But when he arrived at the football field at dawn and spotted Laura Reed running around with her hair mussed, a clipboard in hand and a frantic expression, he realized that Ronnie had definitely had a hidden agenda. He turned to the traitor. “So, does Laura have anything to do with your sudden determination to get me involved in town activities?”
Ronnie actually managed to pull off an innocent look. “No idea what you mean,” he said. “I thought you two had a thing going. I figured you’d be hanging around all day, anyway. I thought I might as well take advantage of that and put you to work.”
J.C. merely shook his head and went off with a woman who’d requested help setting up her tent. “We’ll finish this later,” he muttered to Ronnie as he left.
But despite his claim of annoyance, he discovered he was enjoying seeing this side of Laura. She might appear flustered and as if she were going in ten directions at once, but she was completely calm as she spoke to everyone and stepped in to solve problems. She was unfailingly smiling, even when she spotted him and faltered a bit.
“This is a surprise,” she said. “Who recruited you to help?”
“A very sneaky Ronnie Sullivan,” he said. “Anything you need me to do?”
“If Ronnie lured you here, I imagine you should be asking him that question.”
“You look more frazzled than he does,” he told her. “Prettier, too.”
She gave him a startled look. “Are you flirting with me, J.C.?”
Was he? If so, he was as surprised about it as she obviously was. “Could be,” he admitted.
A smile played about her lips. “When you figure it out, I’ll be around,” she told him and dashed off on her next mission.
He stared after her, thinking about why on earth she got to him in a way no woman had for a very long time. Bottom line, though, was that she did. He just needed to figure out if he wanted to do something about it or not.
* * *
“You’re blushing,” Nancy Logan said when she spotted Laura gulping down bottled water as if she were dying of thirst.
“It’s warm out,” Laura said. “Who thought it would be this warm at the end of October?”
“We’re in South Carolina, not the North Pole. It’s usually warm this time of year,” Nancy said, grinning. “If you’re overheated, I think it has more to do with whatever J. C. Fullerton said to you.”
Laura frowned. “No idea what you’re talking about,” she fibbed.
Nancy merely lifted a brow. “Is that so?” she said skeptically.
“I do not have time for this conversation,” Laura told her. “If you want to make yourself useful, go over to the PTA booth and make sure all the baked goods are displayed halfway decently. Last time I looked, it was a hodgepodge.”
“I’m on it,” Nancy promised. “But I won’t lose my place in this conversation. We’ll pick it up later.”
Laura sighed as Nancy left. Her life in Serenity was suddenly a whole lot more complicated than it had been in all of the past ten years rolled into one.
Before she could get too anxious about how that had happened, there was a crisis with the sound system that had her scurrying off to locate Ronnie Sullivan. There were more crises after that, but by ten o’clock all the booths were open, Ty and his baseball buddies were signing autographs for a long line of fans, and people were walking around already with funnel cakes, apple cider and even hot dogs.
“I think we have a major success on our hands,” Sarah McDonald said when she found Laura taking a break on the bleachers. “Carter told Raylene that the police are having trouble finding parking spots for everyone who’s driving into town. There’s an actual traffic jam in Serenity, and it’s all because of us!”
“I imagine he didn’t sound half as happy about that as you do,” Laura said, chuckling.
“Probably not,” Sarah said. “He’ll manage. That’s what a good police chief does, and Carter is excellent.”
Laura looked around at the crowds of people. Most seemed to have made purchases at one booth or another. A couple of the jewelry vendors had people lined up three and four deep.
“You know you’ll never get out of doing this festival again,” Sarah teased her. “No one will want to try to top this year’s event.”
“You, Raylene or Annie could easily take it on next year,” Laura said.
“But we like working for you. We don’t have to think. We just have to do what you suggest.”
“You make me sound like some sort of benevolent dictator,” Laura said. “That can’t be good.”
“In this situation, I think the proof of its benefits is staring us in the face. Now I’d better run over to the station and pick up our first group. Travis has them on the air right now, and they’re due to start their performance here at noon.”
“Thanks, Sarah. You guys have been fantastic.”
Minutes later, as she was trying to convince herself it was time to stir and make the rounds again, she saw Misty and Katie on the fringes of the crowd. Misty had that same fearful look in her eyes that Laura had seen far too often at school, as if she’d rather be anywhere but here.
As she watched, Katie leaned closer and said something that almost drew a smile. Then, in a heartbeat, the smile was gone, replaced by utter panic. Laura searched the crowd to see who or what Misty had spotted that had her turning away as if to flee.
It wasn’t that difficult to pinpoint the problem. Annabelle Litchfield, Trish Peterson and two other girls from school were heading in Misty’s direction. Laura watched as Katie Townsend stood her ground, looking them in the eye and all but daring them to come closer.
Laura was on her feet at once. She forced herself to stroll casually in their direction, ready to intervene if there was so much as a hint of confrontation.
“Hey, slut, how come you’re not shacked up with some boy today?” Annabelle called out loudly, clearly intending her remark to be overheard. “Have they all figured out just how lousy you are in bed?”
Laura froze in place for an instant at the ugliness of the taunt. She’d heard way too many comments along that line years ago when word of her pregnancy spread through her school. Suddenly she was that
