you go,” Josh said, his voice drifting into her ear and vibrating its way to the center of her chest. “Destiny awaits. I’m pretty sure that’s the horse’s name, by the way.”
An unexpected laugh slipped free. “I’d hate to mess with Destiny. I hear she’s an ornery one.” If putting space between them required a spin on the carousel, Danae supposed it was the lesser of the two complexities. “Fine. I’m in.”
Josh led her to the end of the short line to wait for the next turn. The ride slowed, and the conductor told them to go ahead and pick out their horses. Franco and Paige were switching seats so that he could get a turn on the dragon.
Unlike previous carousels Danae had ridden when she was a girl, several of the horses had realistic hair instead of painted manes. The conductor announced that the ride was about to start, and the two of them rushed to mount their noble plastic steeds. As she climbed atop her horse and glanced at Josh, the childlike excitement she’d been reminiscing about ignited and spread until her entire body tingled with it.
Usually she did a better job at resisting dares, but the way Josh issued them, with a combination of encouragement and witty taunting, made her want to oblige. If anyone asked, though, she’d be going with “team bonding” as her reason for giving in.
The kid a couple of horses in front of her tipped to the side, far enough that she was afraid he’d topple over. She opened her mouth to call to Mark for help, since he was astride the horse beside the young boy. Then she realized that the kid was reaching for one of the rings on the mechanical arm.
Danae squinted one eye closed, afraid to watch, and afraid not to. The boy’s finger barely nicked the edge of the ring…and came up empty. She didn’t have to see his face to imagine his disappointment.
The younger girl behind her shouted in victory as she snagged one of the rings. She had three piled on top of her horse’s ear, and while Danae knew that life wasn’t fair, it still dug at her.
During the next turn, she watched the kid again, silently urging him to snag a brass ring without getting bucked off, so to speak. She didn’t trust the flimsy “seat belt” to hold him.
He stretched out his arm, his stubby fingers grasping and grasping…
Get it, get it.
“Dang it,” she said when he missed for the second time.
“Everything okay?” Josh asked. “Or is Destiny acting up?”
Danae patted her horse’s neck. “Not with me. I know how to grab hold of destiny and make it work for me.”
“Let me guess, with a ten-point plan.”
As they rounded the bend, the mechanical arm in sight, she stood in the stirrups, hoping they could hold her despite the fact that she was well beyond kid age, height, and weight.
“See that boy a few rows in front of us? He’s been trying to get that brass ring, and he’s already missed twice. I feel so bad.”
Sure enough, he stretched out his fingers once again, and she leaned to the side of her own horse, as if that would help.
The kid’s mom was trying to assist him this time, but she was also struggling to keep a hand on a toddler with golden curls on the horse in front of him.
Mark climbed off his own horse in a flash. He asked the mom and the kid a question, and when they both nodded, he gripped the kid around the waist and gave him the few inches’ boost. The boy’s happy shout bounced over to her, and happiness pinged her insides.
“You got it!” she shouted, adding a clap, and the boy twisted in the plastic saddle and held up his brass ring trophy.
Danae smiled at Mark, who ensured the boy was securely on his horse and then returned her smile. Instead of climbing back on, Mark simply leaned against his horse and gripped the pole as the ride began slowing.
After the breakup, she’d purposely focused on her frustrations with Mark so she wouldn’t miss him so much. Between the way he’d apologized last night, his remark about her mom, and how he’d noticed the kid struggling and jumped to help, she was remembering everything that had drawn her to him in the first place.
Even the story she’d told Vanessa about the coffee pot. Mark had come in, and she’d launched into a rambling explanation. Before she’d