fun shots from the top if I can.”
“No problem. I’ll go back to the park and check out the bands. You can catch up with me there.”
“Just don’t get too close to the instruments, okay? That wouldn’t be good for you either.”
I grinned at how she couldn’t stop playing nurse. “I’ll be fine. The lights and the sounds have been okay so far, although I wouldn’t mind taking a break on one of those benches.”
She bit her lip.
“Go!” I encouraged her. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. But I’m just gonna take one quick ride and then I’ll be back.”
“Take your time.”
I watched as she strode off before turning toward the park. Not too far from the entrance, I saw the blond-haired teen from the high school booth quietly strumming his guitar on a bench.
I pulled up next to him, remembering Marley’s intel that he’d had a tough time the year before. “Daniel, right?” His fingers fell from the strings as he furrowed his brow at me. I hurried to reassure him I wasn’t a weirdo. “We met a few hours ago at the Coleman Creek High booth. I’m Will, James’s—uh, Mr. Wymack’s—friend.”
He dipped his chin. “Hey.”
“Your playing is really good.”
“Thanks.” He looked at the ground.
Stilted silence hung in the air. The last thing I wanted to do was make him uncomfortable, but before I could walk away and leave him to his playing, a group of young women came along the path. As they passed, one of them stopped short.
“Oh my gosh! Daniel! Hey!” She came over to us. “I’m so happy to see you!” The girl, who looked around eighteen, gave Daniel a megawatt smile. She bent down to hug him tightly, careful not to crush his guitar. “I just got into town, and I was going to message you,” she gushed. “I want to make sure we hang out before I go back to school.”
Daniel’s cheeks flushed. He awkwardly patted her back before she pulled away. One of the other girls called out in an annoyed voice, “Come on, Nan! We were supposed to be at the big tree ten minutes ago.”
“Oh, shoot.” The young woman—Nan—reached out to squeeze Daniel on the shoulder. “I’ll send you a snap. Can’t wait to catch up.” She rushed off after her friends, waving cheerfully and shouting, “Bye!” over her shoulder.
I watched Daniel’s eyes as they followed her, staring until she was out of sight. He looked like he’d been hit by a truck.
“She seems nice.” I gestured to the bench next to him, and he shrugged. I sat down. “Friend of yours?”
“I guess. She went away to college a few months ago.”
“Does she know you like her?” He jerked his head to face me, blushing furiously, and I immediately regretted my words. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I didn’t mean to blurt that out. It’s none of my business.”
His eyes flashed for a moment before he sighed in defeat. “Is it that obvious?”
“Hey, you don’t need to be embarrassed,” I said, holding up my hands. “And you don’t need to talk if you don’t want to. I just had to sit down because I’m recovering from an accident, and I wanted to get off my feet for a minute.”
Daniel traced his fingers over the frets of his guitar. Even though I’d had more bravado at his age, I could see myself in him. The red face. The lack of true confidence. I wished whenI’d been sixteen, I’d had someone to tell me it was fine to be awkward and artsy and imperfect.
“I’m probably not as good at talking to students as Mr. Wymack or Ms. Davis,” I told him, “but just so you know—from my perspective as an outsider, based on what I just saw—Nan seems to like you too.”
