the large banner for the lemonade stand. He was close.
He rushed through the crowd, and spotted her at the pick-up counter. He caught up to her just as a woman handed her a frozen drink, and then she turned and they nearly collided. He reached out to steady her hand, and luckily the lemonade was frozen or they would both be wearing it.
“Liam!” She smiled up at him. “You scared me half to death. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said. He led her to a shaded area on the side of the booth so that they would be out of the way of the other patrons. “I came because I ran into Lacey, and she told me you came out here alone.”
“But…you hate stuff like this.”
“I do, but I love you. Now, what’s going on? You sounded upset when I first contacted you.”
“Not upset, just…” she glanced around them, seemingly searching for something. “Just weird. I thought I saw my ex at the corndog booth, and I thought it was strange. This would be a long way from home for him, so I was probably mistaken, but if it was him, I didn’t want him to see me. Not while I was here alone. He wasn’t a nice man, and…”
She shrugged, and he didn’t press her for more info. They had never talked about any of her exes beyond the fact that they were all losers, but he had a feeling the last one may have been verbally abusive.
“Well, you’re no longer alone, and I haven’t been here in forever. Where do you want to go next?”
“You’ll stay? Really?”
Fucking hell!
Visiting the Farmer’s Market—and probably other festivals, too—was way more important to her than she’d let on.
“Really,” he smiled down at her.
“Thank you, Liam.”
She rose on her tip-toes to kiss his chin, and then offered him some of her frozen lemonade. He took the drink from her and allowed her to lead him through the rows of stalls she hadn’t visited yet, and an hour later, he walked her to her car, and then followed her back to the lake.
The whole thing hadn’t been terrible, and though he had spent a lot of time scanning their surroundings, he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.
Elle had moved from booth to booth methodically, chatting with many of the vendors, and the smile on her face never faltered. She was in her element, and it seemed like his presence made her forget all about the possible sight of her ex.
Back at the lake, Elle stopped at the main house to drop off some things for Lacey, and then after a quick kiss and a promise of more later, she left for the cabin, leaving him behind so he could go running with his brothers.
Elle put away all of the fruit and veggies she’d picked up at the Farmer’s Market, and then she looked in the cabinets for a vase to hold the flowers that Liam had bought her.
She wanted to smile again, but she’d been wearing a permanent grin since he’d shown up at the lemonade stand, and nothing could douse her happiness.
She knew Liam didn’t like crowds, but the fact that he had shown up for her despite his qualms meant the world to her. She liked visiting the market with Lacey, and she didn’t expect Liam to show up every week, but it was nice to know he would make the sacrifice and go along with her if she asked.
After realizing that there was no vase around, and nothing in their cabinets tall enough to mimic one, she cut the flower stems short and placed them in a coffee mug. The arrangement was a pretty combination oranges, yellows, and corals, and she admired them while she munched on a bag of cookies she had purchased from one of the vendors.
The cookies were good, and even though hers were better, she enjoyed them a lot. They also gave her some ideas for the store, and she grabbed a pencil and paper to jot down her thoughts.
She was passionate about baking, and just because she liked her recipes best, that didn’t make her complacent. There was always something new to learn, and always someone out there who was better, so it was best to keep an open mind when sampling another person’s work.
The sound of a car coming up the hill made her pause, and when she looked out the window, the sight of an unfamiliar sedan circling