Page 53 of Finding New Dreams

He grinned. “Thanks. I had to borrow this getup from Carter. Hunter said he refuses to own more than one flannel shirt—something to do with pissing Carter off.”

She laughed. “Sounds about right. Are Chloe and Hunter here?”

“They were right behind me, but I think I lost them when I spotted you guys.”

Gina grinned at me like she knew a secret I didn’t. “Very understandable.”

Whatever that meant. I still couldn’t get over my disappointment that Gina got to hug him and I didn’t. It’d be awkward to throw my arms around his neck now, wouldn’t it?

I cleared my throat. “Did you sign up for any events, Flynn? I think the log-rolling is next.”

“Actually, I did sign up for that. Years of paddleboarding put to good use. How about you?”

I smiled. “Axe-throwing.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Axe-throwing?”

“Yep. I do it every year.”

“She wins a lot of times, too,” Gina chimed in. “I personally believe my best skills are watching everyone else put on a fun show while I stuff my face with corndogs and Knotty Lemonade.”

I laughed. “I think most people prefer that. The Knotty Lemonade is to die for. Unless it actually kills you.”

Flynn’s eyebrows climbed higher. “Has that happened before? I don’t remember any Knotty Lemonade growing up.”

“It’s a newish invention from Cheryl that she likes to tweak,” I explained. “And one year, we lost a few people who had a little too much. I mean, we found them after we sent out a search party, but the town committees banded together and forced her to dilute it a bit.”

“Yeah, ask Sarah and Carter about it sometime,” Gina added. “They might never have gotten together if it weren’t for the Knotty Lemonade. And now I want some. Shall we?”

Flynn laughed. “If it induces romance, by all means.” His gaze rested on me for a moment before sliding away.

While Gina and I waited in line for some lemonade, Dom ran off to hang out with his friends, and Flynn offered to get us some food from the grill tent.

My phone trembled in my skirt pocket, and I pulled it out to see a message in the dating app.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: The only non-meat things Monty has are corn on the cob and grilled cheese sandwiches. Which would you like?

I smiled, tickled pink that he remembered.

RoseWithLove: Sandwich please.

He sent back a thumbs up.

Looking up from my phone, I met Gina’s stare.

A slow smile unfurled on her lips. “Who you talking to, Rosie?”

I shrugged and thanked my lucky stars that she couldn’t question me further as we were next in line.

After we got our lemonade, Flynn caught up with us, handing out my grilled cheese and one of Monty’s famous pepper jack corndogs to Gina in exchange for his lemonade.

The three of us decided to walk and eat as volunteers finished setting up the log-rolling tanks.

“I remember the one year they tried to do the log-rolling in the river,” Flynn said between gulps of lemonade. “The contestants ended up floating downriver. Took us forever to get them back.”

Gina and I laughed just as Hunter and Chloe found us.

“Oh, you guys already got food and lemonade?” Chloe said with a longing look at the busy tents. “The event committee needed me to give them the list of log-rolling competitors. Again.” She sighed. “These events never go off without a hitch. At least Pierce was so willing to fill in for Dad as emcee. Do you think he’s doing well?”

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