by Claire Adams
“Okay, Daddy,” she said and smiled at me.
The ride came to a stop, and the riders unloaded. We were the first ones in line, so we got our choice of seats, and Margie led me to the front. For being scared, she sure was being brave to go right for the front.
The ride employee bucked us up and told us the rules.
I leaned over to Margie and grabbed her hand. “Are you ready, pumpkin?”
She squeezed my hand and nodded her head.
The ride started, and the look on her face was pure happiness. She yelled in excitement as we went over the two little hills. We went two more times around with Margie yelling, “I love this!”
When the ride came to a stop, and we were loaded off Margie ran right up to Anna.
“I loved that! I want to ride it again; will you ride with me?”
“Of course, sweetheart. Let’s go,” Anna said and let Margie drag her back into the line. This time, they were near the end, so they got the last seat, but I could see from where I stood with Tom and Millie, that she was still as delighted as ever.
We watched them go around.
“Hi!” Margie would yell as she went past us.
Millie snapped a few pictures of them together.
When the ride ended, Margie bounced over to us. “That was amazing!” she yelled.
“Do you want to go on the Ferris wheel?” I asked and pointed at the large wheel ride.
“That looks too scary,” Margie said.
“It’s not scary. It’s fun. I’m sure we can see the whole city from the top,” Anna said. I could tell she was trying her best to make Margie feel better about the ride.
“I don’t know. It seems scary,” Margie said again.
“You two go; we’ll take her to get some cotton candy,” Millie said.
Margie squealed in delight. Anna and I looked at each other. “You want to go?” I asked. Anna nodded her head.
I led Anna to the Ferris wheel. The line was longer than it had been for the kiddie coaster. It took thirty minutes to get onto the ride, but we passed the time talking and laughing. Anna’s voice was something I enjoyed and wished I could hear all the time.
“I love Ferris wheels,” she said when we were almost to the front of the line. “When I was little and my parents would take me to the carnival, it was the first ride I rode on. My favorite part was when riders would get on, and the ride would stop right when I was at the top. I loved being able to look out across the city.”
I stared at her while she talked. Her eyes lit up when she talked about her childhood. I could tell she had a great one from the way her parents acted with Margie.
“Did it bother you when my parents told Margie to call them ‘nana’ and ‘papa’?” Anna asked.
I shook my head. “No, it didn’t. Did it bother you?”
“No, not at all,” she said, smiling at me.
I grabbed her hand and held it the rest of the time we stood in line.
“Are you ready for your next fight?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I think so. You know, as long as my good luck charm is there,” I winked at her.
She laughed. “Oh stop. I’m not your good luck charm. Look, you won your last fight, and I wasn’t there.”
“Yeah, but I almost lost. If you would have been there, I could have beat him in the first round.”
“Oh really?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m serious, Anna. Something about you being in the room just helps me concentrate,” I said.
“So, I’m an ego boost for you?” she said with a laugh.
I loved how easily she could laugh around me. “Kind of.” I received a slight hit on my arm.
We got onto the ride, and when we reached the top, the ride stopped to let more people on. I looked at Anna and said, “Looks like you got your wish.”
She smiled, and we looked out at the city. It was a magnificent view; she was right about that, but the best view was the childlike sense of wonder on her beautiful face. I leaned in, gently grabbed her face, and kissed her. Right there, at the top of the Ferris Wheel, overlooking the entire city, I knew I loved this woman. I hadn’t felt this way since Tammy died, and that was huge for me.
Chapter Twenty
Anna
When Justin kissed me on the Ferris wheel, I felt like we were in a movie. It was the most perfectly romantic moment of my entire life. It only intensified the feelings I already had for him. We got off the Ferris wheel and hurried back to everyone else. I watched as Justin ran around playing with Margie, and my dad joined them. I noticed my parents embraced Margie like she was their own grandchild.
I was so nervous when my mom told Margie to call them “nana” and “papa.” I had no idea how Justin was going to react. This was supposed to be all pretend, but it was very quickly becoming something real. At least, it was on my end. I was relieved when he said my parents’ request didn’t bother him.
Ally walked over to me. “That’s a picture-perfect moment. Good thing mom’s taking some pictures.”
“Better her than me,” I said.
We watched as Justin went to dodge Margie from getting him and he tripped and fell lightly on the ground. It wasn’t a hard fall. Ally and I laughed.
“I hope she got that on camera,” she said.
I laughed, again. “Me too.”
“How are you feeling about everything?” she asked me.
“I like him so much.” I didn’t think it through. This was probably something I shouldn’t have told my judgy little sister. Sometimes, she was a little too honest for my liking. It was almost as if she no longer had a filter, but I guessed that came with the territory of being a free spirit.
“What?” Ally said. I felt her studying my face as we watched Margie jump on Justin. I laughed. I was trying to avoid my sister’s gaze. I didn’t really know how to explain my feelings to her, but I knew I couldn’t ignore her forever.
I turned to Ally. I had to be honest with her because I needed to be honest with myself. “I like him a lot, Ally.”
“You need to be careful. Don’t forget about the arrangement you guys have.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
You can’t get too emotionally involved,” she added.
“I know. I’m not going to,” I said, trying to mask my irritation. I was beginning to master my ability to hide emotions from Ally. With everything she was throwing at me lately, I had to protect myself somehow.
“It looks like it’s already too late,” she said just as our mom walked up.
I was glad she was far enough away during our conversation. I couldn’t risk her asking too many questions. There was no way I would live that down and who knew how mad they would be at Justin for this.
“What are my girls talking about?” she asked.
“Anna was just telling me how much she likes Justin,” Ally said with a smirk. It was hard not reach over and smack the smug look off her face.
I looked over to where my dad was still playing with Justin and Margie. It was a sight to see, and I loved watching every moment of it. I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from them.
“You know, Anna,” my mom said, and I looked at her, giving her my full attention. “I can tell what you and Justin have is the real deal.”
“Really?” Ally asked, smirking.
“Yes. You’ll find yours one day,” mom said.
Little did she know that Ally couldn’t care less about having a real relationship. She was only asking the question to mess with me. Since she was the one who pointed out our feelings for each other in the first place, she was being all too smug. I only hoped that she was right about Justin.
“You two really do have something special. It reminds me of your dad and I when we first started dating. I was so nervous around him. I didn’t quite know if it was real or not. During the first month or so, I used to wonder if he even really liked me at all.”
It was crazy that my mom was explaining how she felt about my dad. It was exactly h
ow I felt about Justin, with one real difference: they were actually dating, while Justin and I were just pretending to be.
It made me even more curious about his feelings for me. The kiss on the Ferris wheel felt so real, and no one was around to see it, so he couldn’t have done it for show.
“That’s so sweet,” I said to her.
We watched as my dad picked Margie up and swung her around. It made me nervous, which was weird because she wasn’t my child, but I cared about her all the same.
“I just love Margie,” my mom said. “How could I not? She’s so sweet, and I can see the twinkle in her eyes when she looks at you.”
“I know. I love her so much, too,” I said. I avoided looking at Ally because I didn’t want to deal with it.
Margie, Justin, and my dad walked over to where we stood watching them.
“Can we play some games?” Margie asked my mom.
“I think so, as long as it’s okay with your daddy,” my mom said.
Justin looked at Margie. “I don’t see why not. We’re here, aren’t we? It would be a crime not to get some cotton candy.”
There were stands everywhere, and after a few minutes of walking by rides, we found two stands side by side. One sold cotton candy, funnel cakes, lemonade, and a few other snack foods. The other one sold turkey legs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and the like.
“What color do you want?” my mom asked Margie.
“Pink!” she said and pointed at the pink fluffy stuff that was advertised in the window.
My mom ordered Margie a pink cotton candy and handed it to her. Margie pulled some off and ate it. She looked at Justin. “It’s so cool, Daddy. It like melts. You need to try it,” she said.
Justin pulled off a small piece and ate it. “It is yummy, baby girl.”
“Have you ever had a funnel cake?” I asked Justin.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
My mouth dropped open. I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone who had never had a funnel cake before.
“You have got to try one,” I said and then stepped up to the window. “One funnel cake, please,” I said to the lady working in the booth.
“Do you want it supreme?” she asked in a monotone voice. I figured she must hate her job. It would have sucked working in that booth in the hot sun all day.
“Oh. What’s that?” I looked at Justin and wiggled my eyebrows. He laughed.
“It comes with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.” She sounded even more bored, like I had been asking questions for the last hour or something.
“Sure, we’ll take that,” I said. Before Justin could even reach for his wallet, I pulled a ten-dollar bill out of my back pocket. I handed the money to the lady and got two dollar bills back in change. We waited five more minutes before it was finished.
“Here you go,” she said, still in a monotone voice.
“Thank you so much. You have a great day. And try to stay cool!” I said, and she smiled at me. I hoped I made her day a little better.
I grabbed three forks from the tray next to the window, in case Margie wanted some, and we spotted everyone sitting at two tables. We walked over and joined them. I was so excited for Justin to try the funnel cake.
We sat down, and I watched Justin in anticipation as he took his first bite.
“Oh my god. It’s so good,” he said with a laugh as he finished chewing. In a lower voice, he added, “Looks like you popped my cherry on that one.”
I laughed and took a bite. It was good, a little mushy where the whipped cream melted, but it still tasted as good as I remembered.
“I wanna try it!” Margie said from the next table over.
“Okay, I grabbed you a fork just in case.”
Margie grabbed the fork from me and stuck it into the dough. When she took her bite, she made a loud “mmm” noise. “This is good!” she said
“These were my favorite treats when I was a little girl,” I told her.
“I can see why,” Justin said, taking another bite.
“I want to go on another ride,” Margie said.
“Okay, which one do you want to go on?” Justin asked her.
“I want to go on the tea cups with you and Anna,” she said.
“Okay let’s do it,” I said.
We finished eating the funnel cake and disposed of our trash and then made our way over to the Krazy Kups.
We had to wait in line for about twenty minutes before we could get on the ride. It wasn’t too bad as the three of us talked to pass the time. Margie was so insightful for only being four. It was cute to watch her talk about the world and things that were going on.
We got onto the ride, and it started up.
“Weee!” Margie yelled as we started to move around. “What’s this do?” she asked, pointing to the turner in the middle of the cup.
“Watch,” Justin said.
He put one hand on each side of the little table and used all his strength to turn it. We started spinning around in our cup faster and faster.
Margie and I were soon laughing hysterically.
“This is so much fun, guys!” she yelled.
“I know!” I yelled back.
As we went past my parents and Ally, I saw that my mom was taking pictures of us. I waved at them and then Margie tried to as well. It was hard because we were spinning in our tea cup so fast.
We were still spinning in our cup as the ride started to slow down. We had been going so fast that I wasn’t sure if we were going to stop or not. A few seconds later, we finally started slowing down, and then it stopped.
“That was so much fun; can we do it again?” Margie asked as we made our way out of the ride area and toward where my parents and Ally were waiting for us.
“Let’s let the first ride settle before we go again,” Justin said.
We spent another few hours going on different rides. My mom even went on one with Margie. Justin played a ring toss game and won Margie a stuffed bear.
When we got back to the van and started driving down the highway, Margie passed out. I sat in the back with her again. I watched her eyes light up over and over throughout the day, and it brought me so much joy.
The ride back to my house seemed so much longer than it had on the way there. I figured it had to do with all of us being so tired. It had been such a long day, but we all had a blast. These were memories I was going to cherish forever, especially since my mom took so many pictures.
“I’ll make sure to tag you on the social media,” she said.
I laughed.
“You mean Facebook?” Ally asked.
“Facebook is social media, right?” our mom asked.
“Yeah, but you don’t call it ‘the social media.’ Just call it Facebook. You don’t have a twitter or Instagram account. There’s no point in saying ‘social media,’” Ally explained. She was laughing, but I sensed a hint of irritation in her voice.
“You knew what I meant, Ally bear,” Mom said.
The rest of the ride was quiet, and I was glad when we made it home. We said our goodbyes, and I picked Margie up out of her booster seat. She was still asleep, and I followed Justin to his car, where he put the booster seat in. I gently placed her in the car, trying not to wake her.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Thank you for coming with us,” I said in response.
“It’s no problem. I think Margie had a blast.”
“She definitely did.”
We stood there for a moment. I sensed neither of us really wanted to walk away or say goodnight.
“I guess I should get her home,” Justin said after a couple minutes of silence.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, you probably should.”
At that moment, I wanted to tell Justin just how I really felt. I wanted him to know that the way I acted around him were my true feelings, that this wasn’t just a big show for my family. I wanted him to know the truth, but I was terrified. I didn’t know how he really fe
lt about me. I didn’t know if this was all pretend to him. The last thing I wanted to do was read more into things than was really there. I didn’t want to come on too strong and drive Justin away.
“Goodnight, Anna.”
“Goodnight, Justin,” I said.
And then he grabbed my face and kissed me. I could sense there was more there than just a ‘goodnight kiss.’ It was passionate, but I could feel what might be love. And when we finished kissing, I felt breathless.
“Drive safe,” I mumbled, my lips were numb from the passionate kiss.
“I will,” he said. He smiled at me before climbing into the car and driving away.
Chapter Twenty-One
Justin
The time we spent at the theme park with Anna’s parents and sister was amazing. It was great to get away and have some fun. I needed it, and most of all, so did Margie. She so rarely got days out like that, and I knew it was something she would always remember.
I spent Monday morning going over bills. It was just amazing to me that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to get ahead. The bills kept piling up. Late fees stacked up one on top of the other causing a one-hundred-dollar bill to suddenly cost eleven hundred after a few years. I felt like I was drowning.
I needed this to work out. If it didn’t, I knew I was going to have to defend myself physically against Markie’s goons. That was something I never wanted to face. Ever.
“Are you okay, Daddy?” Margie asked and climbed onto the chair beside me. I was sitting at the dining room table with the table covered in past due bills.
“Yes, sweetheart.” It was a lie, but I couldn’t tell my four-year-old daughter about our money problems. It wouldn’t have been right. I was trying everything in my power to hide these things from her.
“You look like you’re gonna cry,” she said with worry in her voice.
It was strange that she picked up on those kinds of cues. I didn’t feel like I was about to cry, but I knew I might have looked like it. I was stressed and overwhelmed.
“I’m okay, baby,” I said and kissed her on her head. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said.