Page 42 of Twice Shy

“Hey. I’m just…” Ollie indicated the condiments.

“Right.”

It was awkward. Last time they’d met, they’d almost kissed. Or something. Then Joel had fled and now here they were.

“There she goes!” Jackie’s other half announced. He pushed to his feet with a grunt of effort, smiling in satisfaction as the grill leaped into life. Joel could already feel the heat, which today would be welcome. “Any problems let me know.”

“Sure,” Ollie said. “Thanks, uh—”

“Bill,” Joel supplied.

Their eyes made fleeting contact and they smiled, then Ollie looked down and got back to unloading grocery sacks. Perhaps it was the cold, but his face looked paler today and his lashes darker. Or maybe Joel was just noticing these things more, cataloguing. Appreciating.

“Right.” Time to snap out of whatever spell Ollie was weaving. “What needs doing?”

What needed doing was pretty much everything, and in double-quick time. That was lucky because it kept them busy and the awkward silences to a minimum. And by the time their customers started arriving, they were ready.

They took turns grilling and serving until Rory appeared in the hall doorway. “Ollie! I need my costume.”

“Already?” Ollie pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Right, yes you do.” He flicked a glance at Joel. “Can you manage? The kids are in the costume parade and I need to get them ready.”

“Go ahead, I think the rush is over.”

About half an hour later, kids and parents began piling out of the hall. The parade was taking place on the sports field, walking around the outside of the haystack maze, and Joel smiled at the sight of all the different costumes—witches, cats, mice, various super heroes. His smile broadened into a grin when he saw Rory step carefully out of the hall dressed as a scarecrow, Ollie following holding the hand of an adorable pumpkin-shaped Luis.

“Awesome costume, Rory!” Joel called from behind the grill.

Rory gave a big grin, but it was Ollie’s half-swallowed smile that pierced him. God, he was gorgeous today. And Joel was losing it. Seriously losing all sense of self-preservation. He couldn’t stop watching as the boys lined up with the other kids, Ollie standing nearby encouraging Rory to hold Luis’s hand and taking photos on his phone. Joel felt a swell of… Hell, what was that feeling? Pride? Affection? Longing? Something ballooning in his chest, compressing his lungs. Stinging his eyes.

“Cute, huh?” Startled, he turned around and found Alyssa watching him with sparkling amusement. “The kids, I mean.”

“Uh, yeah. They all look great.”

“Hmm,” she said, smilingly. “Can you spare a couple of burgers for the starving over at the maze?”

He thought it best not to respond to that thoughtful ‘Hmm’ and focused on serving up food for Alyssa and Cam. “Is Dalia in the parade?” he asked, handing them over.

“Are you kidding? It’s ‘so lame’, apparently. I mean, she’s twelve now, right? Practically a teenager.”

“I guess sheispractically a teenager.”

Alyssa sighed. “I know. But why do they want to grow up so fast? I mean, it sucks being a teenager, right?”

“You know what they say, youth is wasted on the young.”

“You’re telling me.” She gathered up the burgers and grinned. “Enjoy the view—of the parade.”

He just shook his head, not knowing how to respond, and afraid to look in Ollie’s direction again. Had his tongue been hanging out, or something? How were his feelings so obvious?

But even so, he couldn’t help watching as the parade got going. Jackie provided commentary—‘What an adorable pumpkin. And is that Superman? Oh, it’s Captain America? Okay, that’s a great Captain America!’—and all the kids walked around the maze and parents snapped photos. Rory and Luis were, in Joel’s opinion, easily the cutest kids in the parade. He conceded to himself that he might be biased, but despite their cuteness his gaze was fixed more on Ollie than the kids. He’d run around to the far side of the maze, taking pictures as the parade walked towards him. So full of energy and enthusiasm and love for those kids. Giving them all he could, all he had. Sacrificing everything for them. Joel found his throat tightening and he had to look away.

Get a grip.Get ahold of yourself.

When he fell, he fell hard. That’s how it had been with Isaac in college, it’s how it had been with Helen—and look how they’d both turned out. He knew he had to be careful, had to protect himself.

Problem was, he was afraid it might already be too late.

Everyone was clapping, cheering and whooping as the kids finally made it back to the start and a couple of the PTA moms were handing out candies to the kids who’d walked in the parade.

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