“Sure. You guys going?” He looked from her to Kody.
“Why not?” Kody responded for them both.
They walked toward the field that had been set up as a relay course. A crowd was already lining up along each side of the area marked with lanes.
“The first race is the egg carry. Children only. Get your spoon and egg and line up.”
All three of the kids wanted to participate.
Jared and Olivia were in lanes next to each other. Ross stood behind them. Lucy, with Kody doing the same, was in the lane next to them. Sally stood on the sidelines to cheer them on. The children put the handle of a plastic spoon in their mouth and sat the boiled egg in the other end.
The man said, “You have to go down and around the barrel with the egg in the spoon. First one back wins. Go on three. One, two, three.”
The children took off. Olivia only made it a short distance before her egg fell out. She hurried to pick it up and place it in the spoon again. Lucy and Jared were already at the barrel. Not getting far, Olivia lost hers again. She looked at Ross, her face twisted as if she was about to sob.
With what looked like no hesitation, Ross hurried to her. He went down on one knee and said something to Olivia. He offered her the spoon. She looked unsure but placed it in her mouth. Ross added the egg, then wrapped his arms around Olivia’s waist and lifted her. He walked with a slow steady pace toward the barrel. Sally’s heart expanded. Ross Lawson was a good uncle. They were way behind the others but the crowd cheered as Ross and Olivia rounded the barrel and headed for the finish line.
They were the last to cross the line but the people acted as if she was the first. Ross placed Olivia’s feet on the ground and went down on a knee. The little girl dropped her spoon and egg, and turned around, beaming at Ross. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. What could have been a horrible memory for his niece, Ross had turned into one of joy.
Ross and Olivia joined their little group once more and they watched more of the races, cheering on people they knew.
A little while later the man with the microphone said, “Okay, it’s time for the three-legged race. We’re going to do something a little different this year to start out with. We need a male and female to represent each fire station. We’re going to have a little friendly house-to-house competition. Pick your partner, and come to the line.”
“Uncle Ross, you and Sally need to go,” Jared said.
“Yeah, you need to,” the girls agreed.
“I don’t think so.” Sally looked around for an excuse not to participate. She received no help from Kody, who just grinned at her.
“Someone does need to represent our station.” Ross studied her.
“Go, Aunt Sally.” Lucy gave her a little push.
She returned Ross’s assessing look. Surely he wouldn’t want to do it.
He said with far more enthusiasm than she felt, “Come on. Let’s win this thing.”
It figured Ross was competitive.
They hurried to a lane. Ross quickly tied the strip of cloth lying on the ground around their ankles. The entire time she tried not to touch him any more than necessary. She wasn’t very successful. They met all the way up the length of their legs. Her nerves went into a frenzy when Ross’s arm came around her waist. He felt so solid and secure. What was going on with her?
“Put your arm around me,” Ross commanded.
With heart thumping harder than normal, Sally did as he requested. Her fingers clutched his shirt.
“Not my shirt, me.” His words were teasing almost, but demanding, drawing her gaze to his face, which was fierce with concentration and determination. She bit back a laugh as her fingers gripped the well-founded muscle of his side.
“You really do want to win?” she murmured.
He glanced at her with disbelief. “Don’t you? We start with our outside leg. You ready?”
“Uh, yeah?” She wanted to run for her car.
The man asked, “Runners ready?”
“Okay, here we go.” Ross’s voice was intense.
“Go!” the man said.
Ross called, “Outside, inside…”
They were on their way. He was matching the length of his stride to hers. Ross continued to keep the cadence as they hurried up the lane. She tried to concentrate on what they were doing but the physical contact kept slipping in to ruin it. When she tripped, his grip on her waist tightened.
“Outside, inside…” He helped her to get back in sync.
As they made the turn around the barrel, he lifted her against his body as if she weighed nothing. After they had swung around, he let her down and said, “Inside.”
Her fingertips dug into his side. Ross grunted, but didn’t slow down. His ribs must still be tender. She eased her grip and concentrated on their rhythm again.
The crowd yelled and Ross held her tighter, plastering her against him. They picked up speed.
Between breaths Ross said, “Come on, we’re almost there.”
Sally put all the effort she had into walking fast. They were near the line when Ross lifted her again and swung her forward with him. The crowd roared as they crossed the finish line. They stumbled hard and went down. Ross landed over her. They were a tangle of arms and legs and laughter.
Ross’s breath was hot against her cheek. Her hands were fanned out across his chest. His arms were under her as if he had tried to protect her from the fall. As he looked at her, his eyes held a flicker of masculine awareness. Her stomach fluttered with a feminine response.
“Stay still. I’ll untie us.” His breath brushed over her lips.
“Well, folks, that was a close one,” the man said.
“Aunt Sally, you won! You won!” Lucy’s voice came from above her.
“We did?” she grunted as she and Ross worked to untangle themselves from each other.
Ross finally released their legs and stood. He had that beautiful smile on his face again as he offered her a hand. She put hers in his. He pulled her up into his arms and swung her around. “We sure did!”
“Oh.” Her arms wrapped around his neck as she hung on. Just as quickly, he let her go. It took her a moment to regain her balance.
Lucy hugged her and Kody slapped Ross on the back. Jared and Olivia circled them, jumping up and down.
“You were great.” Ross grinned at her with satisfaction.
She brushed herself off. “Thanks. You did most of the work.”
“Okay, everyone,” the man said. “There’s ice cream for everyone before we have the stations’ tug-of-war events.”
“I don’t know about you guys but I think Sal and I earned some ice cream,” Ross said to their group.
“It’s Sally, Uncle Ross,” Olivia corrected him.
Ross looked at her. “Sally and I, then.”
“I’ve always called her Sweet Pea,” Kody quipped.
Sally groaned.
Ross glanced at her and beamed mischievously.
Sally started walking. The three kids joined her. She might never live this day down.
Ross