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She smiles as she wraps him in a hug. “Are you enjoying the festival? Who are you here with?”
“My daughter and my grandkids.” He points to a brunette who’s kneeling on the ground trying to reach around her protruding belly to tie her son’s shoe.
Charly rushes over to his daughter. “Here, let me help.”
The woman gives her a sheepish smile. “Thank you. I’m starting to see why the T-Rex was so angry all the time. He couldn’t reach anything.”
Charly throws back her head as she laughs. “I’m a friend of your grandfather’s. We met at the dance studio.”
“You must be Charly.” She extends her hand. “I’m Kylie. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Charly gestures to me and Nana. “This is Beatrice, and her grandson, Bryce. They own the inn I’m staying at for the summer.”
Freddie clasps my hand. “This young man stole my lovely dance partner. He’s lucky he makes her light up like a Christmas tree, otherwise I’d have something to say about it.”
I chuckle. “I’m sorry about that. I’m sure you’d have done the same if someone else was dancing with your wife.”
“You bet your ass I would’ve.” Freddie turns to Nana. “Forgive me for my language.”
Nana waves a dismissive hand. “Please. My husband cursed like a sailor back in his day.”
“Ah.” Freddie nods. “Sounds like we would’ve gotten along swimmingly.”
Charly holds out her hand as she stands, and helps the little boy to his feet. “And what’s your name?”
“Thomas,” he says with a lisp through missing teeth. “You’re pretty.”
Charly grins. “Thank you, Thomas. Are you excited to be a big brother?”
He wrinkles his nose. “I don’t like babies. They cry a lot.”
“They do.” Charly shrugs. “But they need a lot of help. They need someone to show them the rules. I bet you can do that.”
He nods like a bobblehead doll, eyes wide. “I know all the rules.”
Kylie’s husband walks up balancing a melting ice cream cone, a bag of caramel popcorn, and two water bottles. She introduces him to us, and takes a water bottle for herself.
Thomas runs to him. “Daddy, let’s go to the dunk tank! I want to dunk you.”
He hoists Thomas onto his shoulders, and his chocolate ice cream drips onto his forehead. “Good. I’ll need to get dunked to wash this ice cream out of my hair.”
Kylie shakes her head. “It was so nice meeting all of you. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Freddie takes Nana’s hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we see each other again sometime soon.”
“Come by the inn any time for a home-cooked meal.”
Charly and I exchange glances. She waggles her eyebrows at me, and I scrunch my face in disgust. “I don’t want to think about my grandmother going on a date.”
She snorts before leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. “I think it’s adorable. No one should be alone, no matter how old they are.”
What about me?
We play a few of the carnival games, and when lunchtime rolls around, we head to the café. The entrance is at the top of five wooden stairs, the restaurant raised on a small deck with tables and chairs lined around the outside. I scan the storefront for a ramp, but there isn’t one.
Nana frowns. “Well, this won’t work.”
“It’s fine. I can walk up the stairs, and leave my wheelchair on the side.”
