Page 27 of Daddy Bear Picnic

He laughed, and for a moment, I wondered again if they had a history and were playing it off in front of me. I didn’t knowif I should’ve felt threatened or befriended by Jace, but I was still new to town, and I knew not to rush into things, especially where romance was concerned.

I was handed a cheese and honey pastry as Elijah handed him a couple dollar bills. I didn’t realize how long I’d been checked out in thought, or maybe the paint fumes were now starting to get to me, which was ironic considering all the fresh air in nature I was within.

The first bite brought me back to town. “Oh my god,” I let out, spitting pastry flakes that coated my lips.

“Come on now,” Elijah said. “Mouth closed when you eat.”

A nod and an internal,yes, Daddyas if he was telepathic, and he might’ve been because he nodded back in what I could only mentally verbalize as agood boy. I offered him some and we bit down on the pastry, both ends Lady and Tramp style.

It was at that moment we’d solidified ourselves a couple in town. It an inherently romantic act. And then he pulled me in and kissed my forehead, his tickly beard on my face could’ve sent me into a fit of giggle right in the open.

We walked around the rest of the stalls where we saw Gladys. She was sat at a table with the contents covered by a floral printed cloth, her focus on peeling away the plastic wrapping from a candy. “Hello, boys,” she said, looking up at us. “So, when’s the big unveiling?”

“Unveiling?” I asked.

“You’ve got to have a house warming, sweetheart, the people in town have been desperate to get a look inside that house for the longest time,” she said.

“I’m sure once it’s done, you’ll be the first to know, Gladys,” Elijah said. “I didn’t know you had a stall here.”

She scoffed and laughed. “Oh no, I’m just the eyes while Meredith runs to the store for the whipped cream,” she said intoa sigh. “Although between us, I told her it would be better if she whipped her own cream rather than take the option of using that store-bought stuff. I can taste the different.” She popped the candy in her mouth.

We finished a lap of the fair after sampling a lot of the tartlets and fruit tea drinks. There was a score card which I didn’t know about until Oliver approached us, waving two thin sheets of card at us. “I think you might have forgotten something,” he said. “I can understand Malcolm not seeing the sign up front, but not you, Elijah.”

“Do I have to?” he asked in a huff. “You know I don’t want to judge these folks.”

“It’s all anonymous,” Oliver said. “Also, thank you for the work you did. If I haven’t already said it. Looks identical. Also, we need to plan a play date soon, I have some blind boxes of the new Sublime teddies and I think that’s a reason to celebrate.”

I glanced to Elijah as if asking for permission. “I’d love to.”

“As long as you’re well-behaved,” he said, accepting the two voting cards from Oliver.

“Every vote counts, remember that,” Oliver said, rushing off again waving more voting cards at others.

We took a seat on a bench within the town square. There was an arch of paper flowers and fruits around us. It was magical. I could’ve sat there all day, people watching and talking about how much I enjoyed all the food and drink they’d had on offer.

“Quincy and his husband, Franco usually win the peach tea portion of this event, they have done for the past five years at least,” he said, scrolling a finger down the paper to show me their names. “They were the ones that you winced at and saidit’s so sweet, it’s burns.”

I snort-laughed. “Did I really sound like that?”

“Except a whole lot cuter.”

“I’ll accept that.”

“And for the tartlets, I always have to give the Wilde ranch my vote,” he said. “They just do the best goat’s cheese and their pastry is always so flaky.”

My stomach let out a little rumble as he mentioned it. Those bites had been incredible. I didn’t think I could eat anything else after chowing down at each stall, but there was definitely room in my belly for another one of those cheese tarts.

“But I’m not going to influence you,” he said. “Vote how you feel.”

I frisked myself. “I don’t have a pen.”

Elijah, almost as a reflex pulled out two pencils from the chest pocket on his shirt. “Don’t lose it,” he said, handing me one. “Or steal it. I need them.”

Glancing at the short pencil in my hand, I looked back to him with my brows together. “Something sentimental about them?”

“They’re just the best pencils I’ve ever had,” he said. “They’ll draw on absolutely anything, which is good.”

“Now it feels like you’re trying to get me to steal it,” I said, pressing the edge of the pencil lead against my thumb and seeing the pigment leave a dark gray mark on my skin. “They’re like charcoal pencils.”

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