by Zoe Chant
"Yes'm." Missy found her swimsuit sitting on top of one of her favorite outfits, and a carton of unscented baby wipes beside them. She stripped down and washed as thoroughly as she could with the wipes, then wiggled into her swimsuit. A one-piece, which normally she preferred, but for a wistful moment she wondered if Ryan was around, and if he'd appreciate a bikini.
Well, she would sure appreciate a dip in the dunk tank, so she went out, blinking at the bright sunlight, and waved to Becky before climbing up the tank's ladder.
The view from the dunk tank seat was terrific, showing her far more of the fair than she could usually see. People swarmed all over the place, laughing and playing games and admiring livestock, vegetables, and crafts. Missy's eyes filled with tears again, partly because she was so happy to have an unexpected afternoon off, and partly because the view showed her everything she loved about Virtue. It wasn't just a town. It was a community, and she was part of it.
All she needed now was the most gorgeous guy in the world to think maybe he ought to stay around. Missy bit her lower lip and tried to pick Ryan out of the crowd, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh look," said a not-particularly-nice voice. "Look who thinks she's not going to get dunked this afternoon."
Kelly Wells handed Becky a whole stack of fair tickets and smiled nastily at Missy. "What happened to that hot guy you were trying to make time with? He decided he could do better? I'm not surprised." She lobbed one of the softballs, and Missy went into the tank before she had a chance to think of a response.
She surfaced again a few seconds later, gasping with cold and laughter. The water wasn't really very cold, not after sitting in the hot sun all day, but it was a heck of a lot cooler than the air, and it was a surprise. "Wow, you got me. I'm so surprised."
"I have nine more tickets," Kelly said with a toss of her hair. "Better get back up there."
"Seriously?" Becky breathed. "You're really gonna dunk her ten times?"
"I paid for the tickets, didn't I?" Kelly pitched another ball almost before Missy got back on the seat, and into the drink she went again.
The fourth ball actually missed. Missy tried not to giggle, but Kelly was so angry that she couldn't help it, and she was inhaling as she hit the water from the next throw.
The next few seconds got blurry and confusing very fast, panic rising in Missy's chest as water went where it wasn't supposed to be. She was a strong swimmer, but something went wrong in her brain, like the choking mouthful shut down her ability to know what to do, or even which way was up. Already breathless, she coughed underwater and tried to inhale. Water flooded her lungs as her kicking feet hit something—maybe the floor—hard enough to hurt.
She pushed off hard, trying to surface, and instead slammed into the tank's opposite wall. For a moment everything went black and starry, and she had just enough brain left to realize she must have hit a wall, not the floor, with her flailing.
After that all she could do was sink, as dark stars swam around her head.
And then there were strong arms around her and she was back at the surface, coughing water out so hard her whole torso hurt, and Ryan O'Connell was holding her and gazing worriedly into her watering eyes.
He didn't say anything. He just held her like he would never let her go, and waited for her to be able to breathe again. Missy, through the clearing fog in her brain, appreciated that. People always said "Are you okay?" when you obviously weren't. Even she did it, although it annoyed her when she did. And she hated trying to answer when she was in distress, because she was often angry over having gotten hurt, or maybe pain was so close to anger that she couldn't tell the difference.
Either way, Ryan didn't say anything, not until Missy managed to drag an actual deep breath in, and heaved it out in a shuddering sigh. Then she could breathe more easily, and Ryan whispered, "I'm sorry."
That got another cough out of her. A surprised little cough that she could keep breathing around. "Sorry? Why? It wasn't your fault. It wasn't even…" Missy looked briefly for Kelly, but didn't see her, and preferred looking at Ryan. "It wasn't your fault."
"I saw you'd left your booth and I went to get us ice creams," Ryan said miserably. "I thought I'd surprise you. So I wasn't here when you fell in. I'm sorry."
"You got here at exactly the right time," Missy promised in a whisper, and patted his cheek. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, but I think I might just…never let you out of my sight again, or something."
Missy giggled weakly. "That would be ridiculous. I hate having an audience when I pee, for one thing."
Ryan made a rueful face. "Okay, that's fair. Still…"
"I'm okay." Missy smiled, feeling very tired for a moment. "Thanks to you, I'm okay. I'm going to sit up now."
She did, and only then realized she was the center of a quite a little crowd. Her parents were only just now rushing from the food booth, which suggested the whole ordeal had lasted much less time than it had seemed to her. There were a couple of upside-down ice creams melting in front of the dunk tank, where Ryan had clearly abandoned them. Somebody was saying, "Did you see him make that jump?" in amazement.
And Kelly Wells was standing a few yards away, her hands over her nose and mouth and her face chalk-white behind them. She turned scarlet when Missy met her wide eyes, and she dropped her hands a few inches to whisper, "I'm sorry."
Missy nodded and got to her feet, feeling a little wobbly, then said, "It wasn't your fault," to Kelly.
"It was, I was being a bitch—"
A tiny laugh broke from Missy's throat. "Well, that's true, but it was an accident. I was inhaling when I hit the water."
"Because you were laughing because I was so pissed I'd missed, and I knew you weren't ready and I threw the ball anyway. I'm sorry."
Missy filled her lungs and held her breath a few seconds, just appreciating how nice it was to have air in her lungs instead of water, and then nodded. "How about you stop being a bitch and we'll call it even?"
Tears flooded Kelly's eyes and she nodded. "Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry, Missy."
"Yeah. I know."
Missy's parents pushed through the conversation to make sure their daughter was all right. Amidst the hugs, Missy promised she was, thanks to Ryan, and they fell on him with praise, too. Then the paramedics showed up to make sure everything was all right, and somehow the story got turned around to suggest that Missy had fallen in the tank and Ryan had overreacted and jumped in to save her even though she hadn't needed saving.
Becky, Kelly, Ryan and Missy exchanged glances at that, and silently agreed among themselves that yes, that was definitely what had happened, because anything else got very complicated very fast.
"It was really romantic," Missy said with a crooked smile. "I mean, ridiculous, but romantic. I just lost my balance on the seat and fell in and he jumped in after me."
One of the paramedics, a woman in her fifties, chuckled and knocked Ryan's shoulder as they left again. "Young love, eh? Always seeing fair ladies needing saving. Missy doesn't need a knight in shining armor, kid."
Ryan mumbled, "I'll remember that," and a moment later, the paramedics were gone.
CHAPTER TEN
It felt like forever before Ryan was able to draw Missy away from the dunk booth. She had to finish reassuring everybody she was all right, and then change out of her swimsuit into a blousy little dress with polka-dots and fluttering sleeves. Her hair was drying over her shoulders when she emerged from the changing tent, and she looked tired. Ryan offered her his arm, and to his relief, she took it, leaning on him a little.
"Are you really okay?" His heart hadn't stopped hammering with fear. Finding his mate only to lose her again on the same day was too terrible to even imagine.
"I really am." Missy smiled up at him. "I feel a little tired, but I think that's the adrenaline rush fading. A cup of orange juice and maybe some real food would probably sort me out."
"Then we'll go find orange juice. Is there any real food a
t the fair?"
"There's a really good burger place over next to the carnival games, and we can get orange juice on the way. Ryan, thank you. You saved my life."
"Becky probably would have gotten you out, but…" Ryan took a deep breath. "But I'm glad I did. I'm glad you're okay. That was scary."
"It was. I'd read how people can get disoriented underwater and forget how to swim, but I didn't think it would actually ever happen to me. But you were there. And I hear you made a very impressive leap over the tank's side to get to me. I wish I'd seen it."
Ryan glanced back toward the tank, then grinned at Missy. "I could try it again, but I think it was pure adrenaline for me, too. I can't usually vault a six foot wall."
"Yeah? Seals aren't great jumpers?"
"They're pretty great at jumping out of water," Ryan said with a grin. "On land, not so much, no. Dignity and grace are not their strong suits, on land. I'm glad you're not freaked out about that," he added more softly. "About me being what I am, I mean."
"I'm more like mortally wounded Becky never told me," Missy said with a sniff, then shook her head and smiled. "No, it's fine. I get why she didn't, and I also, like, really want to go to the beach with you guys now, but it's fine. I mean, what am I going to do, run away screaming? Convince myself I didn't see it? Maybe people do, but I wouldn't want to be them. I like the idea that there's this kind of magic sneaking along right beside us all the time."
"You're amazing," Ryan said unguardedly, and Missy dimpled.
"Thanks. You're pretty amazing yourself. Oh, there's the juice booth. Ooh, I'm going to have apple juice, not orange juice. Apple juice with ginger."
"Ginger?"
"It's amazing! Not as amazing as you," Missy conceded, and Ryan laughed.
"Of course not. Okay, one apple juice with ginger coming up." They got in line and got themselves both juices, although Ryan went with a more conservative plain orange juice, himself. Missy insisted he sip her apple juice with ginger, though, and his eyebrows rose. "Okay, you're right, that's really good."
Missy tossed her damp hair. "Of course I'm right. Burgers now, and then I want to go look at the games."
"Your wish is my command." Ryan's heart soared. Missy was all right, and happy to spend the afternoon with him. Maybe him jumping in the dunk tank to help her had taken her mind off whatever guy it was she'd been star-struck by when she first saw him.
His seal surfaced again to give him a look of long-suffering patience, but said nothing, so Ryan ignored it. Seals weren't well-versed in human relationships, anyway, so even if it knew she was his mate, he couldn't expect it to understand the nuances of trying to get a girl to like him.
They finished their drinks on the way to the burger joint, and after ordering, sat down at a picnic table and leaned toward each other, trying to hear one another through the general noise of the crowd. "So how'd you get into softball pitching?"
Missy laughed. "I loved softball when I was a kid, but I was a terrible outfielder. I'd watch the ball come down toward my mitt, and then the mitt would block my view of the ball and I'd panic and catch it with my other hand, because I could still see it that way." She turned her hands up. "A leather flyball to the palm hurts like heck, so I decided I wanted to do something that didn't involve much catching. Lucky for me it turned out I had a strong arm."
"Is it a hobby, or did you ever think about going pro, or…?"
Missy made a face. "There's not a lot of pro softball, and what there is doesn't pay very well. Like, generally under ten grand a season, and you don't get paid for practice off season. There are some people who make more, obviously, but…I'd rather have a stable job and a fun hobby than chase a nearly impossible dream."
She fell silent a minute as their food arrived, then doctored her burger with ketchup and mustard before picking it up and saying, "When I say it out loud like that, it sounds like I'm the kind of person who doesn't think you should go for your dreams, but I don't think that's it. It's just that…I don't think it's my dream, you know? Even if it seems like it should be. I love the game, I'm good at it, so, like…of course I should go for the brass ring, right?"
Ryan shook his head. "Not if it doesn't make you happy."
Missy dimpled at him. "Right. Chasing your dreams should make you happy. And I don't think pro ball would, not for me. It might be one thing if there were major leagues and really big money to try to reach, but, like…if you make it to the majors in baseball you're gonna make a baseline of half a million a year, right? If you make it to the absolute top of the softball leagues you don't even break two hundred grand. Which, don't get me wrong, that's a huge amount of money and it would be amazing, but…well, making it to the big leagues in any sport is incredibly hard." She shrugged.
Ryan smiled. "You don't have to convince me. I trust you know what you want."
"Hah!" Missy grinned, obviously trying not to show him a mouthful of food as she did so. "Thanks. Sometimes I think maybe I don't know what I want, because a lot of people around me are like, hey, if you're so good at this, shouldn't you want to go for the top tier? But I'd rather play locally and have fun and be able to do the fair every year. What about you?"
"I'm seriously considering doing the fair every year," Ryan said with a solemn nod, and Missy laughed, kicking idly at him under the table, and missing. "No, I know what you mean. Sometimes it's enough to do things at the community level. Like, I bet you've taught a lot of kids to play softball."
"Some of them are really good, too," Missy said with another smile. "And that's way more satisfying to me than chasing the brass ring."
"I got a degree in business," Ryan said, wrinkling his nose. "And while I was doing that, I did a lot of scuba diving for fun, and ended up an instructor. Guess which one I'd rather use to make a living."
"I would love to learn to scuba dive!"
"I'd love to teach you. Think Becky would lend us the dunk tank?"
Missy laughed again. "No. We might have to make a date for a different weekend."
Ryan's seal popped up to say, A date! in triumph. Ryan said, "I'll clear my schedule," and meant it to the bottom of his soul.
"Fantastic." Missy added, "Ohmuhgud," as a mouthful of burger dribbled juice down her chin. "Thassh sho gud." They fell more or less silent a few minutes, eating their dinner, and Missy finally pushed her paper plate away with a contented sigh. "Yeah, I feel a lot better now. Thanks. For everything."
"On one hand, any time," Ryan said. "On the other, I'd really rather you didn't get half drowned ever again, so…maybe not any time?"
"Right." Missy pressed a hand over her chest, taking a couple of deep breaths, which, now that he wasn't worried, Ryan felt he was allowed to appreciate fully. "I feel fine now," she reported. "My chest doesn't even hurt. I think I only inhaled enough water to scare myself, thanks to you."
"So does that mean you're up for a walk around the games? Maybe I'll win you a giant stuffed animal, how does that sound?"
Missy's blue eyes brightened. "Wonderful!"
Yeah, Ryan thought, he could definitely take her mind off whatever guy it was who had caught her eye. This was all going to work out just fine.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Now that Missy wasn't rushing for her food booth, or half drowning in the dunking booth, she had time to think again, and all she could think was that men were very strange.
She'd thought she'd signaled very clearly to Ryan that he was the guy she'd met about whom she'd gone whoa. Like, surely "I'm waiting to find out," along with the lip biting and the big eyes and everything, surely that was clear to even the shyest of guys? And Ryan didn't seem to be all that shy.
Nobody who wore that tiny swimsuit in public could be all that shy. Missy's train of thought was temporarily derailed as she remembered his gorgeous body and the way his damp hair fell over his shoulders. But that wasn't the point, she reminded herself.
The point was, "I'm waiting to find out," with all the big eyes and nervousness and lip-biting see
med as clear to her as the whole "Would you like to have breakfast tomorrow? Should I call you or nudge you?" line that she'd read as a joke but had never actually heard anyone use.
Well, okay. Maybe it wasn't quite that clear, but she felt like she'd been as obvious as she could be without actually throwing herself on Ryan.
He, however, had evidently concluded she meant someone else.
Which, Missy guessed, meant she probably wasn't the fated mate he'd talked about. And that was…
Well. It was kind of disappointing, if she was willing to admit it to herself. If someone had asked her yesterday whether she wanted to fall in love at first sight and be totally sure of it, she would have laughed at them. But today, having met Ryan…
Except he didn't seem to feel the same way, so never mind.
Although now he was trying awfully hard to be charming, like he was making up for lost time. And it was working. It would have worked even if he hadn't jumped into the dunking booth to save her, but that didn't hurt. The memory of his warm, certain arms around her made Missy shiver happily, now that the danger was well past.
Of course, there were other reasons besides fate for a guy to be nice to her, and that was fine too, but…Missy made a face at herself as they walked through the game booths. But fate would have been kind of amazing, she guessed.
Maybe there was another guy out there whose fate was waiting on her. But if there was, well. He wasn't there at the fair with her tonight, and Ryan was, so they could enjoy themselves for the evening, at least.
"You look very serious," Ryan said, sounding slightly worried. "Everything okay?"
"Totally! I was just thinking about enjoying the evening with you." That was entirely true, even if it wasn't the entire truth.
Ryan's smile went bright and somewhat dippy. "Great. I'm glad. I didn't think I'd have such an exciting weekend when I came up to help Becky at the fair."