Addy adjusted the brim of her hat and looked out over the lawn.

The day of the Floatillion had arrived.

As far as her eye could see, there were women in flouncy dresses and men in suits. Hats, gloves and exaggerated courtly behavior abounded. The whole thing looked like it might have been the after party for the extras in a made-for-TV remake of Gone With the Wind.

The lake was studded with beautifully decorated canoe floats. And, as if Mother Nature were in on the party, the sun shone a perfect pink as it set on the crisp, clear day.

She couldn’t have asked for more.

Except that it looked like they were going to come up short on their fundraising goal by almost fourteen thousand dollars.

So much hard work, all for nothing. Addy mourned the loss of Maxwell’s even as she stood in the midst of its homey splendor.

And of course it didn’t help that every time she looked, Remington was surrounded by a bevy of be-hatted beauties in the pavilion.

Addy could practically hear them squealing I do declare and grabbing his beefy arms.

You don’t want to be with him, she reminded herself.

After the other day, she had given up on hooking him up with anyone. It was too hard. He would find someone on his own, someone who really cared about him. At least she hoped he would.

Though staying hopeful was getting harder by the minute. She was far too busy steaming up at the spectacle he was making of himself, with grown women lolling all over him like he was some kind of rock star. She could only imagine how they disgracefully they would throw themselves at him if they knew he was from another planet.

“Penny for your thoughts, my dear,” someone said suggestively in a dreadful attempt at a Southern accent.

She turned to see Marco from the golf course. He had a little walking stick and a straw hat. But his brightly colored Reeboks sort of spoiled the look.

“Hey, Marco. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you might join me for a dance later this evening,” he said, and made a funny little bow that included a flourish of the stick.

Addy laughed in spite of herself.

“You make a good case,” she said. “Sure, I’ll dance with you later. But no funny business.”

“Why, Miss Barnes,” he exclaimed in mock astonishment, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“See that you don’t,” she said.

“Are you okay?” he asked, dropping the courtly bit and sounding like a friend.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess I’m just worried about the resort. We’re coming up short with the fundraiser.”

“Well, I know you’ve still got the auction planned,” Marco said.

“Yeah, but I don’t know that we’re getting fourteen grand for the eight of us,” Addy said. “Especially when most of us are friendly enough to go out for free.”

“Some of you are,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, if you’ve got fourteen thousand dollars, I guess you’ve got yourself a date,” Addy laughed.

“Don’t I wish,” Marco said, shaking his head sadly. “I guess I’d better woo you with my dancing later.”

“Guess so,” Addy replied.

“Addy, can you help with something,” Honey called as she approached them.

“Sure,” Addy replied. “See you later, Marco.”

Marco tipped his hat and headed off.

“There’s a guy who wants to take his kid on the float but we don’t have enough lifejackets and the kid hasn’t passed the swim test,” Honey said.

“There may be more lifejackets in the shed,” Addy said. “But no one can be out there unless they have a life jacket, or they’ve passed the swim test. That’s a hard rule. I don’t mind dealing with the guy if we can’t find another jacket.”

“Thanks, Addy,” Honey said. She looked relieved. Honey hated conflict. She always had a harder time laying down the law than Addy did.

“Are you going to be okay?” Honey asked as they headed down to the lake together.

“What do you mean?”

“You know,” Honey said. “About Remington?”

“I will be okay,” Addy said with a sigh. “But I don’t know if I’m okay today. You know?”

“I know,” Honey said. “If you need me I’m here. I’ve got you.”

“I know you do,” Addy said, grabbing her friend’s hand and squeezing it as the tears prickled her eyes. “I know you do.”