Page 26 of Wrecked By You

No, no, no. I didn’t want to think about this.

The Ferris wheel took off and gained speed.

Jason looked up and screamed. “Oh!” It made me laugh, because it’s something his father would’ve done when he was younger.

On impulse, I put my hands up and yelled, “Wahoo!”

Jason laughed. He turned to me and smiled. “You’re fun.”

His small words of praise made me happy. “You’re fun too.”

He giggled, and then we both put our hands up and yelled again.

Damon called out, “Hey, you guys are having too much fun up there.”

Jason laughed and yelled down. “Dad, you and Trent need to yell too.”

Suddenly, Damon and Trent yelled out like we had done.

The whole thing was fun, and when it was over, we got off, laughing and yelling, “Wahoo!”

We went on the tumbler ride, and I was pretty sure I was going to barf, but we all came out laughing about that ride too. Then we went on the swings, and we grabbed on to each other as we flew around. Truly, I felt like a part of this family in so many ways.

When we got done with that one, I suddenly saw someone I hadn’t seen in a long time: Damon’s brother Canyon. He was with a girl I didn’t recognize, but he stopped and called out to us. “Damon! Jason and Trent!”

Suddenly, the boys took off toward him, and just as Damon had greeted them earlier by picking them up and spinning them around, Canyon did the same thing. He bent, took each of them in one of his arms, lifted them up, and twirled them.

They giggled and told them about all the rides we had been on.

Canyon turned to me. A grin washed over his face. “Hey, welcome back to town. I heard you’re working dispatch.”

Once again, I thought that small-town news moves fast. “Thanks. Good to see you.”

He turned to the girl I didn’t recognize. “This is Jane. She works search and rescue.”

We shook hands.

Canyon looked between Damon and me. “What if I take the boys for a little bit? I will give you guys some time.”

Suddenly, it felt like we were put on the spot, like this was some official date or something.

Damon gave him a questioning look. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Canyon laughed.

Jason and Trent were grabbing his hands and jumping up and down. “Dad, can we go with him?” Trent asked.

Damon laughed. “Sure.” He turned to Canyon. “Just so you know, I just fed them hot dogs and we’ve gone on a lot of rides. But here’s the money for some cotton candy.”

Canyon put his hand up and refused. “If I get my nephews cotton candy, I’ll pay for it.”

It looked like Damon wanted to argue, but he put the money back in his wallet. “Thank you.”

Canyon, Jane, and the boys walked away from us. Suddenly, I was left alone with Damon. It could have been awkward, but somehow it wasn’t.

Damon took my hand and grinned at me. “Thanks for coming and putting up with those two crazies.”

His hand was warm, and it felt intimate. I looked down at our hands. “Are you sure you want to do that?”