Keeper(71)

My laugh had always been a little too breathy for my liking, but it blended with the deeper tones in Ty’s laughter as we chuckled at Maggie’s comment. I liked the way it sounded—our two voices together in harmony. A flash of warmth rushed through me.

“How’ve you been?” Ty asked. “I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you much since Serena’s house.”

“I’m okay. Worried about Gareth. I can’t reach him on his phone. He called a few days ago, but since then nothing. Everything else’s been quiet.”

“He’s probably just being extra cautious,” Ty suggested.

“Yeah . . . maybe.”

“No sign of the Scavengers?”

“No, not that I know of anyway. I haven’t seen anything strange, and Serena hasn’t had any more visions about them, so I’m guessing whatever Gareth is doing must be working.”

“Are they still in the area?”

I nodded. “She thinks so, but she’s too afraid to do any real spell that would tell her for certain. She doesn’t want to attract any more attention.”

“Well, no news is good news, right?”

“Right,” I agreed. “Although I really wish Gareth would call. I’ll feel a whole lot better once I hear from him.”

“I’m sure he’ll call soon,” Ty said.

“I hope so.”

“And how about you, Maggie?” Ty turned his attention to her, and Maggie immediately launched into an animated narrative of her week. I watched Ty’s face as he listened, my heart fluttering as I studied the planes of his cheekbones, the strong set of his jaw, his lips that were quirked up into his crooked grin. I resisted the urge to fan my warm cheeks.

After parking the car and paying for out tickets, we walked into the carnival grounds. The cheerleaders had really outdone themselves this year. The fairgrounds were brightly lit with colorful lights, and speakers hanging from the light posts blasted popular country music. There was a large selection of rides, including a Ferris wheel and a Tilt-A-Whirl, and there were tons of booths that had games where you could win prizes. The smell of popcorn and funnel cakes wafted through the air, and my mouth began to water. In the back corner of the fair there was a haunted house, and there was also a haunted corn maze as part of the festivities.

“Wow,” I said, taking it all in.

“What you said,” Ty replied, his face in equal awe. Maggie, who was grinning like a five-year-old, nodded.

I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. “What do you want to do first?”

“Oh, look,” Maggie said, pointing toward one of the booths. “There’s Lily Owens!” She waved, and a girl I recognized from school with strawberry-blonde hair waved back. “I think I’ll go hang with her for a while.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but snapped my lips back together when Maggie glared at me.

“You guys have fun. I’ll meet up with you later, okay?”

I let out a huff. I’d been counting on Maggie as a wingman, but as she wiggled her fingers at Ty and grinned at me with a smile that would’ve made the devil cringe, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I mumbled under my breath as she winked at me and then skipped over to where Lily Owens was waiting. “Why, that little—”

“So,” Ty said, “are you hungry, or do you want to hit up the rides first?” He was beaming a smile that made me feel all gushy inside.

“I could definitely eat.” I tried to say it casually, but in truth I was starving. I’d been too nervous to eat earlier.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Ty said with a grin, “because there is a booth over there that claims they have corndogs so good they’ll make you want to slap your mama!” he finished the last part with an over-exaggerated Southern accent that made me laugh.

“That sounds great! Although I must warn you, I can pretty much eat my weight in corndogs. They’re my favorite.”

Ty grinned and put one of his hands over his heart in mock surprise. “Beautiful and loves corndogs? Be still my beating heart!”

Laughing, we headed toward the food vendors.

The crowd was thick and difficult to maneuver through. As Ty was getting the food, I jumped to the side as a mother wrangling three young boys almost trampled me on the way to the ice cream stand, and I stumbled into somebody on my other side.

“Excuse me, sir!” I said to the tall gentlemen I’d accidently bumped into. The man grunted in response, pulling his black baseball cap lower over his eyes. He stalked off without a word.

“Geez, rude much?” I muttered.

Before I could think on it further, Ty walked over triumphantly with a tray full of corndogs in his hands.

“You ready for this, Styles?” he crowed. “’Cause I’m about to kick your butt in a corndog-eating contest.” He did a little box step with his feet.

“Already practicing your victory dance?” I laughed.

“Yep, just want you to have a little taste of what’s to come.” Ty’s smile lit up his entire face.

“Ha!” I chortled. “Dream on, pal! I never met a corndog I didn’t like!”

Laughing, we made our way toward the picnic tables.

“You ready for this, Styles?” Ty asked, handing me a corndog.