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“So I’ve been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans,” Sam said to Madeline a few hours later. “But you said this celebration is kind of different, right?”
She smiled and turned to lock up her shop. After they’d ended the boat ride earlier, he’d agreed to meet her here so they could go to the parade and festival together. Already, people were lining the streets up and down the town square.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s a fun parade and a good family-oriented festival all afternoon long and well into the night.”
Safe. She hoped this would be a safe way to keep Sam occupied until they got through this wedding. Because she hadn’t seen him since lunch, Madeline decided they could do this. They could have a good time together with the whole town all around them. Then they’d only have one more day before the wedding on Sunday. Not too bad.
Then why was her heart beating too fast? And why had she gone to extra trouble with her hair and clothes tonight? And why did he look so good in his black t-shirt and leather jacket, his hair curling around his ears and neck in a way that begged her to touch it?
Sam gave her one of those stoic, steady stares that made her pulse go haywire and her stomach turn to a knotted tangle of nerves.
And then he said, “I like your hair.”
Madeline blinked and tried to breathe. She’d left her hair down and curling. “Thanks. I try to clean up on Friday night. You know, get all gussied up for the weekend.”
Sam laughed at that, his face softening like rich leather. “Then let’s have some fun, no strings attached.”
He strolled with her down toward the square, the sounds of laughter and chatter all around them. A peddler’s wagon full of colorful beads and funny hats swished by them.
“Do you go out a lot on weekends?”
Madeline scoffed and shook her head. “Not really. I haven’t dated much since my divorce. My sisters try to match me up, but ... you’ve seen firsthand how that goes. Just Spike and me these days.”
He stared out over the crowd, his gaze intense and unsure. She wondered if he hated crowds. He had an edge about him that shouted stay away and leave me alone.
She should have done just that.
“I guess this morning was evidence of that,” he said after they’d made their way through the crowd to find the spot where her family had gathered on a big corner with lawn chairs, coolers full of drinks and leftovers from the party last night.
Madeline waved to everyone and then turned back to him. “I don’t like surprises. It’s one thing to come up with a mutual agreement between us, but when you get Brodie and Michelle involved, well that changes things.”
Sam guided her past a food truck full of turkey legs and curly fries. “Brodie’s got it so bad he just wants everyone else in the world to feel the same way.”
“I guess he and Michelle went through a lot to find each other,” she said, her heart piercing with joy for her sister. “I won’t do anything to ruin their wedding. They deserve to have a happy ceremony.”
Sam stopped and turned toward her, their bodies bumping together in the crush of people gathering for the parade. “So that means you’re willing to tolerate me, just like we agreed?”
Frowning, Madeline said, “Well, it’s not that I can’t tolerate you. I mean, look at you. You’re not that hard to tolerate.” Then she blushed and went on. “This is kind of new for me. One minute, I’m all in and the next, I want to run away. I’m usually more decisive and sure of myself.”
His eyes went that smoky green that made her want to be all in, all over again. “You should run. We’re either doing this the right way or not at all. ’Cause I don’t do things halfway.”
“Are you giving me one last out?” she asked, thinking about a fast exit.
“Do you want out?”
Madeline didn’t know what she wanted. Well, she did. She wanted to pull him into an alley and kiss him silly, but that would be a fatal mistake.
“No,” she finally said, but the lingering doubt radiated around them like a spotlight. “I’m in. I’ll be okay since we have a solid understanding.”
“Yeah, right.”
“We do have an understanding, don’t we, Sam?”
He pushed her back against one of the buildings, the crowd moving all around them. “I only understand that since I met you, I’ve become a confused excuse for a man.”
“Wow.” Madeline felt the slant of that accusation down to her boot heels. “I do bring out the worst in men,” she said, whirling to leave.
His hand on her arm held her there. “Hey, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Well, how did you mean it? Just be honest with me.”
“I’m not good at honest. Not that kind of honest, at least.” He glanced around and then pinned his gaze back on her. “I meant that ... you do things to me that make me feel ... different, which is crazy since we just met yesterday.”
Madeline couldn’t believe he’d admitted that. “Good things? Or bad things?”
“Good things,” he said. “You make me want to do things I shouldn’t want to do. Good or bad, depending on how you look at it.”
Her heart did the beat-beat thing again. “What kind of things?
“Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Okay.” He leaned close but not so close that he was touching her. “Like right now, for example, I’d like to kiss you. I wanted to kiss you last night when I first met you and that’s not how I normally operate.” He shrugged. “That’s what you do to me.”
“Oh, so because you want to kiss me, it’s my fault that you’ve become a poor excuse of a man?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Madeline started laughing, which only made him frown more.
“You think that’s funny?”
She grabbed his jacket, the leather warm from his skin. “Yes, you big dummy. I mean, what’s laughable is that you’d even be attracted to me. I’m a hot mess of divorced bitterness. I’m certainly not sending out signals that attract good men to my side. You happened to be the one who got stuck with me for the weekend.”
“Don’t put yourself down like that,” he said, the serious tone of his words halting her. “I mean it, Madeline. I don’t admit things easily. So you’d better believe it when I tell you that being around you has me dazed and confused. And you need to accept that I’m attracted to you because I’m pretty sure this is going to be about more than just a weekend of dancing around each other at a wedding.”
Touching a hand to her hair, he whispered, “Sooner or later, I am going to kiss you.”
Madeline stared up into his eyes and wished she had the courage to get that kiss over and done right here. But too many prying eyes and too many loose lips would turn a sweet kiss into something else. She didn’t want the whole town in on their first kiss.
If they did have a first kiss, she wanted it to be special and sweet and good. She knew it would be good. But she wanted the memory of it to be good. So she could savor it and guard it like a secret treasure.
After Sam was gone.
“That’s a sweet notion,” she said, pushing away the myriad feelings curling through her. “But ... as I said, this is a family event. No PDA allowed.”
His eyes moved over her lips. “Later then. Let’s go catch some beads.”
The parade started just in time. The theme this year was “Fairy Tale Dreams.” Madeline watched as the marching bands and elaborate floats passed by, her whole being dazzled by the pageantry of headdresses and elegant, regal costumes. But she was more dazzled by the man standing with her. Sam seemed to enjoy catching the bright, colorful Mardi Gras beads, but each time he caught a pair of the plastic treasures, he draped the strand over her head and held her there with a sparkling bright thread, his expression full of anticipation.
Madeline wasn’t sure what he expected, but she knew she wouldn’t live up to whatever he was thinking. She was out of practice and out of energy. Too tired to even care about having a man in her life.
And yet, as she watched him smiling up at the Krewe of Spirit parade riders, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to hold him tight, to take long walks with him.
Stop it, she told herself. You tried this once and you failed miserably. Don’t put yourself through even dreaming about it again.
All evening long, she managed to chat with family members and wave to good friends and even enjoy some King Cake and brisket sliders. People stared at her with questioning eyes when they saw Sam standing next to her, but Madeline didn’t explain. The town would talk. Small-town gossip could be cruel. But for the most part, the people of Spirit were good-hearted.
When she glanced across the street and saw Evan Parker standing there with his perky new wife, she wondered why her sweet daddy thought she and Evan could ever be together again. He had remarried a few months after their divorce, and of course, his new wife was pretty and so accommodating. She hung on his every word. He’d only returned this weekend to rub it in Madeline’s face.
Madeline’s fairy tale dreams had died in a whiff of reality.
Sam gave her a questioning glance and then caught a plastic cup that had the image of Madeline’s Closet stamped on it. “Hey, look at that. I caught one from you.”
She smiled. “I sponsored some of the throws. Those cups are collectors’ items.”
He held up the bright purple cup. “This one sure is. It’s got your phone number on it.”
“My business number,” she said, swallowing back the trace of panic his words gave her. “The shop’s number.”
“Close enough,” he said. “I can call you and bug you all I want. And order a cute tunic or a nice floral headband if the mood hits me.”
She smiled at his sarcasm. “But you won’t do that. You’ll go back home to your life and this will all be over. Just like this parade.”
The last of the floats passed by and the crowd started dispersing. But Sam stood there, his eyes on her. “Not all of it will be over,” he said.
Then he touched his lips to hers in a soft brush of air and skin. “Not this part.”