GINA WILKINS - The Way To A Soldier's Heart

His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he thought back over these past difficult two years since Charlie died. He had to put his attraction to Elle out of his mind, keep his focus on his family. There was only so much a guy could juggle without taking a risk of having it all crash around his feet.

* * *

THE ANNUAL SHORTY’S LANDING Fall Festival was held that Friday evening at Paradise Park, located only a few blocks from The Perkery. Organized by the Chamber of Commerce and funded by donations from local businesses, the Halloween-themed celebration was always a big hit with both kids and adults. Elle’s parents had brought her every year when she was growing up, and she wanted to do the same for her daughter.

Elle and her mom arrived with Charlotte only a half hour after the official 5:00 p.m. opening, and the event was already in full swing. The festival grounds were packed with kiddie rides, inflatables, games, food vendors and various other family-friendly attractions. Children in an amazing array of costumes sprinted from one trick-or-treat station to another for candy, stickers and other goodies.

Dressed as a kitten with pink-lined cat ears attached to a headband and a fuzzy black tail pinned to her black leotard, Charlotte was wide-eyed as she clutched her plastic pumpkin bucket and took in all the activity. A smudge of pink makeup on the tip of her little nose and eyebrow-penciled whiskers on her chubby cheeks completed the costume. Her proud grandmother privately proclaimed her the most adorable child in the park. Elle couldn’t disagree, though she kept the thought discreetly to herself.

Elle and her mom had also dressed for the holiday. Elle wore a long, thin black robe over her clothes with a witch’s hat headband holding back her hair. Her mom, of course, was a fortune teller in a caftan and turban. Detained frequently for chats with acquaintances, they made their way slowly from one orange-and-black festooned booth to the next. Charlotte happily crowed, “Tricker Treat!” at each stop, earning more than a few “awws” from adults enchanted by her charms.

Reveling in the fun her daughter was having, Elle couldn’t stop smiling. Perhaps there was a little wistfulness when she saw doting fathers with their little ghosts and goblins, but as she listened to her mom and Charlotte giggling together, she told herself she was a very lucky woman, indeed. Whatever feelings she’d once had for her ex were gone now. The jagged cracks in her heart had healed, leaving a few scars but only memories of pain. She had a family she adored and a business she loved; what more could she ask?

One of her most faithful customers waved and called out a greeting from a few yards away, and Elle smiled and waved in return. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Charlotte slipped her hand out of Elle’s loose grasp and made a dash for a colorful fishing-for-prizes booth. Elle spun to give chase. She knew she could catch up before the short-legged two-year-old reached the attraction, but she was surprised when a man stepped into Charlotte’s path to block the escape. With a hitch in her step, Elle identified him immediately. Shane Scanlon—dimples, black jacket and all.

Apparently recognizing Shane, Charlotte crowed happily and dove at him, raising her arms to be picked up. He lifted her high into the air and she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. Shane laughed. Elle heard every female within sight sigh appreciatively at the image of the good-looking man and the sweet little girl smiling at each other. She was fully aware that her own sigh blended with the soft chorus.

Shaking her head to clear it, she moved toward them.

Shane smiled at her. “Look what I caught.”

“So I see. Hello, Shane.”

“Shane,” Charlotte repeated, patting his cheek with a gentle hand.

Elle would have sworn he blushed a bit, and her heart melted a little in response. Careful, Elle.

“Shane.” Her mom approached with a flutter of her vivid orange-and-black-printed caftan, bracelets jingling as she rested a hand familiarly on his arm. “What a nice surprise. Were you looking for us?”

“Actually, I was on my way back from a business meeting when I saw the festivities going on here. I’m staying in the motel just down the street. I didn’t have anything better to do, so I thought I’d stop to check it out. That’s when I caught sight of this runaway kitten.” He bounced the giggling toddler in his arms as he studied Elle’s outfit.

Elle smiled at him. “Nice catch.”

“Nice hat.”

“Thank you.” She reached up automatically to straighten the plastic headband. “Still enjoying your visit to our area?”

“Very much.”

Tugging at Shane’s collar, Charlotte pointed to the game booth where she’d been headed when he’d scooped her up. “Fish!”

He turned his head to look. “The fishing booth? Is that where you were headed?”

She nodded emphatically. “Fish, Shane!”

“You want to catch a fish?”

She bounced again. “Fish!”

Shane looked questioningly at Elle. “Looks like I’m being invited along on your fishing excursion. Do you mind?”

“Of course not.”

Perhaps Shane was feeling a bit lonely in the festive crowd of strangers. He seemed pleased to find familiar faces. Still holding Charlotte, he moved into the line waiting at the game booth where preschoolers could dangle a fishing line over an ocean-painted backboard. Hidden behind the backboard, festival volunteers attached small stuffed toys to the lines with plastic clothespins for the children to “catch.” Because the area was already crowded, Elle and her mother stayed back out of the way, watching from nearby. Elle had her phone in hand to snap a photo as Charlotte obtained her prize.

“Oh, my goodness, how cute is that?” Janet clutched Charlotte’s plastic pumpkin bucket to her heart as she watched Shane help Charlotte grip the toy fishing rod. “Isn’t he adorable?”

Adorable might not have been the word Elle would have chosen to describe Shane—but she couldn’t take issue with it, either. He was cute as he made an exaggerated show of helping Charlotte cast her line over the backboard, drawing a peal of giggles from the child. The man was definitely good with kids.

“You should ask him to dinner while he’s in town. I’d be happy to babysit, of course. Maybe you could take him to Bruno’s tomorrow night.”

Elle resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. “Mom, I’m not going to ask him out.”

“Why not? It’s okay for women to do that, you know.”

“Yes, I know it’s okay, but Shane is only in town for a few days on business. He lives in North Carolina and apparently travels quite a bit. For all I know, he could be leaving town tonight.”

Her mom gave her a look. “Wouldn’t hurt to ask. I have a feeling you and Shane could be just right for each other. I could tell the first time I touched him that he’s a fine, upstanding young man.”

Elle didn’t bother to point out that her mother had thought the same about Glenn. They’d both been fooled by Glenn’s practiced smiles and deliberately chosen words. Needless to say, Elle wasn’t placing a lot of faith in her mom’s newest “prediction.”

Shane toted Charlotte over to them then. Charlotte gleefully gripped a small, stuffed black cat in one hand. “Mommy, look! Kitty!”

Had it been merely coincidence that the child’s prize matched her costume? Or had the volunteer peeked around the backboard before attaching the toy to the clip on the end of the fishing line? Elle suspected the latter.

She slipped her phone in her pocket and reached for her daughter. “That’s a beautiful kitty, Charlotte. Say ‘thank you’ to Shane for helping you at the fishing booth.”