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The smell of funnel cakes and cotton candy permeated the air, making my mouth water. There were all the old rides: the roller coaster, the Tilt-A-Whirl that everyone thought would spin off the rails, and the little tin cans that tilted up and down. I remembered barfing in one of those as a kid, and I couldn’t help but smile.
McCrae nudged me and grinned. “You’re happy you came, aren’t you? I volunteered to be a semi-chaperone at this dance tonight. Not that I can’t dance. I can. I’m just there for law and order. But we could get in a few rides and down some churros. You in?”
“Of course I’m in.” What the heck. When in Rome, do what the Romans do.
It was interesting being back. I’d gotten to see my brothers’ and sister’s personalities again. McCrae had always been like a puppy. He still was; he had just grown into a huge, friendly dog. He took working out to a whole other level, and he’d developed some thick muscles. At the gym the other day, holding the bag for him had been a chore. Not that I would ever admit it.
I could still take him down thanks to my special training. It was a small comfort.
McCrae dragged me onto each ride, and I felt like I could be flung off at any moment. Against my better judgment, I found myself smiling and laughing with my brother.
When he dragged me to the rickety roller coaster, I felt like we were taking our lives into our own hands. When I mentioned this to McCrae, he pointed at me and said, “Man, you’ve turned into a wimp. Can’t handle a little roller coaster?”
Of course, this shut me up and got me on two more rides, just to prove I could handle it. Afterward, we both got corn dogs and soda pops. It was one of the better nights I’d had in a long time.
“How come you don’t have a little honey?” I asked, feeling brave enough to pry into my brother’s social life. Hopefully he wouldn’t turn it around on me too much.
McCrae scoffed. “I did. It was kind of serious with her.”
“Who?” Mom hadn’t mentioned anything about it.
“Rose Jones.”
“The girl from high school? Reverend Jones’s daughter?”
McCrae nodded. “But she wanted to live her dreams and go to New York City. Tomake it.”
I chose my words carefully. “Did she?”
“Haven’t heard much.” McCrae shrugged. “I think she’s still trying, but I haven’t gotten a text from her in over a year. I tried to call her on her birthday, but it went to voicemail.”
“Ouch.” I didn’t know what else to say.
McCrae stood, sucking the pop dry. “You coming to the dance with me?”
I was about to say no. When he’d guilted me into coming by saying I hadn’t spent time with him in forever, I’d told him I wasn’t doing the dance. I’d planned to hang out by the lake while he acted as a chaperone. But the music changed to a song I liked, and I perked up when I heard a woman’s voice start singing. “I can check it out for a second.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ella
The rest of the day was a relatively easy day at the hospital, and I was grateful for that, but I wasnotgoing to the fair. At least, that was my intention. When Mercy came into the hospital with Megan and the young girl asked me to go eat funnel cakes with them, how could I say no?
Before I knew it, we were finishing our funnel cakes and I was starting to relax. I hadn’t changed from work, but I didn’t care. Mercy and I were laughing at one of Megan’s silly jokes.
The song changed, and Megan popped up. “Let’s go to the dance, Mom and Ella.”
“I’m going to head home and let you two enjoy it,” I said quickly.
Megan pouted. “Please, Aunt Ella. Please. Mom doesn’t like to go dancing without someone. And Daddy is not her husband anymore.”
My heart melted a little. It was always interesting to hear how a child described things.
Megan reached for my hand. “Will you?”
We had already ridden all the rides and eaten the famous funnel cake, so I’d done plenty of fair activities. I didn’t wantto go, but I liked being an aunt, even if it wasn’t a real blood connection. “Fine. I’ll go.” I reached beneath her chin and tickled her.
She giggled and then did a happy hop. “Yay!”
