Someone opened his passenger door and Philly stood in front of him with her hands on her hips, glaring up at him. “I am not a baby!”
He reached out and, like a child, Philly eagerly climbed into his arms. “Sure you’re not a baby.” She smelled like one—baby lotion from the pink bottle, to be exact.
“It’s just make-believe, Uncle Stephen,” Kimber said, patting Philly on the back. “Soap and elbow grease.”
“I don’t like the idea.”
* * *
Inside the walls of the county fair, a wave of screams shattered the air. Metal wheels screeched through the daylight, and the shadows of the fast-flying cars zipped through the air and circled into a loop with another wave of screams.
Nate rolled his neck around. “Can we go inside the gates now?”
“Yeah, everyone is staring at us.” Kimber popped her pink bubble gum against her back teeth while she looked up from her turquoise cell phone.
Stephen’s brows furrowed together. He was sure he’d taken away a phone earlier this week that was pink and then purple. Was he going crazy?
“Marvin is waiting by the corn-dog stand,” Kimber informed them.
Stephen didn’t give a flying flip where Marvin was. Instead of saying something rude, he tightened his hold on Philly and tightened his smile. “Well if he’s waiting...” he said sarcastically.
“Uncle Stephen,” Kimber said in a warning voice. “You promised.”
“Yeah, Uncle Stephen,” Nate mocked with a wink, “you promised.”
He couldn’t make any guarantees. Maybe since he’d done one not-so-nice deed today, his time at the fair could be tolerable.
Whatever his mood had been prior to walking through the gates of the county fair, it dissipated the minute he entered. He inhaled deeply and a nostalgic smile spread across his face. It was something about the smells of the fair. Smells of animals, hay, popcorn, elephant ears and other fried inventions mixed throughout the breezy air.
The weather was unusually cool for this time of year. Philly insisted on getting a candy apple before seeing her favorite part of the fair, the animals. The barns were filled with pigs, llamas, goats and other animals that kids could feed by hand for only a quarter’s worth of carrots. Stephen fed the zebra caged in the corner, while Kimber pretended not to be interested but held control over the plastic Baggie of veggies.
Stephen let the five-year-old dictate where they would go for the late afternoon. Gnats clung to the humid Southern air. Employees taunted fair patrons, challenging them to win prizes. Not able to resist his basketball skills being tested, Stephen played a few rounds and won an oversize Scooby-Doo dog. Kimber’s friend, Marvin, met up with them. The tall, lanky boy, with his thick Coke-bottle glasses and a mouth full of metal braces, smiled. Kimber is too good for him, he thought defensively. But on the positive note, a guy like him would be easy to intimidate, which he had to do the few times Marvin and Kimber held hands.
Ah, to be young and in like. Him being “so old,” as Kimber called him, he barely remembered the days when he looked forward to spending time with his high school crush. “Dang, bro,” Nate said, snapping his fingers in Stephen’s face. “You going soft on me?”
“What?” Stephen said, checking his phone as it buzzed. He chalked up Mr. Foxx’s all-caps message to unfamiliarity with electronic mail. The keys would be delivered to the house in the morning.
“Whatever.” Nate nodded. “What’s got you smiling, then?”
“I made a business transaction.”
“So soon?” Nate’s voice and brows went up.
“We’ve been here for six months,” Stephen reminded him. “I can’t work out of my bedroom forever.”
“At least this way you’ll get out of the house and start meeting people, meet you a nice woman.”
“Not interested in any women from this town,” he said. The image of Lexi flashed through his mind, causing him to envision her hips swaying to the salsa beat on the dance floor or in his bed.
They continued their trip around the fair. Stephen reluctantly purchased the young couple a pair of unlimited passes and gave them one hour to meet back at the tent for Philly’s pageant. Philly bossed her way around, holding both their hands so she could dangle and swing her legs. Stephen offered to get her another corn dog when Nate stepped in and vetoed him.
“She’ll be too sick to perform tonight.” Nate looked down and tweaked Philly’s nose. “And you’re going to be a rock star tonight, aren’t you?”
Philly smiled brightly. “I’m gonna rock!”
Stephen tried to keep his upper lip from curling. “Seriously, Nate, a toddler pageant?”
“What?”
“Is this why you guys had me watching those stupid reality shows?”
“Philly enjoyed the workshops last month.”
The picture of one pageant queen in particular popped into his mind. All this beauty talk forced her image in his mind. Southern belles were quiet and demure. She was loud, flamboyant and obnoxious to say the least. Stephen’s anger worked him up all over again. Irritated, he talked himself into being glad he’d bought the property next door.
“You’ve got an evil grin again,” Nate noted.
Stephen shook his head. “This time it is a woman.”
“So you agree this beauty pageant workshop is a good way to meet women?”
Maybe that was exactly what Stephen needed, a woman. It had been six months since he last went on a date.
Oblivious to the grown-up part of the conversation, Philly tugged on Stephen’s right hand. “If I do real good today, I get to compete in the next pageant where you used to live.”
“Where I lived?” Stephen kneeled down to her level.
She beamed at him, batting her long lashes. “Yep,” she answered proudly, “the winner today gets a big trophy and a trip.”
“And if Uncle Nate is lucky,” Nate chimed in, “Philly will share her prize with him.”
Stephen straightened to his full height and ignored the pain in his knees. What prize did Uncle Nate think he was going to get out of this?
“A dress!” Philly jumped excitedly. “I get a new dress and I get a personal coach until the big pageant.”
Off in the distance, Stephen’s eyes narrowed on a long gold Cadillac behind the pageant building. He’d seen the car earlier today and had wondered who owned the old-lady car. While Stephen craned his neck, Nate pumped Philly up with encouragment. He held her by the arms and she swung her around in the air. Philly’s legs accidentally kicked Stephen in the process just as he locked eyes with Lexi Pendergrass.
“I get to wear a dress from Grits and Glam Gowns!”
The words sank into Stephen’s brain. As she sang the name of the dress shop, Stephen swore he’d heard wrong. “What?”
“Grits and Glam Gowns,” Nate provided, “is my part of the prize. When Philly wins tonight, she’ll get more lessons from the one-and-only Lexi Pendergrass. Man, Stephen, you ought to meet her.”
His brother practically drooled. Stephen began to shake his head. “We’ve met.”
“When? You’ve barely left the house since we came down here.”
“She’s the one who sold Kimber the dress,” Stephen said quickly as Nate’s words slowed down. Taking in