Page 57 of Finding You

She hadn’t seen more than her mother’s name, so she had no idea if the message was a good one or a bad one. Was she excited to hear from her daughter, or was this a message telling her to forget she even existed?

And she was a little too nervous to go back in right now and look for herself.

Hell, she wasn’t even sure she’d be willing to look at it tonight at all. Maybe after a good night’s sleep she’d be in a better frame of mind, but not right now.

Definitely not right now.

“MacKenzie?” Ashlynn said in a tone that said she’d called her name more than once.

“Uh, sorry. What?”

“We were curious if you could help us with the local business tent on Sunday,” Ashlynn explained. “They change up the decorations every day because a different group of businesses are featured each day. We’re all on the committee for Sunday and thought maybe you’d like to help. Books & Beans is going to have a table and so will my salon, so we’re all meeting here early to get it done. You in?”

“Um…sure! How early?”

“Maybe around ten? Will that work?”

“My car’s not ready, so I’ll have to ask Devin to drive me, but…”

“Drive you where?” Devin asked as he came and sat back down beside her.

“We asked MacKenzie if she’d like to help us with the tent on Sunday. We have to be up here around ten, but I can totally pick her up if you just want to meet her here later.” Then she paused. “Or…aren’t you volunteering in one of the other booths on Sunday?”

This was the first MacKenzie was hearing of it, and she looked at him quizzically.

“I uh…I think so. I have to double check my calendar, so…”

“Hey, you two!”

MacKenzie looked up and saw Will smiling down at them, his arm around an adorable blonde. “Hey, Will,” she said, smiling even though she was still majorly annoyed with him. “Did you enjoy the fireworks?”

“Always,” he said. “I’m glad I finally found you. You both cut out before me earlier and I just wanted to let you know I took the Mustang out for a test drive and I think the problem was a hose that was a little loose. Everything’s good now.”

“Oh,” MacKenzie murmured and beside her, Devin made a small non-committal sound. “Thanks.”

“See you tomorrow!” Will said with a grin and walked away.

Well that took a little wind out of her sails. The damn car was fixed again. It was pure luck she had been able to stick her hand into the engine the other night and shake that hose until it had almost come off. There was no way she could do that again. She glanced over at Devin, who was staring up at the sky, and wondered what he was thinking. Was he even thinking about what Will had just told them, or was he simply enjoying the beauty of the night?

With no other choice, MacKenzie pushed all thoughts of the car–and her mother’s message–aside and went back to focusing on her friends. There was nothing she could do now about the car. At some point tomorrow, she’d have to deal with it and figure out what her next move was going to be. But for tonight, she was going to enjoy her time with Devin.

They had ridden the rides. Three times.

They had tasted all the food. Three times.

They had played all the games, watched the fireworks, and talked to just about every person in town over the last three days. As much as he loved Sweetbriar Ridge and the festival, he knew he was using it as an excuse to keep MacKenzie from leaving. And with Will announcing her car was fixed–again–Devin had a feeling their time was coming to an end.

She was sitting snugly beside him and the night sky was filled with a million stars that had never seemed quite this perfect. It had been years since he’d been up this high on the mountain and back then, he never would have sat still long enough to just look at the sky. Now he couldn’t seem to stop looking at it because it was almost as if he were close enough to touch it. He hugged MacKenzie close and kissed the top of her head.

“I wish everyone would go home,” she said softly.

Devin couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew exactly what she meant. “Me too.”

Lifting her head, she looked at him and smiled. “I was thinking how beautiful the night is and how perfect the weather is and how amazing it would be to make love under the stars.”

It was as if they were of one mind. “That does sound amazing.”

She sighed. “But unfortunately…”

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