Still The One - Carrie Elks Page 0,104

carrying their things – two fold up chairs and a cooler with drinks inside, looking completely at ease with himself. He gave her a crooked grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling up, and she felt his warmth washing over her.

Which was a good thing, because summer was almost over, and there was a hint of fall in the air as they walked. The smell of ripe apples wafted in the breeze, and pieces of corn drifted from the fields as the harvest came to a peak. Last night, Zoe had begun to plan her Halloween outfit, even though school had only just gone back.

Or at least it seemed that way.

Swimming pools were closing up, orchards were opening for picking, and the busy summer season at the drive-in was coming to an end.

They wouldn’t close up completely. She’d spent the past few weeks planning their winter program, which would mean opening only on Friday and Saturday nights. Scary movies in October, some long-awaited blockbusters in November, and then their holiday movie season. She smiled at the thought of it.

“You’re here!” Zoe said, running over and giving Van a hug. Then she grinned up at Tanner, who put the chairs down and ruffled her hair.

“Hey, kid.” He smiled.

“How was your playdate?” Van asked her. Another change, as if this season didn’t have enough of them. Zoe was finally being asked over to her friends’ house. Probably because they loved hanging out at the drive-in whenever Van invited them over.

“Playdates are for babies.” Zoe frowned. “I went to a friends for dinner.”

Van bit down a smile. Her sister was growing up. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. Milly has this amazing jungle gym. It’s as big as a house. We made a den at the top of it and pretended it was a tree house.”

“See.” Tanner winked at Van. “Not playing at all.”

They found a spot with the younger crowd, pulling open the chairs and putting their refreshments on the shared table at the center, before Tanner poured them both a glass of lemonade.

It had been his idea to come here tonight. People didn’t stare as much as they used to. Gossip had moved on since that night at the drive-in where her mom had told everybody about Johnny Fairfax being her father. They were too busy talking about the size of Maddie’s baby bump – she was at least as big as Regan Laverty was before she gave birth to her little girl, who had perfectly round cheeks that Van had already fallen in love with.

“Hey!” Becca shot to her feet, running over to give Van a hug. “It’s so good to see you. It feels like forever.”

“We saw you on Sunday,” Tanner said dryly. “That was what, five days ago?”

Becca wrinkled her nose at him. “Like I said, forever.” She looked around. “How’s your mom doing?”

“Good.” Van nodded. “She has a job interview next week.” There had been ups and downs since she came home from rehab, but she was so much better than she had been. There were still days when she couldn’t even get herself out of bed, but she’d kept her word and hadn’t drunk a sip of alcohol to try to ward off the misery. She’d even started AA.

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for h—” Becca stopped mid word, her mouth closing quickly as she looked over Van’s shoulder.

Van twisted her head to follow her stare. Chrissie Fairfax was standing at the table, pouring two glasses of lemonade. Nora was next to her, though there was no sign of Johnny. When they saw her, they both quickly looked away.

Van squared her shoulders and gave Becca a reassuring smile. They didn’t bother her. Not any more. It was funny how they never said nasty things for her to hear anymore. They seemed almost scared of her – more than once when she’d been in the town square she’d seen Nora hurrying away in the other direction.

Van brought her attention back to Becca. “Are Maddie and Gray coming tonight?”

“Yeah.” Becca frowned, looking at the watch on her slim wrist. “They should have been here by now.”

“They’re coming.” Tanner nodded in the other direction. Van could see them now, Gray had his arm around Maddie, who was walking as slow as molasses. Still, they both looked stunning. Gray, tall, strong and sexy, and Maddie wearing a yellow-and-white flowered dress, her dark hair flowing behind her as they reached the main group of Chairs.

“Did I miss anything?” Gray asked, looking at Tanner.

He