well,” I tell her, thinking back to a few weeks ago when Paisley was having some difficulties with the transition to having a new sibling. “You ready to go?” I ask as Lindsay comes to a stop a foot or so in front of me. I realize I’m still holding the box of chocolates, so I hold them out, first. “These are also for you.” I offer them over.
“How’d you know these were my favorite?” she asks, a little shock lacing her voice.
“Just a lucky guess.” I smirk. “That, and they were next to the register at the florist, so really you have them to thank. Perfect product placement,” I quip, but also make a mental note that they’re her favorite. That’s a good nugget of information to have for later on.
“Well, thank you,” she says, placing them on a little table near her front door. “I’ll enjoy those later. Now, where are you taking me?” she asks, and I open the door, holding out an arm for her to walk in front of me. I step aside once it’s closed so that she can lock up, then offer up my arm for her to hold as I escort her to my truck. I break our connection once we reach it so that I can open the passenger door for her. I reach in and toss the box that held the flowers into my back seat, then offer my hand to help her climb up. I, apparently, will do anything to have her skin touching mine.
Once Lindsay is securely in the truck, I shut the door, jogging around the front and hopping into the driver’s seat. “We’re headed to the fall festival, if that sounds okay with you,” I answer her question from before.
“Sounds perfect,” she agrees. “I’ve been wanting to make it over, but didn’t know when I’d be able to.”
“Well, I’m glad it worked out, then.” I chuckle.
We make small talk on the fifteen-minute drive over to the fairgrounds. With the nice weather, the festival is packed, especially with it being a Saturday night. I follow the signs to where parking is available, and we make our way up to the gates. I grab our tickets, and away we go.
“What are you in the mood to eat first?” I ask, placing my hand on Lindsay’s back as we walk through the crowds.
She laughs. “I like how you specified first, like you already know we won’t be indulging in just one thing tonight.”
“It just isn’t possible to come here and not eat your way through the place. Isn’t that what fairs are all about?” I ask, leaning in a bit closer to talk next to her ear, so she’s sure to hear me. With the growing crowds, it’s a little hard to hear one another.
“Gah!” she exclaims, holding her hand up in the air. “I don’t know what to pick, let's do a lap around, and then we can decide; how’s that sound?” she asks, leaning right back into me.
“Like the perfect plan,” I confirm. I slide my hand into hers, linking our fingers together as we walk around, checking things out. We each point out booths we want to check out at some point, but right now, we’re on a mission to figure out our food game plan.
8
Lindsay
“I don’t think I can eat one more bite,” I tell Tucker as I push the basket of fresh curly fries closer to him. “I’m stuffed.”
“Well, in your defense, we have eaten our way through this place.” He snags another curly fry and drags it through the puddle of ketchup before popping it into his mouth. “But I agree, I’m done.” He gathers what's left and tosses them in one of the large barrel trash cans set up around the tables.
“Want to go find a drink and go listen to music, or we could go grab some ride tickets and go up on the Ferris wheel,” he suggests.
“I absolutely hate heights,” I warn him. “So, I’m not sure you’d want to take me up on that thing.”
“Oh, come on, it isn’t that bad, plus, you’d have me to hold on to.” He winks at me.
“You make a tempting argument, but I’m still not sure about getting on that thing.”
“We can think about it, maybe go up once the sun fully sets, and all the lights come on.”
“I’ll think about it.” I give him that, at least. The idea of snuggling close to him is very tempting, but the thought of losing