Page 45 of Sweet Trouble
Her responding smile was so full of warmth it made his heart stutter.
They played a few more rounds of the guessing game and no one was able to stump anyone. Just as Posey was about to begin another turn, they got to the front of the line.
“Okay,” Travis Stone called out to them with a big smile. “Our last four passengers for this round. Let’s get you loaded up.”
Posey was practically vibrating with joy, but when she grabbed her sister’s hand, Mari pulled back and looked up at the structure they had been slowly approaching.
“I… I don’t want to go,” she said softly to her mom.
“But we were waiting so long,” Posey whined. “It’s finally our turn.”
“I’m scared,” Mari murmured. “I’m sorry.”
A torn expression flitted across Jillian’s face, and Tripp realized that she was trying to decide whether to try and convince Mari to get on the Ferris wheel even though she was clearly terrified, or disappoint Posey, who would be devastated.
“Why don’t you and I stay down here?” Tripp asked Mari. “We can wave to your mom and Posey when they go by, and maybe we can get a picture of them with my phone.”
Mari’s face lit up, and her shoulders slumped in relief.
“Can we, Mom?” she asked. “Please?”
Tripp braced himself. As nice as it was to be rekindling their friendship, he knew Jillian might not be ready to just leave her precious daughter with him. He should have offered the option to Jillian first rather than asking Mari.
“That’s such a nice idea,” Jillian said, smiling at Tripp in obvious relief. “You stay with Tripp, Mari. And we’ll wave to you every time we pass and tell you all about it when we get off.”
Mari nodded with a big smile and Tripp walked her back to the fence surrounding the Ferris wheel to watch. There were plenty of onlookers gathered around, and lots of people with strollers were waving to bigger kids who were boarding the Ferris wheel. They wouldn’t be on theirown out here.
“Thank you,” Mari said softly. “Posey really wanted to go.”
“Is that why you said you wanted to go too?” Tripp guessed.
“I thought I did, too,” Mari said, shaking her head. “But it’s up really high.”
“That’s okay,” Tripp told her. “My brother Zane doesn’t much like heights either. We’ll have a good time down here, and I’ll bet there’s other fun stuff to do when they’re finished.”
Mari smiled up at him, looking really grateful, and she really did remind him of his brother. Zane had been Tripp’s best friend and closest sibling growing up, even though they were polar opposites in terms of personality.
“Hey,” he told her. “I have a little surprise for later today if we finish up here and we still have lots of energy. Do you want to know what it is?”
She nodded, looking excited to be in on a surprise.
“Okay,” he said, offering her his hand. “You’re officially on the surprise planning committee.”
She reached out her own hand, and looked really pleased when he shook it in a brisk, businesslike manner.
“Here’s what I was thinking your mom might like to do later,” he began in a confiding tone, even though Jillian and Posey were way too far off to overhear him.
And as he explained things to the little girl, he thought about how easy it would be to get used to a life just like this, and how dangerous it would be to let his imagination run away with him.
12
JILLIAN
As she boarded the ride with Posey, Jillian watched Mari and Tripp talking excitedly in the waiting area.
“Are theyshaking hands?” Posey asked in surprise.
“It looks that way,” Jillian replied, chuckling at the delighted look on Mari’s face as she shook Tripp’s hand.
