Page 32 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
“I hope you’re all ready for this.” Josiah glanced around the gathering. “And don’t worry, there was only one death by duck in the game today. You’re safe while you’re playing.”
“Who is even still alive?” Tansy asked.
A whole group pointed at Julia. Another group pointed at Lisa. Both of them had made some fairly spectacular and sneaky moves. There were only four people still playing, the other two being the big local Fire Chief, Brad Ford, and his fiancée, Hanna.
Petite Hanna blushed at the cheers she got.
Finn leaned in against Karen. “Don’t buy that innocent look from her. The little minx took me out of the game by pretending to be terrified by a spider. She was pinned to the wall in the hallway, gasping as if she would faint right away. Turns out she carried the spider with her and held on to it until I came around the corner.”
Karen burst out laughing and gave Hanna a high five. “You go, girl.”
Lisa and Josiah exchanged glances, a soft smile on her lips. He shuddered violently.
Then they buckled down to explain the rules, which were one step short of ultimate chaos.
What followed involved a great deal of splashing as everyone was assigned numbers and a trio of rubber ducks. Soon there were grown adults frolicking in the water, creating waves to guide their miniature flocks from the start to the finish line without touching them.
The straightaways were fine, but the kiddie pools were like vast black holes. Finn couldn’t get his plastic targets to head in the same direction for the life of him.
He was racing Lisa, and she was a good five feet ahead of him when a circular Frisbee sailed through the air and hooked around the neck of one of Lisa’s ducks.
She caught hold of the ring to remove it, jerked to a stop far too late, and tripped over her own feet. She crashed into the pool and a wave of water arched skyward.
A loud hoot and holler rose from the crowd as she crawled out of the water, soaked but grinning happily.
She glanced around to discover Hanna coming forward. “Tricky woman. I should’ve known better—I’m the one who wrote Frisbee on the murder weapon list.”
Hanna held out a towel. “It will be hard to finish this considering there’s only three of us left and we all know who to watch for.”
Lisa stepped from the pool and rubbed the towel over her hair and clothes. “That’s fine. We’ll make it work.”
She dug in her pocket and handed over three soggy strips of paper.
Hanna read them and laughed, eyeing her fiancé as if making evil plans.
Brad raised his hands in protest. “You are dangerous.”
The petite woman pressed a hand to her chest. “Me? I’m innocent. You can totally trust me.”
Julia snickered.
It was only a minute later, after the next set of ducks were being dealt with in the kiddie pools, that Julia sent up a loud cry. “Nooooooo. I’ve been fatally done in by a piece of strawberry pie.”
Finn was mostly dry by this time, once again standing at Karen’s side as she pressed closer in an attempt to see what was going on at the edge of the deck.
He slid his hand around her waist and tugged her in front of him so she had a better view. Having her in his arms, leaning back on him as if that was exactly where she was supposed to be? Perfection.
Julia was shaking her finger at Hanna, but she handed over her clues with a wink. “Good luck. We all know who you’re gunning for.”
Brad stepped forward and swept Hanna into his arms. “She’s already knocked me off my feet and stole my heart,” he informed the gathering. “She’s welcome to win the game by knocking me off, period.”
A chorus ofawwwwwrose from the crowd.
Sweet Hanna caught him around the neck and kissed him, right then and there, triggering more laughter.
A slow clap started. Julia turned to all of them and beamed as she made an announcement. “We have a winner. I declare Hanna the last one standing now that she’s caughtBradwith akiss,outside the house.”
Hanna blushed. People cheered. Brad threw back his head and laughed the loudest.
