That Runaway Summer (19 page)

“I don’t know about that.” Dan didn’t seem to be experiencing any discomfort from his black wig and badge. He even moved well in his tight, flared jeans. “I think in Indigo Springs all things are possible.”

One of his arms gathered her close against the side opposite to where his toy gun hung from his plastic holster.

“I know what you mean.” Jill’s gaze touched on their friends Annie and Ryan Whitmore, who it seemed hadn’t stopped smiling since the teenage daughter they’d given up for adoption at birth had come to live with them. Annie and Ryan were watching Lindsey try to get Toby Bradford to come to her.

Two-year-old Toby tottered forward inch by inch, hampered by the oversize web feet attached to his green-and-orange body suit. A matching hood with huge fake eyes completed the look.

“Toby makes an adorable frog,” Sara Brenneman remarked to Kelly Bradford, Toby’s adoptive mother.

“Oh, good. Chase said nobody would guess frog.” Kelly turned to her husband with the sweetest I-told-you-so look Jill had ever seen. “I layered so many clothes under his costume for warmth, Chase said he looked like a dinosaur.”

“I knew what Toby was right off the bat,” Sara said. “But what the heck are Jill and Dan supposed to be? And why are they wearing sunglasses at night?”

“I was wondering why they’re the only adults in costume.” Michael Donahue stood behind Sara, his arms encircling his wife.

“It’s two days before Halloween. We figured everyone would come in costume,” Jill said. “I’ve got to admit, though, that our getups are a little obscure.”

“They are not!” Dan tapped his police badge and gestured to Jill’s. “These are the biggest clues. We’re Starsky and Hutch.”

“Your dogs?” Sara teased. “Then those are really bad costumes.”

“Ha ha. Starsky and Hutch were TV cops from the seventies,” Dan answered. “I have all the shows on DVD. After I get through making Jill watch them, Sara, you can borrow them.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Sara said. “I’m not watching any shoot-’em-up shows. Babies in the womb can hear what’s going on outside, you know.”

“Sara’s been reading a lot of books for expectant mothers.” Michael rested his hands on Sara’s stomach. At two months pregnant, she hadn’t begun to show.

“I admit. I’m baby challenged.” Sara glanced over her shoulder at her smiling husband. “I’m going to need lots of advice. Good thing I’ve got Kelly and Laurie.”

“Where is Laurie anyway?” Dan looked around. “I don’t see Kenny, either.”

“Laurie would never bring little Miranda out in the cold,” Jill said, referring to the couple’s newborn daughter. “And Kenny wouldn’t come without his family.”

“Sierra wanted to be here, too, but she and Ben had to work.” Ryan referred to his sister, who’d stunned everyone by moving to Pittsburgh with her investigative-reporter boyfriend, Ben Nash. “She got hired at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh as an internist. She and Ben are going to visit here over Thanksgiving, I think to announce their engagement.”

“That’s great!” Penelope Pollock exclaimed. She and Johnny had joined the group of friends without Jill noticing. Jill couldn’t miss Penelope now as the other woman sidled up to her. “Speaking of engagements, what’s taking you two so long?”

“Penelope!” Johnny uttered a familiar admonishment.

“What?” Penelope flipped her orange scarf over her shoulder and balanced her hands on her black coat. “Jill and Dan might not even be together if not for me. So why can’t I ask?”

“Because…” Johnny started to explain, then stopped and put an arm around his wife. “Never mind.”

“So?” Penelope asked, eyes speculative as she turned her attention once again to Jill and Dan. “Did you get her a ring yet, Dan?”

Jill couldn’t help it. Her pulse quickened as she waited for his answer.

“Like I’d tell you first,” Dan said, his tone playful.

“May I have your attention.” Charlie Bradford’s voice reverberated over a microphone, quieting the murmuring of the crowd. He stood with the seven members of the borough council flanking him. Jill took off her sunglasses to see Charlie better. He wore a reddish over-the-head costume with a yellow streak down the center. The sides of the outfit resembled an open bun.

“He’s a hot dog!” Jill said with a smile.

“In more ways than one,” Dan rejoined, grinning. He’d also removed his sunglasses, but his wig and badge were in place. “And he’s saved us from being the only adults dressed for Halloween.”

“First of all, I’d like to welcome everybody to our inaugural event, which is one of my initiatives as mayor,” Charlie began.

“You go, hot dog!” Chase put his fingers in the sides of his mouth and whistled approval for his father. Laughter and applause rolled through the audience.

“If you get elected to the council, you’ll be up there next year,” Dan whispered in Jill’s ear, sending warmth shooting through her. She was at the end of a short, intense campaign for a council seat.

“We can hope.” She smiled at him, marveling that he could make her pulse quicken even dressed as a corny TV cop.

“Teresa.” Charlie Bradford nodded to his wife. “Will you do the honors?”

Teresa threw a switch and the scaffolding beside her lit up. Jack-o’-lanterns of all sizes and carvings glowed in the night. There must have been two hundred of them, arranged in ten or more perpendicular rows, stacked one on top of the other. A pumpkin wall, Charlie had called it when he sent out the word to members of the community for contributions.

A group of schoolchildren, all in costume, started to sing a song about a pumpkin patch.

Jill had a fleeting thought of her father’s surprising news that Chris was the star of his elementary school choir. Her father said that discovering he had a talent for singing was doing wonders for her brother’s confidence.

“Let’s get away from this crowd,” Dan whispered directly into her ear, grabbing her hand.

Jill didn’t need to be asked twice. She let Dan lead her away from where everyone was gathered, trusting he knew where he was going even though he headed deeper into the park.

He stopped in a secluded spot that was still in the glow of the jack-o’-lanterns. Jill looked up at him questioningly.

“I’ve got something to ask you,” he said even though she hadn’t said anything. More and more lately, they’d been communicating without words. “Except I’d rather do it when we’re not wearing these getups.”

“Done.” She took off the disguise and shook out her hair. He did the same, and she was struck by the notion that they made a better team than their characters. “But whatever it is, I’ll probably say yes.”

“Good to hear.” He reached into his pocket, withdrew a black velvet box and snapped it open. A gleaming orange sapphire stone flanked by diamonds winked up at her. A Halloween color that would forever remind her of this magical moment. “Because I’m asking you to marry me.”

“Yes!” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck.

He laughed. “You don’t need to think about it?”

“What’s to think about?” she said. “I love you.”

“That means I was right,” he said. “In Indigo Springs, anything
is
possible.”

Then he kissed her in the glow of the pumpkin wall, with the promise of their future as bright as the celebratory lights.

THAT RUNAWAY SUMMER

Copyright © 2010 by Darlene Hrobak Gardner

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