I finished spreading the suntan lotion on my face. Outside, the sky was clear blue and the sun was hot. There was no shade around the fountain, unless of course I stood in Fynn's tall, hunky shadow. Only standing too close to him wouldn't give much relief from the heat.

The day before, when we'd stood on the bank of the river and he touched my lips, I was sure I could hear his pulse over the roar of the water. I know I could hear mine. But there was no kiss to break the tension that was building between us. I was disappointed but I think I understood why it never happened.

I pulled out a rubber band and combed my hair up into a ponytail. This time I stopped to put on some mascara and pink lip gloss. I was just cleaning a fountain, but as my mom always said when she got shined up for a trip to the market—'a woman should never look frumpy because you never know who you might run into in town'. The poor, delusional woman was always somehow convinced that George Clooney or Brad Pitt might make a quick pit stop in Butterfield on their way to some more exotic place. So far no sign of George or Brad or any other person of note. At least not until now.

I shot out into the hallway and nearly slammed into my dad.

"Whoa there, Kitten, where are you off to? I thought it was your day off. I expected you to sleep until noon."

"I'm heading out to meet a friend at the park."

His brows twitched as his dad radar kicked in, just like it did when I was a slightly wild teen. Like my mom, he, too, had a hard time absorbing the fact that I was twenty-three and not ten.

"Ella, are you meeting that man with the tattoos? We don't know anything about him."

"I do. He grew up on a farm where his grandfather taught him how to fix things. He plays guitar like a rock star and he has an adorable dog. Any of those traits make him sound unsavory? Because we are no longer living in the twentieth century so ink doesn't count."

His cheek crinkled up with a wry smile. "You should have been a lawyer. Hey, are you sure you'll be all right here all alone next week? I could stay home."

"Dad, are you using me to get out of a visit to Aunt Cherise's house?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But you know I don't like leaving you here alone."

"In the middle of a town where everyone knows when I got my first training bra and when I learned to ride a bicycle? I think I'll be fine. It's like having the biggest damn extended family around me at all times. Some of them are the kind of family members that you can't wait to see head out the door on Thanksgiving." I patted his chest as I kissed him. "And don't take this the wrong way, Dad, but I'm looking sooo forward to having the house to myself."

"The wrong way? I think there's really only one way to take it. You're tired of us. Have fun today."

"I plan to." I sidled past him in the narrow hallway and headed out the back door to the garage. I had learned to drive in high school. My dad insisted that teaching me how to turn right had given him every gray hair on his head. After finally getting my license, I discovered that I hated driving. I hated being in control of a big moving vehicle. I had no idea where the profound dislike had come from. I considered the possibility that it was because of the crash. For months after the accident, I woke up in a sweat and sick from bad dreams. As hard as I tried not to think about it, I couldn't stop imagining the horror that Ethan had faced as the bus rolled down the embankment. I hadn't been there, yet I could hear the screams of my classmates in my nightmares, and they always sounded so real. On that fateful day, I had been so sick, I slept through the whole day. I woke the next day from fevered dreams and realized something terrible had happened. My head was pounding, my throat was still sore and I couldn't focus. Nothing was clear. I was close to delirious. Mom had told me it was the fever. They didn't tell me the news until two days later.

I climbed on my bike, pedaled down the road and turned onto Main Street. In the distance, I could see Fynn's dark head towering over Mayor Fran and her husband, Richard. My heart sank. Had Brent actually talked them into stopping Fynn's progress on the fountain?

I stood over my pedals and picked up the pace. I was going to add in my own side of the argument to let him finish. But a block before I reached the park, I noticed everyone was smiling. Fynn's was brightest of all. Richard Carson was helping him pull a hose up to the fountain. They weren't telling him to leave. They were helping him.

Boone trotted over to greet me as I reached the park. I pulled the chew bone I'd bought him out of my pocket. He took it and ran over to the shade to enjoy it.

The wide brim of Fran's hat lifted as she waved at me. "Morning, Ella. Isn't it your day off? Shouldn't you still be in bed?" she quipped, adding weight to the earlier argument I'd made to my dad.

I climbed off my bike and caught a secret wink from Fynn as he unraveled the hose. How could anyone make a simple wink look that good.

"I get up early on my days off, Fran," I insisted, even knowing it was utter baloney. "I'm here to help with the fountain."

"That's wonderful. Fynn is doing a great job," Fran said in her polished politician's tone.

Richard led Fynn over to the secret panel that was hidden in the base of the pavilion and that everyone in town knew about making it the least secretive secret panel in the world. The panel held the switches for the sprinklers, the lights and the pump for the fountain.

Fran took the opportunity to sidle up next to me. She dropped the polished tone and skittered into more of a giddy girl talk tone. "Oh my, what a charming man. Just look at Richard. He's smiling and being unusually gracious. I mean Fynn is a virtual stranger, and Richard is showing him where the secret panel is located. Richard never trusts anyone. He still thinks Everett, the mailman is keeping our coupons for himself, and he's known Everett his whole life."

We both watched as the two men stood over the open panel, deep in a serious conversation, as if they were looking at the nuclear launch buttons.

Fran laughed. "I'm sure Richard is giving the poor boy the entire list of directions for operating the panel, even though on and off is all you need to know. Still, it's nice to see Richard take an interest in the fountain." Fran tilted her head and reached back to hold her wide brim hat on her head in the morning breeze. "It would be nice, wouldn't it? To see this old thing up and running again. I've been wanting to add it to the town agenda for a long time, but I wasn't sure if . . ." Her words trailed off. Fran was always worried about hurting the feelings of first degree townsfolk like me.

I placed my hand on her arm. "I'm with you, Fran. I'd love to see those stone horses spitting water again."

Fran smiled weakly and patted the top of my hand. "By the way, Patty is having such a hard time. Poor thing. I keep telling her she should consider those anxiety pills the doctor gave her, but she seems to think that she'll get past her problem without medication."

"I've told her the same thing, but she's going to have to decide that on her own."

Richard and Fynn walked back toward the fountain.

"Well, we've got to get going. Richard is driving me into Langston for a new pair of shoes. The man spoils me like a princess."

"And you love it, just like a princess."

"So true."

Richard and Fran headed to their car.

I glanced over at Fynn. "You do realize now that you can't leave this town until that fountain is spurting water like a geyser?"

"Yep, I think I just figured that out. I guess we should get started." Fynn's eyes dropped down to my jean cut-offs and sandals.

"Am I dressed all right for the task?" I asked, as it seemed his attention had stayed there longer than necessary.

"Dressed? Oh, yeah sure."

"You were checking out my legs, weren't you?"

He nodded. "Sure as hell was, and let me just say, I approve."

"That's good because I don't really have a spare pair. What do you need me to do?"

Fynn walked over to a bucket and pulled out a scrub brush. "If you want to start tackling some of the algae, I can get to work unclogging the spouts."

I took hold of the brush. "I guess I can start with Chip, Igor and Prancer."

"Chip, Igor and Prancer?" His smile widened, and I was sure I would never again in my whole life see a smile to rival Fynn's.

"That's what I said. Named them myself." I sat on the edge of the fountain and made a show of swinging my legs over the side. I climbed into the base and walked over to the first horse. I pointed to its damaged ear. "Chip lost a chunk of his ear when Troy Howe threw a baseball and it hit the fountain and poor Chip. Although, he wasn't Chip before the baseball. He was just Horse Facing Jackson Road, which is sort of a long name."

"Why didn't you just name him Jackson?"

I tilted my head back and forth in consideration. "Never thought of that, but now Chip works better." I walked to the second horse. "Igor has kind of a bulgy eye on this side, so Igor . . . of course." I patted the stone horse's head. "Poor guy." I stepped to the third horse. "This was Horse Facing Pond, but during one winter carnival, a massive piece of silver tinsel flew off the pavilion and landed on its neck so, naturally, Prancer."

"Naturally, except Rudolph maybe?"

"Huh, never thought of that. But I think the red nose is a requirement for Rudolph."

Fynn walked up to the edge of the fountain and peered up at me, proving my prediction that the man would look good from any angle. "Have I mentioned that you are fucking adorable?"

I tapped my chin. "Hmm, nope, you haven't. You mentioned the blue eyes and the legs but I don't think I've heard the phrase fucking adorable yet. So please feel free."

"O.K.." He climbed into the fountain. He stood just inches from me, and I hoped this was that kiss I'd been waiting for. He lifted my chin with the side of his finger, and he brought his mouth so close to mine, I could feel his warm breath on my skin. His dark lashes draped over his eyes as he took a moment to gaze appreciatively at my lips. Then his gaze lifted to mine and he held my eyes with his for a long, hot moment.

"Ella, you are fucking adorable. And very soon, I'm going to kiss these perfect pink lips. When it happens, I promise it's going to be an amazing, blown off your feet, fireworks in the fucking sky kind of kiss because that is the only kind of kiss you deserve."

He lowered his arm and climbed back out of the fountain.

It took me a few seconds to recover and then I turned to Chip with my scrub brush in hand and a slight wobble in my knees.