Chapter Twelve
Bex wantedto hate Michael for the position he’d put her in, but he was so unfairly handsome in jeans and a jacket, his cheeks flushed from the cold, and so adorably unsure of himself as they traveled to the fair that she couldn’t help but be charmed. She parked at the end of a line of cars opposite the Glamping Ground and handed Izzy a zip-up sweater.
“But Mum,” she protested, “it will cover Elsa.”
“If you keep it open just a little, everyone will still be able to see your dress,” Bex assured her. She rolled her eyes at Michael. “She’s a real prima donna, this one.”
Her daughter chimed in with, “Mum says I’m a deee-vah.”
Michael chuckled, but didn’t seem to know how to respond, so she saved him by shoving the door open and giving Izzy the okay to leave the car. They weren’t able to see much of the fair behind the parked cars and native shrubs and flaxes that spotted the area, but soft music trickled out onto the street, as did the sound of children laughing.
“Have you been here before?” she asked Michael as they held hands with Izzy to cross the road.
He glanced over and smiled at her, sending a flurry of butterflies flitting through her insides. Did he have to be so darned gorgeous, with his deep blue eyes, dark lashes and pink cheeks? If he wasn’t Izzy’s uncle, she’d want to eat him up.
“No. I’ve only driven past. It’s all new to me.”
“Me and Mum stayed here one time,” Izzy said, swinging their arms together between them. “We had marshmallows and played games. It was the best.”
“I bet it was. Do you think you could show me around?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Bex’s heart squeezed.Do not get attached to him, she told it.He’s the enemy. But the stupid organ didn’t believe that any more than her hormones did.
She looked around as they made their way into the thick of things. The owners of the Glamping Ground had outdone themselves. Tipi tents and glamping pods with stalls housed inside them were scattered among the vegetation and decked out with lights, pine cones, white candles, and other decorations to give it the feel of a rustic fairy glen. They passed a stall selling freshly baked bread and butterfly cakes and another with a range of scented tealight candles on display. Izzy took her hand and dragged her into a tent with racks of tutus and fairy wings in dozens of different colors. Fake snow littered the floor. Haven Bay had never seen actual snow because the town was right at sea level. Even now, Bex could hear waves just beyond the site.
Izzy grabbed a purple tutu and held it to her waist, eyes wide. “It’s so pretty!” She beamed at the woman sitting in the corner, whom Bex didn’t recognize. She must have come from out of town. “Can I have it?”
Bex laughed. “You have thirty dollars to spend, honey. If you still want it later, we can come back, but you might see something else you like better.”
Izzy turned to the vendor. “Will you be here later?”
The woman smiled. “Right up until the fair ends.”
“Good.” Izzy handed the tutu to Bex, slipped her hand into Michael’s and tugged him toward the exit. He cast a nervous glance in Bex’s direction, and she returned the tutu and hurried after them. “This is where the tents usually are,” Izzy told him, taking her duty as tour guide seriously. “But everyone leaves in winter.”
“Where do they go?” he asked, and his earnest expression punched Bex right in the ovaries.
“Mum says they go home. I don’t know where their home is. Ooh!” Her eyes lit up, and Bex followed her gaze to find Lian and her parents standing beside a bouncy castle. “Mum, can I go with Lian?”
“Go on, then.”
Izzy raced over to Lian, and the two of them bounded onto the bouncy castle, giggling and holding onto each other. Bex waved at Lian’s parents.
“Come on,” she said to Michael. “Let’s introduce you to some of the locals.”
They crossed over to Lian’s parents.
“Hey there,” she said to Lian’s mother, Zhang Jing, whose husband had turned to keep an eye on the girls.
“Hi, Bex,” Zhang Jing replied, inclining her head toward Michael and giving Bex a meaningful look. The kind that said “girl, that man is fine.” Bex nodded and waggled her eyebrows to show she understood. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Michael Briggston, the new school principal.”
Michael offered her a hand, and Zhang Jing shook it, smiling like he was the most fascinating thing she’d seen all day. “It’s so nice to meet you, Michael. I’m Zhang Jing, Lian’s mother. She’s told me a lot about you.”
Except, apparently, how sexy he was. Bex feigned a yawn to hide her twitching lips, which wanted to break into laughter.