He draped an arm over her shoulder. “Think of it this way. She did the same to everyone else. Just imagine what they have had to do.”
Anna tilted her head, biting her lower lip for a moment, and then a slow smile crossed her face. “It’s not quite enough, but it’ll do. Okay, let’s get this over with. Least embarrassing animal.”
“I’m getting the dragon.” He strode ahead as quickly as possible, circling the ride to get to the dragon.
She slowly followed, muttering under her breath, “Of course you are. Nothing inconspicuous for you.”
By the time she had caught up to him, he was triumphant on the dragon while the only thing remaining was a hippo next to him or a white horse on his other side. No competition there. She climbed on the white horse, thanking God it was close to the inner wall where no one could see her, blocked by the dragon and the hippo on the outer edges.
The rest of the critters were quickly filled, except for the hippo. Finally, a little girl, about six years old, came walking around and her face took in the white horse and lit up, then fell when she saw someone was on it. She then saw the hippo’s empty saddle and her shoulders slumped. She glanced up at her father, who nodded and lifted her onto the creature. Her lower lip quivered, but she picked up the reins halfheartedly.
Anna bit her lip and sighed. “Excuse me? I’m sorry. I’m scared of horses, and I like hippos. Would you mind switching with me?”
The little girl smiled, and she glanced at her father, who nodded carefully and helped her down. They quickly switched before the ride started, Anna now on the hippo and on the outside for the whole carnival audience to see. But somehow it didn’t matter. The smile and laughter from the young girl was worth it.
Wyatt leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I think you’re her new hero.”
A camera flashed as she whirled by, but Anna didn’t care. As she learned in the funhouse, it didn’t matter what people posted; they were going to interpret it however they wanted. She couldn’t control it all, no matter what she did. Instead, she did the right thing and would enjoy her night.
Finally, the ride slowed to a stop, and the little girl hopped off her ride. She came around and walked over to Anna, tapping her on the leg. Anna squatted and the little girl hugged her. “Thank you for letting me ride the horse. I know he didn’t scare you. He was a nice horse.”
Anna smiled and hugged her back. Yup, it was worth it.
Chapter Ten
Wyatt took Anna’s hand after the ride, and they started walking toward the game section. They had to win a prize, and this was his wheelhouse. Anna was suspiciously quiet since the ride, and he was proud of her. He could only imagine how difficult it was to swallow her pride, ride a hippo and expose herself on the outer edges of the carousel. She had been recognized; she couldn’t have missed the people talking about her. Even he had heard the whispers while they stood in line. Despite her casual clothes, she still stood out in the crowd. He only hoped none of this would backfire in her face, create a further problem for her in her career.
They finally stopped at one of the games, where one knocked down three milk bottles. The game was rigged, but he was a former quarterback. He could overcome a little sand in the bottles or whatever they did. Five tickets later, and a rapidly decreasing budget, the milk bottles remained standing. He cursed under his breath, then noticed Anna was no longer standing next to him. He glanced around and saw her over by a punching bag, watching a group of college guys punch the bag and barely registering a score anywhere near the score for a prize.
Finally, they finished, and she stepped up and handed her ticket. The guys hooted but gave her room. She considered the bag, cocked her arm and let her fist fly, slamming into the bag, sending it upward against the top support. Bells and whistles rang out, and the attendant laughed, while the college guys were stunned into silence.
“You won! Pick your prize.” She grabbed a white horse and walked over to him, the guys yelling at the attendant about the game being rigged.
She handed the horse to him. “For the next time, you want to ride to someone’s rescue.”
He burst out laughing and followed her away from the games.
* * *
The last item was one Anna had hoped to avoid. They had scoured the carnival, but not a single playbill for the upcoming production ofBye, Bye Birdiewas in evidence. There were plenty of flyers advertising the show, but Caroline had been oddly specific on what she wanted. Cast and crew names and bios. Advertisers. Playhouse information. Show production details. Karen always made sure her productions looked as professional as possible, and her biggest piece of advice to Anna was to always act like she wanted to be treated. But this was why Karen’s programs for summer youth and her community theaters were always in high demand by actors. Everyone wanted to learn from her and soak in the professionalism that she embodied.
It was also the reason Anna dreaded seeing her.
Anna wasn’t ready to see her mentor’s reaction to her latest fiasco. Karen had been such a guiding force in her life. Anna always had visions of coming back to Whitby with an award, maybe an Oscar or even a Golden Globe, triumphant and riding the wave of popularity. Instead, she was slinking into town, praying no one saw her.
Right now, they had a choice to make. Admit defeat or take a chance on going to the Playhouse itself for the playbill and risk seeing Karen. Wyatt wasn’t saying anything, just leaning against the wall, ripping into a big cloud of cotton candy, waiting for her to come to the same realization about their options. If she wasn’t so damned competitive, she’d avoid it completely. But Delaney would love to give her that lamp, and there was no way she was displaying that anywhere in her house, not even for a minute. Her decorator would have a fit.
Wyatt tore off a big piece of pink fluff and held it up to her mouth. She shook her head, turning away. “No, I can’t afford the calories. As it is, I’m going to have to run extra miles tomorrow.”
His fingers followed her and tucked the piece into her mouth. “You need the sweetness more. Get rid of all of that sour, bitter apple mood you have going on.”
The sugar exploded in her mouth, and she moaned, closing her eyes to savor the rush. “God, that tastes amazing. I can’t remember the last time I had cotton candy.”
She opened her eyes to see Wyatt staring at her mouth, a banked heat smoldering in his eyes. She shivered, an answering flush of arousal igniting deep inside. How long had it been since she’d felt that? Maybe as long as she’d had cotton candy.
He pushed off the wall and popped another chunk of the airy confection in his mouth, holding the stick out to her, a challenging glint in his eyes. She hesitated, then shrugged. “What the heck. I’ll be running half the day already.”
They quickly finished the rest of the cotton candy, and she stared at her pink, sugar crusted fingers. “Napkins?” She wiggled her fingers at him, eyebrow arched.