I took a seat next to her as everyone else congregated in this area. Eventually, I was forced to the side to perch on the arm of the bench as the other older members of the group demanded the bench seats.
Seats I was happy to give up.
Kinsley stepped in behind me and leaned down. “They know,” she hissed into my ear.
“What?” I said out of the corner of my mouth.
“Holley and Saylor. Ivy knew, but Rosie let it slip. I couldn’t deny it.” She leaned forward on the back of the bench as if she just needed to rest, but her lips were right by my ear. “Rosie bullied me into admission,” she whispered. “She won’t say anything, but we need to figure this out and soon. Before it’s too late.”
In a risky move, I reached back and squeezed her hand. “I know, babe. I know.”
She straightened up, taking her hand back in a manner that wasn’t so obvious. Still, she held the back of the bench where her fingers still brushed against the back of my shoulder in a weirdly comfortable kind of way.
She was there.
Right there.
And it was nice.
Not as nice as having her curled up against my side as we watched this stupid fucking duck parade, but here we were.
“Has it started yet?” Holley stepped up next to me and fiddled with the cap on her water bottle.
“Nope,” I said, leaning back into Kinsley’s hand.
“You’re being obvious,” she muttered.
Kinsley obviously heard because she snatched her hand away just in time for the parade to begin. I felt the loss acutely—it was a weird comfort to lose, but I knew why.
I was becoming attached to her in a way I’d never allowed myself to before.
Despite what I’d said to her, I was absolutely falling in love with her.
With her laugh. With her smile. With her eyes. With her touch.
With her rants about books that had been turned to movies.
Every single thing was ripe for the picking, and my stupid fuckin’ heart was plucking them off one by one.
I wasn’t about to say that out loud. It was only two or three days ago I’d told her that I wasn’t falling for her, that I didn’t love her, that I would one day but not yet.
This ‘one day’ was too soon.
“Grandma!” Saylor snapped. “We told you that one was a male! Why is he in a dress?”
I looked over toward the ugly brown duck we’d all insisted was a male—that our Internet searches had insisted was a male. He was in a pink dress and yellow bonnet that was undoubtedly Mabel’s pick, and he was hobbling along in the front of everyone else.
This was… alarming.
One duck wore a tuxedo-style outfit, complete with bow tie. The one that followed was in a floral blue dress and apron right out of Little House on the Prairie, and the one after that was a duckling in a pink tutu and—
A unicorn horn?
I was done here.
I moved to get up and disappear from this shitshow, but Holley and Kinsley both stopped me with firm hands on my shoulders. Instead, I was forced to watch the rest of what could only be described as duck abuse disguised as a parade.
Well, maybe abuse was a strong word.
The ducks looked happy.
You know, if ducks could fucking look happy.
The balloons were just a painful addition to it all.
Off they trotted, one by one, dressed in their stupid little outfits, all on their parade. I had no idea what I was watching, truly, or what the purpose of this whole dumb thing was.
It was pretty funny, yeah, seeing ducks toddle along like that, but still stupid.
Thankfully, not long after that, everyone else lost interest, too. The primary reason for it had been to raise funds for the retirement home. I wasn’t going to comment on the fact that the pond and ducks probably cost more than they raised in this fundraising drive, but hey.
I was smart enough to know the pond and ducks would be written off as a tax expense somewhere or someway.
We all dispersed as the parade finished once and for all. Amanda appeared to round the ducks up and send them back to their huge pen that included their house and hopefully for them, their freedom from their costumes.
Poor little things.
The rest of the crowd congregated in various areas. Some by the food, some by the duck area, and some headed right to the parking lot.
I know which group I wanted to be in.
“Grandma, why don’t we get you a cup of coffee?” I asked, looping her arm through mine.
She snorted. “You mispronounced gin.”
“All right, let’s see if there’s gin out here.” I knew better than to argue with her, so I took her inside to her room where I poured her a gin and tonic.
Grandma sat back and sipped, plopping the slice of lemon in by herself.
Well, it was a quarter of a lemon.
She sank back into her chair and glared at me. “I will never forgive you for putting me in this place.”
I held up my hands. “Not my choice, Mom and Dad’s.”
She grunted and finished the rest of the G&T like it was water and lemon. “You’re too obvious,” she said, slamming the glass down and getting up. “Stop looking at Kinsley like she’s the crown jewels before Colton finds out.”
I stared at her for a moment before I walked out of her room. She was in a bad mood today, clearly, and I wasn’t going to listen to her.
She was right, but that didn’t mean I had to abide by every word.
I headed back outside. There was a commotion over by the pond, and I rushed over there to help handle it.
“You stole my moment!” Mabel shouted, jabbing a knobbly finger in Agatha’s direction.
I’d missed something.
“You didn’t get to the stage!” Agatha yelled back.
Rosie snorted. “Neither did you!”
“I pay too much for this abuse!” Mabel waved her cane in the air. “You hear that, White Peak? I’m moving out and I’m
