Page 62 of Ocotillo Kisses
“I think I’m different enough not to play games.”
“We’re not going to be playing games. Just enjoying each other for the next week or so.”
Con had to admit he was tempted, but he was also old enough that if he was going to be intimate with someone, he wanted to have the possibility of a future with her. Britt was saying flat out she didn’t want a future with him, that there was no chance of it. How was he supposed to say yes to that?
Chapter Twenty One
Theyreturned to the store to get to work, nothing resolved between them. Once Con and Britt returned to the store, Caleb kissed Sofia goodbye and headed to the motel to retrieve his daughter from Sofia’s mom.
Sofia had already set out cleaners and paper towels for them to get started, so Con and Britt sat on the polished floor, back to back on the narrow aisle, and started to clean the wax residue from the cleaning products on the bottom shelf.
“How’s the rest of the planning coming for the Fourth?” Sofia asked, taking a spot at the end of the aisle, on Britt’s side.
Con wasn’t sure if she meant to keep an eye on them, or if she didn’t think Britt would work very fast.
“Ah, well. I think we have like seven food trucks coming, but you know, a lot of the more popular food trucks are booked, and they don’t want to travel all this way for an iffy weekend. So I’m thinking even five would be good. And we’ve got the parade, you know, getting the band from the high school to march. So that at least would provide some customers for the food trucks, the kids and their families. I’d really like to get a couple of rides, you know, but unless they’re in the area for a reason, they won’t travel for a limited crowd. If we’d coordinated it with San Angelo’s rodeo or something, maybe we could get some carnival rides. For now, we’re going to have to make our own games. I was talking to Beck about making, I don’t know, something we can attach balloons to and throw darts, or something we can toss beanbags through.”
“That sounds more like a school carnival than a town carnival,” Sofia said. “We are doing all this work. We need to do better.
Con gave her a look. “What do you suggest?”
“Well, let’s see. It will almost be summer. It will be hot. Could we get one of those inflatable slides with water? Or, I know!” Sofia’s tone brightened. “A dunk tank!”
“That would be fun,” Britt said, her tone not really conveying that she thought so. “We wouldn’t have to worry about awarding prizes, the dunk itself would be the prize.”
“And since that probably won’t be a thing for everyone,” Sofia went on, “were we still thinking about having craft booths? Because I think that would draw people, and crafters need to have time to get stuff put together.”
“I do think that’s a good idea, and we can have them separate from the games. Like, maybe under the covered walkway in front of the hardware store and out here.”
“I think that’s a good plan,” Con said. “We wouldn’t have to worry about getting them tents, they’d be in the shade.”
“Or have them provide their own tents,” Britt said. “People who do this as a business tend to have their own tents.”
“Yeah, but what if it’s just locals who want to do it? Like maybe Poppy could get one and sell some of her plants,” Sofia said.
“Speaking of Poppy, did she find someone else to take her to Del Rio to get her planters?” Con asked.
