Walking past the boulevard lined with hucksters calling for patrons to step up and try their “luck” at the decidedly rigged carnival games, she felt eyes on the back of her head. Pausing, she pulled out her compact. It had been her grandmother’s once, but she had filled it with her own special rouge. It’s mirror sent light dancing over her skin but in it she could see the man behind her left shoulder. He was talking to a buddy, but his eyes kept drifting to her waist and her bare shoulders. There was something about his gaze that was picking at the back of her mind, but the more she searched her mind the further it slipped away. Mentally shrugging she dug in her purse for lipstick- American Beauty, her signature color. Checking the mirror once more, she slipped her things back into her purse and continued her slow walk down the avenue. A man leaned against a display of oversized stuffed bears in front of a wall of targets, water guns waiting at the ready in front of him.
“Wanna play sweetheart?”
“Oh... no. Thank you but I’m terrible.” She was about to walk away on when a voice behind her made her pause.
“I’ll play for you, if you keep the prize.” Turning she saw her mystery man, up close his blue eyes were softer grey and she could see the threads wearing at the edge of his green cap.
“That doesn’t seem hardly fair!”
“Sure it is. I got no use for a bear this big, but I been looking for a reason to show off for my buddies all afternoon. I win, you carry the bear and I can tell all of them I talked to a beautiful girl. Even trade.” There was something about him that made her want to stop, but she was already in too deep. She knew it the moment he spoke.
“All right then, swell.” Grinning he hunkered down over the gin and waited for the attendant to half heartedly call for a challenger to
“STEP RIGHT UP, STEP RIGHT UP.” At the sound of the buzzer the water made the little stuffed animals on their tracks climb higher and higher, until her champions hit the top rung as she knew it would. It was easy to pick a winner once you had been around for a while, and this guy may be a loser at any other place in the world but he was a winner when he was at the county fair. Grinning, her let her pick her prize- not an overstuffed bear but a soft little lamb that was looking neglected next to its gargantuan shelf mates. Thanking him, she turned to walk away but he caught her arm.
“Hey, you gotta boyfriend?” She felt color rising in her cheeks, somehow The straight forward nature of the question made her insides squirm. Romance is not what it used to be.
“No, I haven’t had a beau in some time actually.”
“Well then, mind if I walk with you?”
“Sure, is your friends don’t mind.” He grinned, it was a little lopsided but no less charming.
“The guys are drinking bud over at the tent, they don’t know which was is heaven and which way is hell, let alone what I get up to.” They set off around the edge of the midway, he was careful to match his pace to her high wedge sandals.
“I haven’t seen your around here before. Did you come down from the city or are you just passing through?”
“Oh, I won’t be in town long. Just a couple days- but everyone told me I had to come down here, I guess there’s a tractor pull later that everyone’s excited about.” She knew by looking at him now that she had him. His eyes lit up and she could see actual excitement in his smile.
“Yes ma’am, my cousins organizing it. Been a family tradition now since right after World War 2, my great uncle started it.”
“Well then I guess I’ll have to stay and watch, mustn’t I?”
“Oh, I won’t be in town long. Just a couple days- but everyone told me I had to come down here, I guess there’s a tractor pull later that everyone’s excited about.” She knew by looking at him now that she had him. His eyes lit up and she could see actual excitement in his smile.
“Yes ma’am, my cousins organizing it. Been a family tradition now since right after World War 2, my great uncle started it.”
“Well then I guess I’ll have to stay and watch, mustn’t I?”
“I sure hope you do.” A crowd of teens swept past, girls in jean shorts- could they rightly be called shorts she wondered? Young men in shirts proclaiming their high school graduation year. They were near the food tents now, and she could tell that the pull of his friends and beer was getting stronger. She stepped in close enough to smell his musk, it was hot and still somehow he smelled like pine and hay and all sorts of nice things.
“I better let you get back to your friends, but I would love to see you later if you don’t mind.” She was looking right up into his eyes now, she could tell that having her so close tilting her head up to his was causing him an internal battle. The beer won, as she knew it would.
“I sure as heck don’t mind. See you around six? I’ll be at the west gate of the grandstand.”
“I can’t wait.” She walked away, weaving through the crowd and feeling his eyes on her back.
She had him.
“I better let you get back to your friends, but I would love to see you later if you don’t mind.” She was looking right up into his eyes now, she could tell that having her so close tilting her head up to his was causing him an internal battle. The beer won, as she knew it would.
“I sure as heck don’t mind. See you around six? I’ll be at the west gate of the grandstand.”
“I can’t wait.” She walked away, weaving through the crowd and feeling his eyes on her back.
She had him.
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