I Stand Before You (Judge Me Not #2)(90)

Chase and I walk around, hand-in-hand, enjoying it all. We receive a few disapproving stares, but there are a couple of smiles as well. That’s good enough for now. This town will just have to get used to the fact that its good girl is in love with its resident bad boy. I glance up at the gorgeous man by my side. Gunmetal blues, pouty full lips, a body he sure knows how to use. Jeez, could I get any luckier? I squeeze his hand.

“What?” he asks as he catches my gaze.

“Nothing, I just love you, that’s all.”

He leans down and kisses my cheek, murmurs sweet things in my ear. I melt as I always do. Chase Gartner has conquered me thoroughly. I’d just about die for this man.

When he straightens, he says, “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time my parents took me to a carnival like this. And my dad bought me a red balloon I was convinced was magical?”

I don’t think I’ve heard this story, so I reply, “No, you never told me that one.”

As we walk past the fishing pond game and a stand selling kettle corn, my boy tells me his story.

“I was probably about four or five. We still lived here, I remember that. And Will hadn’t been born yet. Anyway, there was a stand selling balloons, kind of like that one up ahead.” He points to a stand where big balloons of every color imaginable are affixed to the sides and the front. A few of the largest balloons flutter in the light breeze.

“Just like that stand, this one had tons of balloons, in lots of colors. But there was only one red one.” Chase shakes his head and chuckles a little. “For some crazy reason, I was convinced the red one—since it was the only one, I guess—was special. I thought it was filled with magic, instead of just air, so, I begged my dad to buy it for me.”

We slow by a spinning ride. Orange, pink, and yellow lights flash around us as I ask, “Did he get it for you?”

Chase nods, but it’s a slow nod, like my boy is far away now, back in time, lost in this memory. “Yeah, yeah, he did,” he murmurs.

I bump his arm with my shoulder. “So…was it?”

“Was it what?”

“A balloon filled with magic,” I tease.

We walk a little farther, past the stand selling balloons. Chase glances at the red ones, but we keep moving.

“I don’t know,” he finally says. “I never found out. I let it go and it drifted up into the sky.”

I am about to tease him about losing his balloon, but then I notice the expression on his face. He looks sad and forlorn. “What? What’s wrong, Chase?”

He shakes his head, raises my hand to his lips and places the softest of kisses on my fingers. “Nothing, sweet Kay, nothing is wrong. It’s just that I remember my mom telling me to hold the string tightly, to not let it go for anything. She said if I let go, then my balloon would drift away. She was right obviously, that’s exactly what happened.”

“Is that why you let it go? Because of what she told you?” I ask, thinking maybe he was a kid just testing out the validity of what he’d been told.

But Chase shakes his head no.

I can’t understand why this memory would bother Chase so much. I mean, little kids lose their balloons like that all the time. I recall losing a few of my own the same way.

But then Chase explains. “See, I did it on purpose, Kay. I let the string go. But not because of what my mother said. I just didn’t want the red balloon, after all.” He presses his lips together. “I guess I knew that balloon wasn’t really filled with magic. I remember telling myself that if I let it go, then I’d never have to find out the truth. The illusion would remain. I could keep on pretending. That’s why I let that damn red balloon go.”

It’s kind of a sad story, and Chase appears disheartened. I suddenly have an idea. I decide when I next go to the ladies room I’ll buy Chase a new red balloon and surprise him with it. Maybe it can be my way to show my boy magic does exist. Not in the balloon, of course, but in his heart and mine. This love we carry for one another feels magical, that’s for certain. And buying Chase a red balloon will be symbolic, something tangible to express my point.

After we share a corn dog, a funnel cake, and a soft drink, Chase and I finally make our way to the bake stand to check up on my cookies. Missy sees us coming and bristles a bit. She and Chase barely make eye contact. I look from one to the other questioningly, but neither says a word. Whatever.

While Chase pretends to be very interested in a pineapple upside-down cake that’s for sale—a type of cake I know for a fact he dislikes—I ask Missy how the snickerdoodles have been selling.

“They’re all gone, Kay. We sold every dozen.”

She gives me a tight, but genuine smile, and I exclaim, “That’s great!”

Chase smiles uneasily and asks me if I’m ready to go. I am, but after all the soda, I really have to run to the ladies’ room first. Both look dismayed when I make this announcement. Nonetheless, I leave Chase with Missy, and hustle down to the facilities.

Good, maybe those two can finally work out whatever silly differences they obviously have with one another. It couldn’t be anything all that important, right?

After I finish up in the ladies’ room, I stop at the stand selling balloons and buy the biggest red one they have. On the way back, I take a path that runs behind the stands so Chase won’t see the balloon I bought him until the last minute. I walk quickly, trying to keep the helium-filled balloon down by my side and out of sight. But, as I approach the bake sale stand, I slow considerably. Only because I hear Chase and Missy’s hushed voices, and it sounds as if they’re arguing.