“You could ride with Gracie and I could ride with Lisa and we’d be together, but not side by side,” Waylon drawled.

“And I bet if we were really good at matchmaking we could get Jamie and Paul to ride together,” Kate said.

“Hattie would be so proud of you in this moment.” Waylon chuckled and then grew serious. “Trust me, Kate. I’m doing everything I can possibly do to clear your name.”

“Let’s go ride the Ferris wheel, Kate.” Gracie grabbed her hand and tugged. “Mama says each kid has to have an adult.”

“Well, in that case, you think I could ride with Lisa?” Waylon asked.

“And I could ride with Gracie.” Kate shot a dirty look over her shoulder at Waylon. Damn, that man could be so frustrating!

“I’m not getting on that thing. Sure as I did, I’d go into premature labor,” Amanda said. “Besides, I see Aunt Ellie and Wanda over there. Hey!” she called out and waved. “I invited them, but I didn’t know if they’d get to come or not. This is great.”

Paul looked over the kids’ heads at Jamie. “Guess that leaves the two of us to ride together.”

“I guess it does.” Jamie smiled.

“What about these three lovely ladies?” Waylon looked back at Aunt Ellie, Mama Rita, and Wanda.

He was smooth, Kate would give him that.

“Wanda and I are going to park right there at that table y’all vacated and eat funnel cakes,” Aunt Ellie said. “And you must be Jamie’s grandma Rita? Want to join us? I bet we can talk Amanda into pulling up a chair with us, since she’s not going on the ride.”

“I outgrew rides years ago. Y’all kids go have a good time and don’t worry about us. We’ll catch up to you later on,” Rita answered.

“Where’s Hattie and Victor?” Gracie tugged on Kate’s hand.

“They are already in line,” Kate answered. “Are we ready to go?”

Kate and Gracie had reached the front of the line when the old fellow running it opened the gates to fill up the wheel again. She grabbed the money that Waylon had given her and handed it to the man. “This is for the next four seats.”

The man looked at the bill and grinned. “How many times you plannin’ on ridin’?”

“Is there enough for two times?”

“Honey, with fifty dollars, you could ride all day. I’ll make change.” He laughed as he handed her several fives and a few ones.

“Have you ridden one of these before?” Waylon looked up over his shoulder as the music started and the wheel began to move.

“Never,” she said.

When they reached the top, the wheel stopped and the seat swung slightly. Gracie grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Don’t be afraid. I’m right here with you.”

“I’m glad you are, Gracie. Oh, my goodness. Look out there across the town. You can see the edge of the lake.”

Gracie let go of the bar and reached up with both hands. “I can almost touch the clouds.”

Kate held her breath until Gracie’s hands were back on the bar.

Just like your father. Her mother’s voice was back in her head. Fearful of everything, even a cruise ship.

Don’t bring that up. Don’t ever put it in my head again.

Thinking it, even in a mean tone, did not erase the words. That was the very thing that had caused the argument between her and her father the night he’d died. She’d given her parents a seven-day cruise to celebrate their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and he’d told her to get her money back, that there was no way he’d get on a ship like that.

Just like Gracie did not cause her father’s death, you did not cause yours, the voice said. This time it was much gentler, and she smiled as the wheel made another turn and her bucket started back up.

“Your arms are longer than mine,” Gracie yelled. “Hold them up and see if your hands disappear in the clouds.”

Kate let go of her death grip on the bar and reached for the clouds. She didn’t touch them, but there was exhilaration in trying. When the ride stopped, she and Gracie were the last ones to join the group waiting on them.

“Can we go have funnel cakes now?” Gracie asked Jamie.

“Please, Daddy?” Lisa begged.

“I’ve had those already, so I’m going to meander through the other vendors,” Kate said. “If I don’t see you before then, I’ll meet you at the dock for the fishing contest.”

“I’m going to sit right here a little longer and do some people watching,” Amanda announced. “My feet are already starting to swell.”

“See y’all later, then.” Kate took off in long-legged strides to see the rest of the vendors.

Waylon fell in beside her. “Are we through arguing?”

“You overpaid for your half of the flowers,” Kate said.

Victor and Hattie appeared out of the crowd and joined them. Victor had powdered sugar in the corners of his mouth, and Hattie had a huge bear in her arms.

“What flowers? Did you two send those bouquets and balloons? That is so sweet,” Hattie said.

“That is classified information,” Waylon said.

“Too much money appeared in my purse for his half of the classified stuff, so I’m buying us all one of those Indian taco things for lunch,” Kate said.

“Hot damn! I love them things.” Victor patted her on the back. “But first Hattie wants to look through all the geegaws the vendors have on this side of the street.”

“The taco wagon is at the end, so we can eat there and then take in the ones on the other side,” Hattie said.

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Waylon said.

They’d made it halfway down the lineup when Hattie threw a hand across her forehead. “I’m getting too hot and I need something to drink. Victor, cross the street to that Coke place and get me something cold. I don’t care what.”

“I’ll go,” Kate said quickly. “Hattie, you sit right here on the curb in this little bit of shade. Victor, you better stay with her in case this is heatstroke coming on.”

“I’ll go with Kate and help tote the drinks back,” Waylon said.

How did anyone stay mad at him? Or better yet, how did anyone keep information from him when he smiled? No wonder he had such a good record for closing cases. He could talk a priest into revealing what was said in confessional.

Kate positioned herself in the line so she could keep a watch on Hattie. She and Victor were talking. Maybe she was simply tired and thirsty. The sun was broiling hot, and Hattie had been on her feet for a while.

Waylon touched her on the arm. “Are we okay?”

“I hate fighting. It’s all I did with Conrad after that first year.”

She hated saying his name. Would Conrad always stand between her and another relationship or even friendship?

Only if you let him, the voice in her head said, and this time it was her father, not her mother.

“It’s all I did with both of my wives. They hated my work schedule and my paycheck and the apartment we lived in,” Waylon said. “I vowed I’d never go through that again.”

“So did I,” she said.

“I didn’t grow up in a fighting family,” he said. “I had to learn the art of arguing when I got to college.”

She nodded. “I know exactly where you are coming from.”

Her first fight with her roommate had been over keeping the bathroom clean, and they hadn’t spoken to each other for a week afterward. She’d thought at the time that nothing could ever be that awkward and uncomfortable again—little did she know.

“Hey, there’s the rest of your family over there with Hattie and Victor,” Waylon said.

The rest of her family—those words played in a continuous loop through her mind. Not a one of those folks was blood kin, but she cared about them, about their futures, about the baby Amanda was going to have soon and about Gracie’s happiness. Did that make a family?

The hot July breeze whipped her hair around as they moved them up to the window. Waylon pulled out a bill and laid it on the counter.