That Runaway Summer
Page 20
Jill couldn’t help it. Her pulse quickened as she waited for his answer.
“Like I’d tell you first,” Dan said, his tone playful.
“May I have your attention.” Charlie Bradford’s voice reverberated over a microphone, quieting the murmuring of the crowd. He stood with the seven members of the borough council flanking him. Jill took off her sunglasses to see Charlie better. He wore a reddish over-the-head costume with a yellow streak down the center. The sides of the outfit resembled an open bun.
“He’s a hot dog!” Jill said with a smile.
“In more ways than one,” Dan rejoined, grinning. He’d also removed his sunglasses, but his wig and badge were in place. “And he’s saved us from being the only adults dressed for Halloween.”
“First of all, I’d like to welcome everybody to our inaugural event, which is one of my initiatives as mayor,” Charlie began.
“You go, hot dog!” Chase put his fingers in the sides of his mouth and whistled approval for his father. Laughter and applause rolled through the audience.
“If you get elected to the council, you’ll be up there next year,” Dan whispered in Jill’s ear, sending warmth shooting through her. She was at the end of a short, intense campaign for a council seat.
“We can hope.” She smiled at him, marveling that he could make her pulse quicken even dressed as a corny TV cop.
“Teresa.” Charlie Bradford nodded to his wife. “Will you do the honors?”
Teresa threw a switch and the scaffolding beside her lit up. Jack-o’-lanterns of all sizes and carvings glowed in the night. There must have been two hundred of them, arranged in ten or more perpendicular rows, stacked one on top of the other. A pumpkin wall, Charlie had called it when he sent out the word to members of the community for contributions.
A group of schoolchildren, all in costume, started to sing a song about a pumpkin patch.
Jill had a fleeting thought of her father’s surprising news that Chris was the star of his elementary school choir. Her father said that discovering he had a talent for singing was doing wonders for her brother’s confidence.
“Let’s get away from this crowd,” Dan whispered directly into her ear, grabbing her hand.
Jill didn’t need to be asked twice. She let Dan lead her away from where everyone was gathered, trusting he knew where he was going even though he headed deeper into the park.
He stopped in a secluded spot that was still in the glow of the jack-o’-lanterns. Jill looked up at him questioningly.
“I’ve got something to ask you,” he said even though she hadn’t said anything. More and more lately, they’d been communicating without words. “Except I’d rather do it when we’re not wearing these getups.”
“Done.” She took off the disguise and shook out her hair. He did the same, and she was struck by the notion that they made a better team than their characters. “But whatever it is, I’ll probably say yes.”
“Good to hear.” He reached into his pocket, withdrew a black velvet box and snapped it open. A gleaming orange sapphire stone flanked by diamonds winked up at her. A Halloween color that would forever remind her of this magical moment. “Because I’m asking you to marry me.”
“Yes!” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck.
He laughed. “You don’t need to think about it?”
“What’s to think about?” she said. “I love you.”
“That means I was right,” he said. “In Indigo Springs, anything is possible.”
Then he kissed her in the glow of the pumpkin wall, with the promise of their future as bright as the celebratory lights.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6926-6
THAT RUNAWAY SUMMER
Copyright © 2010 by Darlene Hrobak Gardner
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*Return to Indigo Springs
*Return to Indigo Springs
*Return to Indigo Springs
*Return to Indigo Springs
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE