Page 37 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

“Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her,” Walt and the girlfriends joined in.

Jo blanched. Kiss Cash? Again?

Cash grabbed her arm, and she paled. “It was good seeing you guys,” Cash said, and then they were weaving through the crowd.

***

Cash dragged Jo through the fray, keeping his pace swift, and his grip on the woman quaking behind him sure.

“Hey, Jo,” a couple with a labradoodle waved. “Congratulations on your engagement.”

Jo’s jaw dropped, and Cash switched directions.

“How?” she stuttered. “How did they know? The guys went the other way!”

Cash knew exactly how they knew. Juicy gossip spread faster in this town than the plague had spread during the dark ages. And Cash and Jo would be the juiciest of the juicy gossip. That couple had probably heard from someone that’d been in earlier while the Warners were trying samples. Someone was bound to have seen how they were acting with one another, or to have heard something they shouldn’t have.

Cash had to get Jo away from the crowds, had to get them somewhere where prying eyes and ears couldn’t be privy to their conversation.

Jo looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. She sucked in a gasp. “Do you think my mom knows?”

He made a beeline for the Ferris wheel. It was nearing nine, and there was no line. He led her right into a seat, then plopped down beside her. A moment later, the Ferris wheel started, lifting them up, up into the night to the bubbly melody ofCan’t Buy Me Lovethat came from the loudspeakers around the ride.

Jo dropped her head to her hands. “Cash, my mom can’t find out.”

He didn’t think this was quite the life and death crisis she seemed to, but that fact that she did gave him pause. Why was it so bad people think they were engaged? She trembled, and he placed an arm around her. “It’s going to be fine.”

She faced him, hands up. “How is this going to be okay? You’re leaving tomorrow night, if memory serves. And I’m going to be here all alone to deal with the Warners and everyone else in town who thinks we’re engaged.”

They passed a couple going in the other direction. “Cash, Jo! Congratulations!” a guy called out.

Boy, oh boy, did news travel fast.

Cash leaned forward, trying to get a look at who said it as their basket went overhead. He saw nothing. “Thanks.”

Jo pointed toward the disappearing duo. “Exactly! Exactly. See? This is such a mess—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. He’d already decided to stick it out until the end of the weekend.

Her eyes widened. “What? What do you mean? You told me—”

He grabbed her hand. “I’m changing my flight. You need me here more than I’m needed back in Cali.”

“You haven’t been home in,” she glanced up, “who knows how long—I haven’t seen you in well over a decade, and now you want to help?” she leveled her gaze at him, nothing judgmental in her tone, just sincerely curious.

He nodded.

“Why?”

That was a good question. Jo wasn’t a part of his life anymore. This town hardly was either. But when he thought about staying and helping her, it felt like the right thing to do. And even more important like he wanted to do. “It’s the right thing to do.” Plus, it was too much fun.

She stared at him for a moment longer, the white lights strung all over the ride sparkling in her nighttime blue eyes like stars. He breathed deep, when her jaw set. She’d decided. She flung her arms around his neck, squeezing him for all she was worth.

He startled at first, surprised by her reaction, then wrapped his arms around her. “Whoa!”

“Thank you,” she said.

One thing was for sure, he’d never push her away. “It’s my pleasure.” He smoothed a hand over her hair, breathing in the lovely scent of her. It really would be his pleasure.

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