Page 74 of Undeniably Perfect

“You all live here?”

“Yep. Banneker is our home. It’s a great little town.”

“You mean Mayberry.”

Kent rolls his eyes. And as if on cue, a little old lady walks out of the coffee shop and says hi to him.

“Night, Mrs. Miller.”

“You better get home soon, Kent. You have a big day tomorrow,” she says as she walks down a block and turns on a side road.

I giggle. “Yeah, Kent, big day tomorrow.”

He shoots me a look. “OK, Mrs. Miller.”

I place my hand over my mouth as I stifle my laughter.

“Laugh it up, buttercup.”

“Oh, I will.”

“Come on, let’s walk down to the river,” he says as we finish our ice cream.

“But’s it’s dark.”

“Oh, come on, live a little,” he says as he grabs my hand, practically dragging me down Main Street. And true to my prediction, at least five people say hello to us and wish Kent good luck.

By the time we reach the river, I’m laughing so hard that I have to grab the railing of the wooden fence along the walkway.

“I’m sorry, but this town cannot be for real. Like seriously, places like this just don’t exist in real life. I’m beginning to wonder if you put everyone up to it, just to pull my leg.”

Kent shakes his head. “Nope. That’s just Banneker for you. There’s a reason so many people stay here. You keep commenting about it, does it bother you?” he asks as he leans against the railing.

“No, it’s just so foreign to me. I still can’t process a place like this exists a mere thirty minutes from where I grew up.”

“Well, it does. Learn to love it.”

I smile. “I do love it. It’s amazing. Truly. It’s the coolest place. I love how everyone knows everyone. And it’s like they actually care.”

Kent gives me a curious look. “They do care. We’re a community.”

My grin widens, and I shake my head. “You have no idea how good you had it growing up here, do you?”

He shrugs, resting his forearms on the top of the railing as he looks down at the river. There’s a single streetlight overhead that illuminates us along with a small section of water. “I know. I just…forgot sometimes.”

I place my hand on his forearm, and he looks over at me. “Don’t take it for granted, ever.” I swirl around with my hands in the air. “I mean look at all of this. You live in Mayberry or Cheers bar. Everyone here knows you and loves you. You have the most amazing family in the world. Oh, and you get to play a game for a living. Basically, you won the life jackpot.”

“Well, I—”

“Uh, Kent?” I interrupt as I crane my neck, looking down the street, where I see a dog running around.

“What?” His head turns in the direction of my gaze.

“Is that your parents’ dog?”

“Shit…yeah,” he curses as he starts jogging. “Frito! Frito!”

The dog takes off running like it’s a game. I try to get ahead of him, but he bolts past me. We both run after him down Main Street, yelling his name.

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