Celebrating the Cowboy by Liz Isaacson

Author:Liz Isaacson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AEJ Creative Works

13

The date improved drastically after they got their food, and not only because the brisket was the best thing Heather had ever put in her mouth. Levi loosened up, and asked her about her father’s health, told her about his horse buying escapades with her brother, and brought up the Fall Festival.

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.” Dread settled in her stomach. “I guess I’ll have to figure out what to do about the photo booth.”

“Tell me what you do again.” He’d ordered a pulled pork sandwich, and he took a bite of it. The caramelized onions looked amazing, and Heather wondered if they were to the sharing food stage of their relationship yet. Didn’t quite feel like it.

“I take the pictures.” She indicated her injured arm. “But there’s no way I’ll be able to hold a camera.” She shouldn’t stare so blatantly at his mouth as he ate, but he was the one who’d asked her about kissing on the first date.

She’d known Levi for her whole life. They’d shared meals together before. She’d been fantasizing about him for far too long. And yet her heart pumped out an extra beat every other pulse. Her desire to kiss him reached epic proportions, especially as she watched him lick the barbecue sauce from his lips.

With great difficulty, she pulled her eyes away. They sat at a rickety picnic table, under a tiny umbrella for shade. The Texas breeze blew the scent of smoked meat toward them, as they’d gotten a spot down a ways from the Rib Shack.

And what a shack it was. She’d thought it would collapse with the owner inside. With no sign, no menu, it seemed to be something someone did for fun on the side. But Levi had known exactly what to order, and he’d paid. Still, it didn’t seem like a real establishment, what with the leaning frame and the old refrigerator the owner had converted into a smoker.

“So what do you want to do?” Levi asked, and Heather blanked on the conversation they’d been having.

“About what?”

“The pictures?” He locked his gaze on hers. “Weren’t we talkin’ about the Fall Festival?”

“Oh, right. I don’t know. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if there was no photo booth.”

“Maybe your arm will be better by then. It’s not for five more weeks.”

“Maybe. But I’d need to commit to doing it now, or not doing it. Or find someone else.” Her mind churned around who she’d trust enough to do the pictures. “I don’t even know who I would ask.”

“Why is it up to you?” he asked. “Isn’t there someone in charge who could figure it out?”

“Yeah, Karla LeGrande. But…I’ve always done the photo booth.”

“Yeah, and this year you can’t.” He watched her, and she didn’t like the way he did.

“It’s….” She wanted to say mine. Or my way out of going to the festival alone.

“I’m sorry about your arm,” he said, real quiet as if someone would overhear him. “But there are some things we can’t control.

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