by Amy Harmon
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jake said. “But just so you know, if your kite dies first, you owe me another kiss.”
Taycee watched him as he backed away. Was he being sincere or was it all an act for the camera—him doing his duty like Jessa had asked?
If they were all alone, completely alone, with no camera, no future viewers, no expectations or pressure, what would this date really be like? Would Jake still look at her that way? Would he still want to hold her hand and kiss her? Or would he relax, let things be as easy and uncomplicated as they had been before?
Because it suddenly seemed like easy just got complicated.
“What’s the matter?” Jake taunted, holding his kite high to catch the wind. “Afraid you’re going to lose?”
“I never lose at kite wars.” Which was a complete lie. Taycee had only ever played with Luke and Caleb, and Luke had always won. Every. Single. Time. Him and his pathetic little cheap kites that always refused to die.
“Until today,” Jake said.
Taycee pointed a finger at him. “Pride goeth before the fall.”
It didn’t take long before both kites sailed high in the sky, beating against the wind and soaring.
“Okay,” Jake said as he let out more string. “Here’s the stakes: If I win, you owe me a kiss, and if you win, I owe you a kiss. How’s that?”
Taycee laughed. “Sounds like a win-win to me.”
“Exactly.”
“You’re on.” Letting out more string, Taycee let her kite sail even higher, until it looked like a tiny pink and black diamond diving this way and that as it floated high above the ground.
“The trick of it all is to get the distance right,” Taycee explained. “If one’s higher than the other, all we’re going to end up with is twisted string and two kites stuck together.”
“Gotcha. No twisted string.” Jake grinned. “So much for simple.” He pulled his kite towards Taycee’s and missed, hooking his string under hers. Taycee stepped around him to untangle them, wound her string around her handle to lower her kite, and then steered it toward Jake’s once again. They bumped against each other and separated.
“Perfect,” Taycee said. “Game on.” Without missing a beat, she yanked hard on the string and rammed Jake’s kite again, making it drop dive before soaring up again.
“You don’t play nice, do you?” Jake said.
“Not if I can help it.”
“For that, you’re going down.”
“In your dreams.”
Jake sailed his kite into hers, crashing into it and making Taycee laugh. After a few more minutes of battling it out, Jake’s arm locked around her shoulders, keeping her prisoner.
“Cheater!” Taycee called, giggling. The strings tangled and the kites wrapped around and around each other. “Stop it! You’re going to make us both crash!”
“You said there are no rules. I can do whatever I want.”
Taycee’s laughter rang out as she struggled to free herself and the kite. Soon, both kites nose-dived toward the ground, with Jake’s landing a second before her own.
“I won, I won!” Taycee hopped up and down beneath Jake’s arm. “I can’t believe I actually won!”
Jake’s sandy blond eyebrow raised as he studied her. “You sound pretty excited for a girl who always wins.”
“Okay, so maybe I never win,” Taycee admitted. “Until now, that is.” She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, thank you. Seriously, you have no idea how happy this makes me.”
“I guess if you’re happy, I should be happy,” Jake joked. “But seriously, how bad does that make me if I just lost to a loser?”
Taycee grinned. “Only by a second or two.”
“True.” Jake’s arms circled her waist. “But it still means that I owe you, right?”
Before Taycee could remember the bet, his lips were on hers, warm and soft. His arms tightened around her as he tried to deepen the kiss. But she’d finally won her first ever kite war and what she really wanted to do was run and dance and scream into the open sky, “I won!”
Maybe Luke would even hear.
Jake finally drew back with a sigh. “Wow, this really does mean a lot to you, doesn’t it?”
“I’m sorry,” Taycee said, laughter threatening to burst. “Really, it’s just so…”
“Funny?”
“No. So great.”
Jake shook his head. “Is this some sort of sanctioned sport around here or something? I mean, do you now get a medal for beating me?”
“No, only bragging rights. But believe me, I will brag.”
“I believe it.”
Together, they wound up their kites, and Jake’s arm came around her again as he led her back to the car. “Note to self: Don’t play any more games with Taycee.”
Her shoulder nudged his side. “You’re just bugged you lost to a girl.”
“It’s true. First Speed and now Kite Wars. My pride can’t take anymore.”
Taycee gave him a side-hug as they walked the rest of the way to the car. “Thanks, Jake,” she said. “You have no idea how much I needed that.”
Chapter Twenty-six
A loud pounding on the door awoke Taycee.
With a yawn, she rolled to her side and squinted at the clock. Seven o’clock. Who would be waking her up at seven on a Sunday morning? Someone with no compassion, that’s who.
Jessa.
More pounding.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Taycee rolled from her bed and raked her fingers through her hair as she padded toward the door. The banging came again before she finally opened it. Sure enough, Jessa stood on her doorstep.
“Do you know what time it is?” Taycee groaned.
“I brought breakfast.” Jessa handed Taycee a muffin then waltzed past. “Did you see the show yesterday? Holy cow, girl, you’ve got the message boards hopping. How many times did you kiss Jake anyway? I lost count.”
Taycee suddenly felt very awake. “Three. How could you lose count with only three? And small ones at that. They shouldn’t even count.”
Jessa laughed. “Burt and Megan must have done some creative editing because it looked like a whole lot more than three. And a good thing, too, because the site is flooded with traffic. With the footage of the farm—which was quite brilliant of you—we scored several more donations. Oh, and Wake Up Denver wants to have you on their show in a couple weeks.” She said this last part in a rush of words that Taycee almost didn’t catch them.
“Whoa—what?” Taycee nearly dropped her muffin as she stumbled after Jessa. “You said no, I hope.”
“Of course not,” Jessa said. “They want to interview you and the two remaining bachelors right before the final vote. It will be great—the perfect time to remind everyone how much we need their vote one last time.”
“Jessa! You told me those two news interviews would be it. Please don’t make me do this.”
Jessa leaned across the bar. “I knew you’d feel this way, but this isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually a very good thing. We’re so close, Tace, but we really need all the votes we can get. You’ll be awesome.”
“And if I’m not?”
“The show will be practically over by then so it really won’t matter.”
“Jessa!”
“Oh please. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You have those viewers wrapped around your pretty manicured fingers.”
Taycee held up her hands, wanting to remove the nail polish and file them down. “They’re fake. Just like me.”
Jessa rolled her eyes. “You’re not a fake. The person I saw on TV last night was the same person I’m standing in front of right now. Taycee Lynne Emerson. My beautiful, talented best friend, who has three bachelors half in love with her right now—and for good reason.”
“You’re wrong.” Taycee sank down on one of the barstools and rested her head on the counter. “It’s all a show. Don’t you see that? Those guys act like they like me because they wa
nt to win, and I act like I’m into them because I don’t want to screw things up for Shelter. I feel like such a fraud. Please don’t make it worse by making me go on some talk show.”
“But it’s turning into the best story ever.” Jessa’s hand came to rest on Taycee’s. “Small town girl falls for big-city, rich guy—potential savior of our town. Shelter couldn’t have asked for better publicity. Besides, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You and Jake seemed to really hit it off this past week.”
“That’s just it.” Taycee sighed. “He’s a great guy, but… I just don’t know if it’s real. I want the people, the cameras, and the pressure to all go away so I can see what’s real and what’s not because right now it all feels too fake to be real. You know?”
“That makes no sense.”
“It’s seven in the morning.”
Jessa opened the fridge and pulled out a quart of orange juice. “You know what they say, early to bed, early to rise—”
“Shut up.”
Jessa smiled as she poured herself a drink. “How about this: By the end of the show, if your feelings toward Jake are still fake, then I’ll happily take him off your hands.” Something about the way Jessa said it made it sound like she actually would.
Taycee’s arms folded on the counter and she leaned forward, resting her chin on her arms. “Wait a sec, you like Jake?”
“I think he’s cute, that’s all,” she said with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “Maybe even good for a kiss or two.”
“He’s rich too,” Taycee taunted.
“Okay, so maybe he’d be good for more than a kiss.”
“You’re terrible.” Taycee picked up the muffin and removed the paper wrapping, shoving a piece into her mouth. “I take it Burt and Megan included the part about organic farming in the footage?”
“Yes, and I spent most of the night researching everything I could about it. From what I’ve read, it’s a brilliant solution—something I can’t believe we haven’t looked into before. They say that the transitional period is the hardest, but the co-op could be the solution for that.” Jessa’s smile had never been so big. “It’s all so perfect how this is panning out. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”
“So you’re fine with Jake presenting it to the town on Saturday?”
“More than fine,” Jessa said. “I’ve already shot off an email to the mayor’s secretary, who will spread the word.”
“Of course you have.”
“Smart, wealthy, handsome, and could help save our town.” Jessa shook her head. “And you don’t know if you like him. Seriously, girl, what’s wrong with you?”
Taycee wondered the same thing herself.
“Is it because of the Tin Man?” Jessa asked.
“Who?”
“The Tin man. You know, Luke.”
It took a minute for Taycee to get the reference. The one without a heart. It was sort of like a slap in the face, the way the words lodged painfully in her chest. Her initial instinct was to defend Luke and tell her that he had a heart. A really good heart, capable of loving harder and stronger than most people, because that’s what Taycee wanted to believe, more than anything. But the truth was, she really didn’t know if he did—at least not when it came to finding true love and making a commitment. He’d been engaged at least once before, and he’d admitted that he hadn’t loved his fiancée enough.
Maybe Jessa was right. Maybe Luke was the Tin Man.
The thought made her heart hurt.
Jessa moved toward Taycee with a clack of her sandaled shoes on the tile. She leaned against the counter. “You’ve got to get over that guy. I refuse to watch you get your heart broken over him again—not when someone like Jake is around to take you away from all this.”
“All what?”
“This town. The people here. The memories. It’s like you’re caught in a net and can’t get out. What you need is to get away from Luke and leave him behind once and for all.”
That had to be the worst advice Jessa had ever come up with. “But you were the one who said you could see sparks between us. I thought you liked Luke.”
“And I thought those so-called sparks I saw weren’t real?” Jessa countered. “Isn’t that what you told me? That he only pretended interest to goad you?”
Taycee’s finger scraped at a nonexistent spot on her counter, avoiding the question and Jessa’s eyes. Deep down, Taycee wanted to believe that it had been real, that there was a chance Luke could be interested in her. But no matter how much she wished it, that didn’t mean it would come true. Because that was how life worked. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And when you lose, you have to get over it and move on.
Which was exactly what Jessa was telling her to do now.
Jessa’s hand squeezed Taycee’s. “I thought his coming back would be a good thing. If things worked out between you, great. If not, you could finally move on. But since he’s returned, all I’ve seen him do is hurt you more, and frankly, I’m sick of it. In my mind, he never has been, nor will he ever be, good enough for you. You deserve someone who looks at you the way Jake does.”
In Jessa’s roundabout way, she’d just given Taycee a compliment. But for some reason it felt more like a solid punch to the stomach, knocking the wind out of all her wishes and dreams. Which was completely stupid, con-sidering Taycee had tried time and time again to convince herself of that exact same thing. Yet deep down, that hope refused to die.
* * *
Taycee walked into the diner, fighting the fatigue of yet another late and stressful night. One more round of dating was now over and only three bachelors remained: Jake, Alec, and Miles. Which meant only two weeks and five dates left.
Whew. She could do this. She had to do this.
Early on, Taycee had pictured herself going on date after date after date and being filmed in the process. That was it. But now there were things like upping the romance, keeping viewers happy, doing interviews, and going on talk shows. Every day, the pressure mounted, making her feel like one of those pressure cookers her mother once used to can grape juice, looking ready to blow at any second.
Did Taycee have it in her to keep this up? With each new date, each new vote, and each new donation to the town, the guilt grew. People gave so freely to the little town of Shelter, expecting what in return? A good romance? A happy ending for her and some chosen bachelor?
Well, it didn’t feel happy. Not when a pit formed in Taycee’s stomach before each date, making her feel like what she was doing was deceptive and wrong. Was it right that Shelter was benefitting from something that wasn’t real?
Jessa didn’t think so. She seemed to think that Taycee could turn on and off her feelings like a faucet. Off to Luke. On to Jake. Everyone wins. The bachelorette show gets a happy ending, the money raised forms a much needed co-op, and Shelter Springs gets another chance to keep on keeping on.
But Taycee had doubts. Lots of doubts.
“Taycee, your order’s up,” Liza’s voice called out.
Already? She glanced at the clock in surprise. It had only been fifteen minutes. Was Liza actually being nice now? Wouldn’t that be something.
“Thanks, Liza. That was fast.” The smell of the curly fries wafted into Taycee’s nose, making her mouth water.
“Oh, I’m off early today for a date, so I wanted to make sure you got it before I left,” Liza said in her sugary sweet way as she removed her apron.
“That was nice of you.” Taycee examined her food. Maybe Liza had spit on it or added salt instead of sugar to the chicken salad. “A date this early in the day? Sounds promising.”
“I hope so,” said Liza. “Luke’s taking me into Denver for a show and dinner. Should be fun.”
Wait—what? Liza was going out with Luke? The curly fries suddenly looked and smelled like wooden springs. “Oh, that’s great,” Taycee managed to say. “I’m sure you’ll have a fun time.”
“I plan to.” Liza’s white teeth sparkled through too-p
ink lips before she disappeared into the back room.
With slow steps, Taycee carried her plate to the far corner of her booth and slid all the way to the end, trying to hide from the eyes of everyone else in the room. She felt transparent, as though a visible cloud of jealousy and patheticness surrounded her, announcing to the world that Luke had just shaved off another chunk of her heart.
Because if he was interested in someone like Liza, there was no way he’d ever be interested in Taycee.
The sting of tears came. She immediately blinked them back, despising them almost as much as she despised herself.
The door opened and Luke stepped inside, looking so good it tore at Taycee’s heart even more. Liza came out of the back room and gave him a winning smile.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As if I’d ever keep you waiting.” She turned and called out, “I’m off, Maris. See you tomorrow.”
“Have a good time, hon.”
“I will.” Liza looked Taycee’s way and waved a smug goodbye, which made Luke look her way as well.
For a moment his brown eyes met hers and Taycee’s heart thwacked in her chest, feeling like it would burst from her body any second. The room suddenly seemed devoid of everyone but her and Luke—locked into a staring contest that crackled with an underlying tension and awkwardness. Under normal circumstances, Luke would have grinned and waved, even come over and chatted with her for a few minutes. But not today.
Maybe he didn’t know what to do or how to act either.
Liza’s head came between them, breaking the connection, and Taycee returned her attention to her food, trying not to feel the deep-rooted pain that came with the chiming of the bells.
She let out a breath as she shoved her curly fries away. Maybe Jessa was right. Maybe it was time for Taycee to move on with her life.
Jake was handsome, kind, funny, rich—the perfect bachelor. It was beyond ridiculous to think that Taycee couldn’t develop feelings for someone like him. What she needed to do was try a little harder and really go for it. If not, she might end up spending the rest of her life pining away for a guy who never pined back.
