There was no way Bethany could ignore Stan’s presence. Even when she wasn’t looking directly at him she could tell exactly where he was in relation to her chair. If they hadn’t been outside under the clear blue sky, with only a leafy cottonwood tree for dappled shade, she didn’t think she could have tolerated that degree of closeness.
She surreptitiously watched him greet and joke with locals as well as welcome visitors who had come to High Plains to celebrate July 4th in the riverfront park. That summer tradition was one of Bethany’s favorites. There would be live music in the gazebo, games for the kids, free watermelon, hotdogs and soda pop for supper and then a fireworks show that rivaled those in the big, nearby Kansas cities like Manhattan and Council Grove.
Right now, however, there was only her and Stan, bordered by three long, rectangular tables that held the baked goods, which had been donated for the fund-raising effort.
Bethany stood, reached into her pocket and handed a dollar bill to Stan.
“What’s this for?”
“Brownies. Two of them.” She placed a couple of the chocolaty treats on a paper napkin. “I figure I may as well do it up right. These have been calling my name for the past hour and I’m through resisting.”
I wish I could say I was through resisting you, she added silently. As of this morning, before she’d been asked to help in the booth with Stan, she’d assumed that she was well in control of her feelings, no matter what kind of temptation presented itself.
Now, however, she could tell she’d been kidding herself. The way she saw it, she would probably still have a stupid crush on Stan Ellison when they were old and gray. There they’d be, she imagined, sitting in rocking chairs on the porch of the rest home and trading barbed quips as always. Only, by then, neither of them would remember why they were at odds in the first place.
The silly picture in her mind made her giggle. Stan cocked his head and peered over at her. “You okay?”
“Oh, sure. I was just daydreaming.”
“It must have been funny because you got a strange look on your face just before you laughed.”
“Really? Well, well.”
“You aren’t going to tell me about it, are you?”
“Nope,” Bethany said. She took a bite of one of the brownies, rolled her eyes and slowly licked her lips. “Umm, this is sooooo good.”
The witty retort she’d expected in reply didn’t come, so she glanced at Stan quizzically. He had an odd expression on his face and his cheeks were slightly flushed, the way a teenage boy’s might be if he were bashfully interested in a girl. Either that, or the poor man was having an attack of indigestion.
The workings of her stressed-out mind and heart were getting so ridiculous and so funny she wondered if she was about to break into hysterical laughter. She wouldn’t be surprised if she did. And then what could she say to him? How would she ever explain her true feelings? What had begun as a friendship and had deepened due to empathy, was now a full-blown crush.
Perhaps it was even more than that, she added with a sigh. Perhaps, in spite of all her self-recriminations and inner warnings, she had actually let herself fall in love.
Affection was not the problem, Bethany insisted. The real trouble lay in the man she had chosen to care for. Of all the eligible bachelors in High Plains, she had picked the one man who would be the least likely of any to return her love.
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