Page 85 of Need You
Chapter Fifteen
Other than the crowds, the day was perfect. Mild, bright, and as clear as the eye could see.
Delaney finally found a strip of grass to spread her blanket. The finish line was even more popular than the starting point for Glory Junction’s famous End-of-Summer kayak races. She’d promised to save everyone a place on the packed riverbank.
A lot of the attendees had turned the event into a picnic. Ice chests, folding tables, and wicker hampers dotted the landscape as children competed for the best place to view the race from the river’s edge.
Because it was Delaney’s first End-of-Summer weekend, she planned to take in as many events as possible. Pie-eating contests, horse and carriage rides, and a diving contest at the lake were just a few of the festival’s offerings. And of course, live music at Old Glory, including Colt’s band.
She hadn’t seen him since dinner at his parents. It seemed to her that he was intentionally making himself scarce. Perhaps he was embarrassed about the phone call, but she doubted it. Colt didn’t strike her as the self-conscious type. He was just staying true to form: vacillating between flirtation and disinterest, the way he had the entire month of August. Maybe he’d found someone in another town to toy with.
She saw Hannah and Foster wending their way through the crowd, stood up so they would see her, and waved.
“This is great, nice and close to the river.” Hannah plopped down on the blanket while Foster went to say hi to someone he knew. “Carrie Jo’s coming too. And Win is around here somewhere.”
“Have the kayakers started yet?”
“They took off twenty minutes ago. I followed along the bank, and from what I could tell, Josh and TJ were in the lead with Deb and Felix not far behind.”
According to what Colt had told her, pro kayak races covered many miles and went for several days. One of the largest was a thousand-mile race in Canada that took more than a week to finish. Glory Junction’s was a short course, only four miles on a relatively wide stretch of river without many rapids. Participants were encouraged to give their teams funny names and to wear goofy getups.
“What about Colt?” she asked.
Hannah grimaced. “He and Jack got off to a rocky start. Their kayak seems to have a mind of its own.”
Uh-oh. Delaney knew how competitive Colt could be. And who knew whether the mayor kept score? It sounded like he looked for any reason to give Colt a hard time, though she couldn’t imagine how the mayor could hold it against Colt if he lost an amateur race involving the whole town. That would be too petty even for him.
“I’m worried about Josh’s leg,” Hannah said. She and Josh had come back from San Francisco, hailing the surgery as a huge success. “He’s really supposed to be resting for a few weeks, and even though he’s using mostly his upper body, it seems reckless to race. But you can’t talk that man out of anything.”
Hannah loved her husband so much that sometimes when she talked about him Delaney felt a jab of jealousy. Not a pretty side of herself, but she couldn’t help it. At one time, she and Robert had adored each other, but they had never shared the kind of powerful love Hannah and Josh had. She suspected that Garner men were intense about everything, including their relationships. Case in point: look how long it was taking Colt to get over Lisa.
“Hopefully TJ will stop him from doing anything that could hurt his recovery.”
Hannah snorted. “Yeah, right. The only thing they care about is winning, especially against Colt. They love each other like crazy but, man, are they competitive.”
Foster came back with a box of sandwiches and sodas. “A kid from Tart Me Up is selling them. That Rachel is one smart cookie. I wish I would’ve thought of it myself.”
“Thank God, I’m starved.” Hannah grabbed one of the sandwiches.
Foster eyed her closely. “You eating for two?”
“Nope. Not yet, anyway.” She sounded disappointed. “Josh wants to wait until his leg is better.”
“You’re not getting any younger, honey.” Foster threw Delaney a sandwich.
Carrie Jo and Win spotted them and came trotting over. Win saw the sandwiches and plucked one out of the box while Carrie Jo perused each and every one, studying the ingredients.
“You think any of these are made with whole-grain bread?”
“No,” Foster said plainly. “Just eat half of one and you’ll be fine.”
Carrie Jo seemed to take Foster’s word as gospel and unwrapped half a turkey, cranberry, and goat cheese. “Colt and Jack are getting their asses kicked. The only ones doing worse are Rachel and the kid from her shop. I probably would’ve skipped the giant foam-rubber cupcake costumes.”
“It’s good for Colt to get creamed every now and again,” Win said between bites. He’d already commandeered the other half of Carrie Jo’s sandwich. “Builds humility, something Colt is greatly lacking. Besides, it’s still early. Anything can happen.”
“I saw Pond with some skank wearing booty shorts. Not a good look on a fifty-something with varicose veins.” Carrie Jo stuck her finger in her mouth and made gagging noises. “They were watching Colt and Jack and were laughing.”
“Yeah?” Win jumped to his feet. “I’ll go stand behind him . . . let him know I’m watching.”
