Summer Love_ A Steamy Small Town Romance Anthology - Piper Rayne Page 0,56

what was life without risk? Zoey had taught him that. In many ways, her bravery and resilience were the things he loved most about her. Yeah, sometimes she leaped without looking, and to Mack, hope wasn’t a strategy. But to someone like him, who could get tangled up in all the things that might go wrong, she was a breath of fresh air.

Balance.

Zoey had been right about that. Their differences weren’t something to be feared, but to be celebrated. They were a strength rather than a barrier. He was going to tell Zoey how he felt. That he loved her. That she was right. That she was worth the risk.

But before he could even think of how to put it all into words, someone screamed, “Fire!”

Smoke wafted into the air from behind the Sweet on You food truck and bright yellow and red flames licked up the back end of the vehicle. Mack raced over as the crowd scattered, pushing past people with fear clogging the back of his throat. If Zoey hadn’t fixed all the issues he’d pointed out, then a fire could spread quickly. Or cause an explosion. If the generator hadn’t been replaced…

Stop it. Zoey knows what she’s doing. She came to you because she wanted to do it right.

The two women piled out of the food truck and Gwen ran towards him, wide-eyed. But Zoey was running in the other direction, towards the back. She had a fire extinguisher in her hands—one of the things he’d recommended she include in her upgrades.

The extinguisher hissed and released its fluid, creating a foamy substance that splattered the back of the truck and the ground where the fire had caught on a patch of greenery lining the walkway. In seconds, the fire was out.

“Thank God we weren’t on the oval with all that dry grass.” Gwen shook her head. Every Australian knew the dangers of a dry summer. She looked shaken and Mack put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “I have no idea what happened.”

“You’ve gone into business with a bad egg, Gwen Marsh,” a voice piped up beside them. An older woman with thin, gold-wire glasses perched on her nose was shaking her head. It was Mrs. Harris, their long-retired high school history teacher. “That girl was a menace even as a child.”

“A menace?” Gwen gaped at the older woman. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“And you always were a gullible one.” Mrs. Harris shook her head again. “She’s just like her mother. Reckless, irresponsible. Comes from a whole family of troublemakers.”

“I’ll ignore the irony of you tearing down Zoey in the middle of a ‘supporting young women in business’ event,” Mack said, turning to face the older woman. “And simply tell you that you’re dead wrong. Zoey is nothing like her mother. She’s hard-working, kind, optimistic and resilient. If you don’t see that she has massive potential to be a great contributor to our community, then that is a failing on you, not on her.”

Mrs. Harris’s mouth fell open. She’d loved him when he was a kid—had always jokingly called him her “favourite student” because he was diligent and always did his homework, even when he hated the subject. But he wasn’t going to let her cast aspersions on Zoey in front of everyone.

“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen under her spell, too,” Mrs. Harris scoffed. “I thought you’d do so much better than that, Brian. It won’t last, you know.”

“Yes, it will.” When he said the words aloud, he felt it to the depths of his soul. “It’s forever.”

Suddenly he realised that he wasn’t only speaking to Mrs. Harris. All the people standing around were staring at him, including Zoey. The fire had been put out before it could spread but she still had the extinguisher in her hands. A woman in a black dress and a man with a bald head were inspecting the area behind the truck.

“Forever?” Zoey asked, shaking her head. “It’s not even for now.”

Beside him, Mrs. Harris made a noise of smug amusement. Oh boy. Mack really didn’t want things to go down like this—publicly, with his potential rejection on display for the whole town to see. Declarations with an audience were so not his style.

What would Zoey do?

She’d put herself on the line, just like she’d already done over and over. She would light up the sky with her message if that’s what it took. Because she was brave and fearless. Because she tried no matter