Page 86 of Need You
Carrie Jo grabbed Win’s arm to stop him. “Don’t make it worse for your brother. The whole race is supposed to be a joke. The Garners are the only ones who take it seriously.”
“Carrie Jo is right,” Hannah said. “Let it go.”
Delaney admired Win’s loyalty, but it wouldn’t serve any purpose to get in the mayor’s face. “When is he up for reelection? Because when he is, you can work for the opposition and make sure he’s voted out of office.”
“He just got elected,” Win said, and sat back down. “He has enough time left in his term to make Colt’s life a living hell.”
In the distance a kayak bobbed on the water. It was too far away to make out who was in it. Win pulled up the pair of binoculars hanging around his neck and took a long look. Others started to notice and rushed to the water’s edge to join the kids. Soon, Delaney couldn’t see anything but backs and legs. Win got up and continued to train his field glasses on the lone boat.
“Who is it?” Hannah asked.
“Can’t tell yet.”
The rest of them stood as well, shielding their eyes from the sun, trying to make out the winner. Delaney thought it would be a while before the kayak got close enough to distinguish whom it belonged to. It didn’t stop bystanders from getting excited and yelling words of encouragement.
“Uh-oh, it’s Boden and one of his bartenders.” Carrie Jo pointed to the shore where the bartender, dressed in lederhosen, and a woman in a St. Pauli Girl outfit walked, carrying an upside-down kayak on their heads, defeat written across their faces.
Win aimed the binoculars at them. “Looks like Oktoberfest bit the dust.”
“What do you think happened?” Delaney asked.
“They either got disqualified or sprung a leak. I better give ’em a hand.” Win jumped down a small embankment and jogged toward them.
“Why would they have gotten disqualified?” Delaney went up on tiptoes to get a better look.
“If a competitor gets out of his kayak during the race, it’s an instant disqualification,” Hannah explained.
The crowd cheered Boden and the St. Pauli Girl as they hiked—not paddled—toward the finish line. Mary and some of the other volunteers dragged coolers filled with drinks to the landing area and a couple of kids ran toward Team Old Glory with bottles of water. Win helped hoist their kayak onto the official race trailer and returned to the picnic blanket.
Delaney spied Gray Garner standing there with a stopwatch in his hand, craning his neck to see who paddled the kayak in the lead, a huge smile splitting his face. He was one of the head organizers and, according to Colt, founded the End-of-Summer races.
As the kayak got closer, Delaney saw a logo on the side of the boat but couldn’t make out what it said.
“It’s them ... Josh and TJ!” Hannah shouted and pointed. “See theGA?”
“Shocker.” Foster covered his mouth, feigning surprise. “They win every freaking year.”
“This is the first time they won without Colt,” Hannah reminded him. “Josh wasn’t even here last summer.”
“That’s true,” Foster conceded.
A few feet from the finish line, TJ and Josh began tossing things at the cheering crowd. A kid in front of Delaney caught a Garner Adventure Frisbee. There were T-shirts, ball caps, and headlamps.
“They’ve got the best swag,” she overheard two boys say as people climbed all over each other to catch the prizes.
As Gray announced Garner Adventure as the first-place winner, Delaney took in Josh’s and TJ’s Hawaiian-print board shorts, rash guards, and helmets with the GA symbol. The fashion designer in her was more interested in the costumes than the actual race.
“Where are they? Where’s GJPD’s kayak?” Carrie Jo stared out over the horizon.
Delaney did the same and saw two small objects bobbing in the water. From this distance, they could just as easily be tin cans as kayaks. A dozen kids ran up the shore to get a closer look. Win peered out over the water with his binoculars.
“Is it them?” Carrie Jo asked.
Win continued to scan the river. “It’s Sasquatch.”
“What?” Delaney thought she might’ve heard him wrong over the noise of the crowd.
“Big Foot.” He hung the field glasses around his neck and squinted in the direction of what now was clearly two kayaks racing neck and neck. “And is that a fish?”
