He led her over to the bar.
“Water. Two.”
“Same.”
They downed their water bottles and then Jed leaned close, his cologne filling the air around them. “Let’s go outside.”
She nodded. As soon as they exited, the cool air relieved her flushed skin and the quiet settled over them in a welcome respite.
“I must be getting old.” He winked. “The music was too much.”
“So loud. I almost left during Boot Skoot Boogie. Great while we were dancing though, right? You’re incredible.”
His eyes travelled over her face and she blushed at the obvious appreciation in his expression. “I haven’t clicked with a partner like we just did in a long time.”
“I guess you need to come back home more often.”
He shook his head. “Nope. It’s not Thayer Falls. It’s you. We have something.” He leaned back against the back of a bench. “So, tell me Anna. Where are you now a days?”
“Anywhere but here.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Okay. So not a Thayer Falls fan?”
She shrugged. “What about you? You said something about cattle.”
“I’m in Montanna. We’ve got a spread up there.”
“We?”
“My Dad and I, Mom passed away and now it’s just us.”
“I’m sorry about your mom. Isn’t she the one who always sent in—”
“Chocolate chip cookies.” He nodded. “Hers were the best.”
“I still remember them.”
His eyes were staring at the night sky. “Stars. One thing Montana has is stars.”
“What? Thayer Falls doesn’t?” After New York she thought the sky looked like one big star there were so many.
“Oh, not like Montana. Up there, wow. It’s like nothing even Thayer Falls has ever seen.”
She was filled with a strange desire to defend her small town, but she stamped the feeling away. “It’s never even dark in Manhattan.”
“What has you living all the way in that big loud place?”
“Like I said, I was ready for something different.” She hesitated and then smiled. “But, work has me travelling to Montana next week. I guess I’ll have to check out the stars myself and see.”
His eyes lit up and his mouth spread in such a large smile she almost laughed in response. “Now, this is good news. Can I get your number? I’d like to show you around when you come.”
“Montana’s a big place. What if I’m on the opposite side of the state?”
“I can manage a little distance to prove to a beautiful woman why Montana might be worth a second visit.” His eyes sparkled. She could almost smell his confidence it warmed her and made her toes curl. “Well okay then.” She reached for his phone and typed in her number. “I’ll be there Wednesday.”
He nodded and pocketed his phone. “Looks like dancing is being taken over by the twelve year old crowd. You free to skip out? Go to some of our old haunts?”
She laughed. “The haunts from seventh grade?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t been back here to Thaylor Falls. Don’t knock my desire to reconnect with roots.”
Her mother was busy holding the ear of a guilty looking cousin. Her sister more than distracted with her new husband, the other sisters in the family still present and pitching in. Anna turned to Jed, a spark of adventure flaring inside. Intrigued by her old crush on the smart guy, fueled by all the ways he had obviously filled out and turned into an attractive man, she grinned, “You’re on.”
Marguerite walked by the double doors leading back inside to the banquet and dance hall.
Anna ducked behind Jed. When he peeked over his shoulder at her, she said, “I do not want to cross that woman.”
“Really, that little pint sized thing?”
“Oh yeah. Don’t let her size influence your opinion of her. Underestimating that woman might be your downfall.”
His eyebrow raised, but he stood still until the wedding planner passed and then reached for Anna’s hand.
When his fingers laced through hers, she thrilled at his touch. He tugged gently and she might have followed him anywhere. They made their way through the back gardens. “My car’s on its way.”
“We can just take mine. What do you mean? Did someone drop you off?”
They rounded to the front and a limo pulled in.
“Oh.” Anna eyed him. So the scraggly seventh grader had not just filled out in all the right ways, he’d made a successful life of himself.
“Maybe this is awkward? Easier just to drive where we want to go without explaining to the driver?” His hesitance, the insecurity in his face warmed her toward him.
“No, this is fine, great.” She laughed. “I’m not one to complain about a limo.”
He held the door open for her, and when they were both comfortable, he texted the driver. “I’ll tell him, first stop, South River Park.”
She felt her face heat, but she looked away to hide it. What was he doing? “You’ll probably not be too shocked that it’s exactly the same.”
“I’m counting on it.”
She shook her head. “What’s so fascinating about our old park?” He probably forgot all about the first time they were in the park together.
“Is the bridge still there?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Yes, but don’t get any ideas. I haven’t been to the kissing bridge in years.”
“But I do remember something I heard about you once…”
She cringed, half hoping he’d remember and half praying he’d forgotten. “Yes, well, that might have been the last time Kissing Bridge and I have been within twenty feet of one another.”
He clucked his tongue. “Now that’s a shame. A woman with action as nice as your seventh grade reputation would be someone I’d like to take on the kissing bridge.”
“Oh my word. Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
He leaned forward. “You do remember!”
“Of course. You were my first kiss.”
“No.” his face was too delighted. And the conversation felt too juvenile but she laughed.
“Yes. Too true.” She’d compared many kisses over the years to the one she received from Jed on the kissing bridge. She started right then in seventh grade, looking for the same wonder, the zing, that spark. Every single one had been lacking. She had been more than disappointed and had come to assume that all good first kisses have a spark and perhaps it never comes back. A one time, special moment, kind of thing.
But now that Jed was once again in front of her, she wondered if at least some of the zing of the kiss stayed with her simply because Jed had his own form of magnetism. A new idea made her smile. Maybe Jed was the spark. She laughed out loud at the silliness of her brain.
“What? Fond memories?” His wink made her laugh again.
“You. Are too much. That was seventh grade.”
“Well, when you’re as gifted as we were, the kiss is gonna be nothing short of life altering.”
“Oh stop.” He didn’t know how right he was. “Let’s go show you this bridge.”
“And the swings.”
“Right, seventh grade re-enactment here we come.”
He stopped. “Not all of seventh grade must be relived…” His face, mock horror, told her he’d gotten over any feelings of embarrassment about his awkwardness. “I see no reason anyone would ever have to redo middle school.”
Their hands connected and fingers interlocked again before she even knew what was happening. They made their way across a large and open grassy area. The few street lights that functioned gave enough light for the place to feel charming.
“Swings first.” He picked up his pace to the two swings, hanging at awkward angles, alone in front of them.
“Let’s see how far we can jump.”
They swung, they jumped, they laughed and for a moment, Anna felt the carefree days of her youth and remembered why she loved Thayer Falls, or why she used to. On thei
r last jump, she pumped her legs as hard as she could. She looked over at Jed and had saw him as a seventh grader again. Something about his expression, his eyes, the set of his mouth in clenched determination. Then he turned to her and when their eyes met, a hint of the spark lit in her chest. She gasped.
He called out, “ready, set, go!”
They leapt out from their swings, arms failingly, legs spinning, trying to land the farthest jump.
Jed won by at least a foot. He stood with his arms raised in a victory V, stomping in a circle.
“Okay, yes, we know you won.” She dusted herself off, a little irritated she had allowed herself to care.
Then his arms wrapped around her and he picked her up and swung her in a circle. “Oh come now, AnnaMae. You can’t win at everything all the time.” He kept going in a circle until she squealed at the roller coaster clench in her stomach. Then he held her while the world spun around them. After a moment, he whispered, “You allright Annamae?”
She couldn’t correct him. Coming from his lips, AnnaMae was the sexiest name she’d ever heard. Her gaze lifted. His face was close, his mouth, closer. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
Her hand once again in his, they headed for the bridge. And suddenly she was 13 again. The night was dark, lit only by the weak street lights. The hand that held hers was strong, warm instead of small and clammy. The man who walked at her side was tall, broad, instead of short and wiry. But to her, it was the same. Anticipation pounded in her chest.
The spark. It was coming.
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