Thwarting Cupid (21 page)

Some more kids ran by. “Really? What do you call that?”

While Del was focused on the distance, Carissa checked out the parade again. She did a double take when she saw Hutch was now riding alongside a rail-thin man in a top hat and coat. The sign hanging on the side of the convertible read,
Charlotte’s Cove
.

Hutch caught her eye, looking a whole lot less than happy this time along the route. Still, he waved and tried to hide his irritation.

“No way.” Carissa waved back.

“Is that Hutch or does he have a very convincing look alike?” Del asked when the car had passed.

“I told you I saw people running over there.”

“This might be a whole lot more fun than I imagined,” Del mused. “You think he’s the only one doing double duty?”

Carissa shook her head and pointed. The mayor’s car zipped along the other street. It sped past more of the band kids. A poor girl with a sousaphone stopped and leaned against the street sign. She looked like she was about to die from exhaustion. She picked herself up and kept going.

“This is hilarious.” Carissa pressed her fingers to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“There’s goes Jim, again,” Del pointed out.

“You’re not serious.” Carissa craned her neck to see around the shifting crowd.

Del pointed to his serious expression. “Yes. This is my ‘kidding’ face.”

A couple more floats and bands went by before Hutch reappeared in yet another convertible. This time, the sign on the door read
Allied Creek
. He accompanied a rather rotund gentleman with ruddy cheeks. His wave was pretty lackluster this time around and he was still panting. He stripped off his suit coat and loosened his tie. A lone policeman on horseback trotted along behind the convertible.

After Hutch had passed, Carissa turned to Del and said, “Are you loving this as much as I am?”

“I want to know who planned this. Were they trying to be this amusing?”

“Whoops. There he goes again. Was that a horse?” Carissa asked after watching Hutch jump to the side to make way for the animal and its rider.

“I believe it was. It looked like Officer Larry.”

“Is Larry the man or the horse?”

Del chuckled. “The man.”

She shrugged. “You never know around here.” She pointed to the group of men walking along the parade route now. “At least Hutch is in good company. That’s the mayor, right?”

“Yep. Mayor Danby and the Kiwanis Club.”

After they’d passed, Carissa looked for the next group or car to go by. There was nothing. She frowned and strained to see down the route to the staging area. Another convertible waited. Inside, a woman wearing a white fur coat waved someone over with a frantic hand. The fur lady looked down the parade route. The Kiwanis Club was getting further and further ahead. They never even realized anything was wrong.

Hutch drug himself around the corner and climbed into the car with the woman. She shot him an annoyed look before ignoring him altogether. The sign on this car read,
Koala Springs
.

Carissa did her duty and waved while Hutch passed. He rolled his eyes and gave up any pretense of being gracious.

“Why, oh why didn’t I think to bring a video camera?” Carissa lamented with a laugh.

A Boy Scout troop was next. They started off down the parade route, but stopped and looked at the band behind them. A couple of the boys in the scouting uniform held instruments and looked confused about when they should march. One of the boy scouts lined the troop up on the ends of the band lines so both groups went together.

“That’s about the only thing that’s made sense all day,” Del commented.

Carissa nodded her agreement. She looked back at the staging area. Another convertible was set to go. She looked the other way where Hutch hadn’t yet finished riding the parade route with the Koala woman. Again, the parade came to a complete standstill.

She saw Hutch climb out of the car to run back. He was quite a bit slower now. “Why doesn’t someone give him a ride back? There’s gotta be enough cars down there by now,” Carissa remarked. The first few times had been funny. Now that he was cradling his injured arm and seemed to be in pain, she’d had enough of this nonsense.

She looked back at the staging area in time to see Hutch drag himself toward the car. He still had one leg hanging out of the car when a man wearing a flannel shirt and jeans hauled him inside and told the driver to go. The sign on this car read,
Alpine Village
. Hutch didn’t even try to sit up on the back of the seat to wave. He slumped down inside the car and tried to catch his breath. His suit coat had not made a reappearance and his hair was plastered to his scalp with sweat.

Larry and his horse joined the sheriff’s department in bringing up the rear of the parade. Carissa nudged Del. “Think we better meet Hutch at the end with the car? Take him back to the house. He looks like he’s going to pass out at any moment.”

“Lead the way,” he agreed.

Del helped Carissa navigate the car through the streets to where Hutch had ended up. Hutch was sucking down a bottle of water. He had a second one at the ready in his other hand, but it was trembling. Trudy stood nearby with a clipboard on top of her binder.

“I’m glad that’s over. We had a couple hitches in the flow, but overall, I think it went well.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself along with him. She made some notes on her sheet. “Now we need to get you over to the barn for the picnic. Since we sent all the dignitaries straight there from the parade route, they’re already waiting for you.”

“You can’t be serious. You want me to go looking like this? I just ran four miles. In dress shoes.”

Before Trudy could say anything more, Carissa honked to get Hutch’s attention. “Need a lift?”

Carissa had never seen him look so relieved. “Thank God.” He dove into the back seat of his car.

Trudy rushed over and grabbed the door before he could close it. “You’re taking him straight to the picnic, right? We have a schedule to keep.”

Carissa saluted her. “You can count on me.”

Trudy eyed Carissa with distrust for a moment. Having no other option, she nodded and backed away from the door. Carissa looked at Del. “You may want to hop out here. Plausible deniability and all.”

He nodded after a moment. “I think you might be right.” He reached for the door handle then tossed a smile over the seat at Hutch. “See you two at the picnic. Or not.”

Carissa took off once Del was clear of the vehicle. Hutch slumped in the backseat. “You’re not really taking me straight to the picnic, are you? I look a mess. And I’m pretty sure I smell.”

She smiled at him the rearview mirror. “I did just tell Trudy that she can count on me. I’ll take you where you need to be.”

Chapter 19

Quincy was having a banner day. He’d had no idea changing the order of the parade would be so amusing. Even he had to admit that James had been a good sport about things. The man had given the impossible task his best shot.

Quincy looked over Trudy’s shoulder at the schedule for the picnic. He tapped the page so James’s name replaced the mayor’s name as the host for the event. He counted the list of items James was now responsible for during the event. With the addition of the awards presentations, opening and closing remarks, James would pretty much be a one man show at the picnic. He wouldn’t have a moment to spare to hang with Carissa. Perfect.

“Mind if I bum a ride with you?” Quincy looked up to see Del heading to where he stood with Trudy.

She never looked up from her binder and gave a one shouldered shrug. “If you must.” She blew him off with her tone, but the man didn’t seem to care. He was looking at her like he was a kid in a candy store and she was his favorite treat. Quincy frowned. The guy had to be clueless about love. She couldn’t make it any clearer she wasn’t interested. Yet, he pressed forward.

“Thank you.” He closed the distance between them a bit more. “What are you staring at?”

Trudy gave him an irritated look. “The schedule for the picnic. If that woman doesn’t take Jimmy straight there, I will be in such a pickle. I was in charge of this whole thing. So far, not one single thing has gone right. And now the mayor of Koala Springs totally hates me.”

“She hates everyone. So what?” Del shrugged. “On the bright side, she has to know who you are to hate you.”

Trudy paused to think. “Why are you always so darn unflappable?” Oh yeah. This was not the woman for him. Quincy didn’t even need to consult their files to figure this one out.

“Hazard of my profession, I suppose.”

“Fine.” She closed her binder with a decisive snap. “Let’s go.”

* * * *

Hutch breathed a relieved sigh when he returned to his bedroom fresh from a much needed shower. He had one towel wrapped around his hips and was using another to dry his hair with one hand. The plastic he’d duct taped around his injured forearm was holding up pretty well. He made a mental note to take the roll with him when they left. If he managed to get out of this celebration weekend alive, anyway.

His bed drew him like a beacon. Unable to resist, he sprawled on top of the covers and draped the towel over his face.

“So that’s your decision?” Carissa’s voice startled him from the doorway, but he was too tired to even twitch. “To skip the picnic?”

“Think anyone would notice?” He tugged the towel down just far enough to look at her.

Carissa gave a one shouldered shrug. “How do you feel?”

“Are we grading on a curve?”

She smiled and came in to sit next to him on the bed. She traced the edge of the duct tape around his wrist. Just like that, he wished he’d sprawled face down. “Clever. And no, we’re not grading on a curve. If you don’t feel up to going, we won’t go.”

He balled the towel up and pulled it down until it was strategically placed across his hips. It would appear that not all of him was tired.

“Trudy’s counting on me. I can’t let her down.” No matter how irritated he was with the woman, he wouldn’t embarrass her by not showing up at all. In her defense, she had put a lot of work into the event. She may have overdone a thing or two, but he didn’t want the whole weekend to collapse because of him.

Carissa studied him for a moment, then nodded. He didn’t understand the disappointed look that crossed her face. “I’ll let you get dressed, then.” She crossed the room and closed the door behind her with a quiet click.

The picnic turned out to be bearable after all. Carissa stayed by his side the whole time. Other than the frequent interruptions to announce this guest or distribute that prize, he had a good time catching up with old friends and introducing her around. She always seemed to know just what he needed. Like when the police chief from Alpine Village came over to greet him. He’d been drinking a cup of punch with his right hand since his left was feeling weak and he couldn’t get a good grip on things. Without a word, Carissa took the drink and held it for him so he could shake hands with the man.

As the day progressed, she slid her arm under his left to keep it supported and elevated. Much like a sling would have. Except he got the added bonus of brushing up against her breast every now and again. Besides that fringe benefit, the simple gesture made a world of difference. His hand stopped trembling and he didn’t have to concentrate so hard on hiding it. The last thing he needed were rumors flying around about his supposed drinking habit.

With Carissa’s support, he managed to get through most of the picnic. But by mid afternoon, the pain in his arm was demanding attention.

“I think it’s time to sneak out of here,” he whispered to Carissa.

She nodded. “Wait here. I’ll let Del know.”

“Doesn’t that kind of defeat the whole purpose of sneaking?” Hutch was getting seriously sick of hearing how great Del was. The community as a whole respected the guy to no end. He had a reputation of being a tough, but fair prosecutor. On a personal level, the man pretty much kept to himself. Hutch tried to find one woman in the area he’d dated. Tried and failed.

That’s what made him worry all the more about Del’s budding friendship with Carissa. Hutch had also managed to learn Del had been some kind of big shot attorney in San Francisco. It stood to reason he was feeling a little homesick and would latch onto the first non-local woman he saw. That woman happened to be Carissa. In the back of his mind, Hutch knew his logic was bordering on unreasonable, but he clung to it just the same.

“Not when he’s a vital part of our escape plan.” Carissa tipped her head toward Trudy. “Unless you want her chasing us down and causing a ruckus.”

Hutch looked Trudy’s way. He realized she hadn’t once gotten near him since his arrival at the picnic. After yesterday and this morning, it had been a most welcome break. He was sure she wasn’t upset with him. Several times, she’d tried to approach. However, she’d always been waylaid. By…Del. The light bulb went on.

“I’ve been an idiot, haven’t I?”

Carissa shrugged. It was obvious she had no idea what he was talking about. “I guess?”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t ask the question if you don’t want an answer.”