Thrill Me

“This guy charges by how high we go, along with the length of the ride,” Aidan said.

“How do you want to do it? The longer people are out, the more you pay in terms of fuel and employee time, not to mention wear and tear on the boat.”

Aidan nodded. “But I don’t want a complicated menu. Plus, I see us doing a lot of families. Maybe rides of different lengths of time.”

They reached eight hundred feet. The boat moved across the lake, leaving a wake behind. The water itself was made up of dozens of shades of blue. Maya would like it here, Del thought, wishing she were with him. There were plenty of nice hotels in the area. They could get lost in one of them for a few days. Stay in bed, resurface from making love to grab a meal, maybe go hiking. His idea of a good time.

She was a complication he hadn’t expected. When he’d first decided to come home for the summer, he’d been uncertain about what to do next. Having resources was a good thing, but more options meant more decisions. Now he was sure about what he wanted—or at least what he didn’t want.

He didn’t want to fund someone else’s dream. He didn’t want to invent something else. What had happened to him had just been one of those things. His passion lay elsewhere. In a few weeks, he would be ready to leave Fool’s Gold. The question for him was, would he also be ready to leave Maya?

The boat turned in a wide circle. Aidan and Del followed along. As the ride came to a close, they were pulled in. For the last twenty feet, they hovered right above the water. The captain had offered to let them plunge into the chilly lake, but they’d declined.

“It would be great on hot days,” Aidan yelled, the boat noise growing louder as they approached. “We could drop people into the lake. They’d love it.”

“At least the kids would.”

His brother laughed.

Del was grateful they were able to hang out like this. To talk without any misunderstandings between them. Aidan might not have been happy about having the business dumped on him, but he was obviously good at it.

“What’s the verdict?” he asked when they were back in his truck.

“I gotta get me one of those.” Aidan grinned. “It was fun. I’ll get my captain’s license or whatever it is I need, and hire a couple of guys with the right qualifications. It’s going to be a great addition to what we already offer.” His eyebrows rose. “Plus, pretty ladies in bikinis. Where’s the bad?”

“You and your women.”

“Jealous?”

“Nope. I’m not into volume.”

Del would admit that Aidan’s lifestyle might sound like nearly every guy’s dream—endless sex and no commitment—but he couldn’t get excited about it. He wanted something else. Something special. Someone special. As he drove back toward Fool’s Gold, he had to wonder if he’d found her. Because there was a lot about Maya that he liked.

But what about the parts that worried him? Honesty was important to him. He’d grown up with secrets, and he was determined to make sure he didn’t repeat that pattern in his own life. He told the truth and he expected it from the woman he loved. Ten years ago Maya had kept her worries and fears from him. She’d broken his heart and lied about the reasons.

They’d both been young. They’d both grown and changed. But was it enough? Could he trust her to be honest now? To not keep secrets? Because lying undermined every relationship, no matter the intentions. That he knew for sure.

* * *

“LEAN,” MAYA SAID, motioning to the scarecrow. She studied the screen of her camera as Del leaned into the straw creature. He put his arm around it and smiled broadly.

“Perfect. Hold it...hold it.”

Just when she was going to tell him to relax, he winked.

While the part of her that was wildly in love with him, desperate to tell him and hey, maybe looking for a little Del-flavored action, sighed at the gesture, her filmmaker brain recognized pure gold when she saw it. Talk about appealing.

“Got it,” she told him and pressed the stop button, just as a toddler ran into the shot.

“Sorry,” the mother called, racing after him.

“No worries,” Maya assured her. “We’re just playing here.”

Del grabbed the young boy before he could make his way into the street. The mother took him gratefully. Her husband jogged over to relieve her.

It was the Thursday of the Fall Festival long weekend and downtown was crowded with tourists and residents alike—all wanting to participate in the various activities, shop at the stores and carts, and sample delicious seasonal dishes like Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins and Roasted Tomato Soup with Cheddar Crostini. She and Del were shooting B-roll to edit into the town videos they were doing.

A lot of today’s clips would be purely devoted to the season, but they would also get shots that were simply town based and could be used at any time of the year. Later in the week, they would be filming at The Christmas Attic to simulate the end of the year. Morgan over at Morgan’s Books was going to decorate one of his windows to celebrate all things spring and Easter to help them out. Maya had gone over their footage a couple of days ago. Her best guess was they were within a week of wrapping up their project. While she would still have postproduction work to do, Del’s part would be finished. Leaving him free to move on.

They hadn’t talked about when that would happen. She knew why she was keeping quiet, but was less sure about him. She hoped that he was trying to figure out how to ask if she wanted to go with him. In her wildest dreams, she imagined him telling her he’d always been in love with her and...