The Ride of Her Life (31 page)

“You did it!” Levi jumped up and down on his box and clapped.

“Must do it one more time for fan.” The proprietor joined her hands in front of her, revealing the tattered edges of her pagoda sleeves. “Very difficult.”

Nick rolled the last ball, and the pins clattered on the board.

Levi whooped.

The proprietor, looking none too pleased, pointed to the fans displayed and said to Lilly, “You pick?”

Nick glanced at Lilly. “May I?”

She nodded. Nick selected an ivory one with a greenish-gold bird surrounded by flowers. He handed it to Lilly and pointed to the bird. “An ocher fan to go with your lovely ocher dress.”

“Thank you.” She waved it in front of her warm cheeks.

“Nick? Nick Perrin?”

Lilly turned at the sound of the lilting voice of a woman. Her heart skidded to a halt.

Lord, help me handle this gracefully.

30

Nick would know that voice anywhere. Perhaps he could pretend he didn’t hear Ruby.

“Nick?”

Slowly he turned. He touched the rim of his hat and dipped his head in greeting. “Ruby.”

“It is you. I thought I saw you during the performance with this little fellow, so I’ve been out here looking for you.” She eyed Levi. “And who is this?”

Nick slipped an arm around Lilly’s waist and found her back ramrod stiff beneath his hand. Regret pressed on his chest for putting her through this. “Miss Ruby Rawlins, may I introduce Mrs. Lilly Hart and her son, Levi.”

Ruby locked her gaze on Lilly. “Mrs. Hart, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too, Miss Rawlins. I enjoyed your performance this evening.”

“I didn’t.” Levi crossed his arms over his chest. “I liked the bird better.”

“Levi, hush.” Lilly placed her hand on his shoulder. “I apologize for his rudeness.”

“I’m just being honest, Mama.”

“I appreciate honesty.” Ruby’s lips curled, revealing a perfect smile. She flicked a flaming lock of auburn hair off her shoulder.

Nick scowled. Since when had honesty meant anything to her? It certainly hadn’t been important to her when they were together.

Scooping Levi into his arms, Nick hugged the boy tight. “Sorry to cut this short, but I promised Lilly and this little man some ice cream.” He nodded toward her. “It’s nice to see you again.”

She stepped closer, laying her hand on Nick’s sleeve. “But, Nick, when do you want to talk? We have a lot of catching up to do. Could we meet somewhere tomorrow?”

Nick studied her—the woman he’d once loved. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and the world-is-lucky-to-have-me spark she always exuded was no longer present. Her life with the vaudeville traveling show seemed to be a hard one.

It served her right.

A twinge of guilt kicked him in the gut. God wouldn’t want him to be bitter. Besides, did Ruby really deserve a life like this? Performing after poodles and a cockatoo?

But she wasn’t his concern anymore, and the woman beside him was.

“I’ll be around. Maybe we’ll run into one another.”

He ushered Lilly away, leaving Ruby standing alone on the Midway.

“Could you slow down to a fast trot?” Lilly struggled to catch her breath.

“Sorry.” He let his steps fall in line with her pace. “I wanted to get away from her fast.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.”

They reached the ice cream parlor, and Nick held the door for her.

Lilly sat down at one of the small round tables, and Levi scrambled into the heart-shaped chair beside her. The ice cream parlor sported rows of sparkling glasses and jars of colorful fruit toppings and nuts.

Nick settled in the remaining third chair. “What kind of ice cream do you want, Chipmunk?”

“Vanilla with butterscotch.”

“Mmmm. Good choice. Maybe I’ll have that too.” Nick stood. “I’ll place our orders.”

“What about me?” Lilly asked.

“I know what you want.”

“How?”

“Trust me.”

“That isn’t exactly my forte.”

“Really?” He mocked her earlier words. “I never would have guessed.”

He returned a few moments later carrying a lacquered wooden tray bearing two butterscotch sundaes, one with nuts and one without, and a chocolate soda.

Lilly beamed when he set the treat in front of her. She sank her long spoon into the creamy scoops of vanilla ice cream in the bottom of the tall glass and stirred the chocolate syrup and soda water surrounding it. Withdrawing a spoonful of ice cream, Lilly slipped it in her mouth. Nick watched her lips close around the confection, and he yearned to taste them once again for himself.

“You can’t ignore Ruby.” Lilly dipped her spoon in the soda again. “She wants to speak with you, and you aren’t difficult to find. In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a rather large structure at the entrance to this park that points to you like a beacon.”

“How did we get back to the topic of Ruby?” Nick took a bite of his sundae.

“What were you thinking about?” She dabbed Levi’s chin with her napkin.

“Kissing you.” He gave her a rakish grin and slurped down a large spoonful. “Lilly, I don’t want to speak with her or about her or have anything to do with her. She’s my past. You’re my future.”

“Some future,” she mumbled under her breath.

Nick looked up. “What are you talking about?”

“The coaster is done. You’ll be leaving soon.”

“No, I won’t. Where’d you get that idea?”

“I heard your men talking.”

His spoon clattered against his sundae dish. “Most of them are leaving, but I’m not. I’m staying here for the rest of the summer. I have to make sure the roller coaster is working well, and then I have to train whomever the Lake Manawa manager hires to run it. I thought you knew that.”

Tears filled Lilly’s eyes, but her lips curled in a warm smile.

“You really thought I was leaving soon.”

“Not right away, of course, but in a few weeks, I thought—” She dropped her gaze to the few remaining spoonfuls of her soda.

“I’d leave you?”

She shrugged. “Eventually you’ll have to, Nick. You can’t stay around here forever.”

“Or you could go with me.”

“Can we, Mama?” Levi pushed his licked-clean sundae dish to the middle of the table. “Can we go with Mr. Nick?”

Lilly’s eyes darted from Nick to her son, then back to Nick. “We should talk about this later.”

Nick stood and offered her his hand. “We certainly will.”

Hanging out the dish towels on the clothesline behind the diner, Lilly glanced across the Midway to the Velvet Roller Coaster standing proudly against the sky. In the last three days, it had performed flawlessly, according to the patrons who came into the diner still exhilarated by the ride. And the long lines had kept Nick busy far into each evening.

She’d been busy herself. Still, she’d managed to have her usual morning off and had gone into the city to spend time with her mother. It felt good to tell her mother all about Nick, about his declaration of love, and even about his former fiancée.

Lilly snapped a wet apron in the air before pinning it to the line, thinking about how Nick had dismissed Ruby in the Midway. Later he’d asked Lilly to leave with him. Had Ruby been the driving force behind such a bold statement?

Doubt made her stomach churn. This morning, her mother had said she was having a crisis of faith. “Your faith,” her mother had said, quoting 1 Corinthians, “should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Lilly, you’re relying on your own wisdom.”

Was she? And how was she supposed to trust God when He’d allowed so much pain and disappointment in her life? Even now, God had let Ruby arrive just when her heart was beginning to open to the possibilities with Nick.

Marguerite stepped out of the diner’s back door. “There you are.”

“Did you come to help me with laundry?”

“It looks like you have it under control.” She snickered and handed Lilly a clothespin from the basket. “I’m on my way over to take Tate and Faith for a ride on Nick’s roller coaster. Want to join us? The diner didn’t look too busy, and now that Nora is helping you, Eugenia said she could hold things down for a while.”

Lilly smiled at the thought of the new employee. Nora had proven to be a quick learner and a hard worker, and having her there had given Lilly a bit more freedom. “I don’t know. Levi has been pestering me day and night about taking a ride, but I’ve seen it and I don’t want him on it.” Lilly stopped hanging the next towel midair and eyed Marguerite. “Wait a minute. I thought you said you might be in the family way.”

Marguerite grinned and pressed a hand to her midsection. “I am, but that shouldn’t stop me. If the roller coaster is safe for children and old ladies to ride on, why should it be dangerous for a woman carrying a child?”

A twinge of worry for her friend nudged Lilly. Why did Marguerite always have to push the boundaries? She clipped the towel in place. “Does Trip know you’re doing this?”

“I told him I was taking Tate and Faith on the new ride. In fact, he may join us there.” Marguerite came around the other side of the towels and passed her another clothespin.

“But did you tell him about the baby?” Lilly leveled her gaze over the clothesline at Marguerite.

“Not yet. If I did, you know as well as I that he’d probably not even let me look at the roller coaster, let alone ride on it.” Marguerite tucked the basket of pins under her arm.

Lilly snagged the now-empty laundry basket. “And you have no idea why he might feel that way?”

“It’s not my fault every bone in my husband’s body is overprotective. Besides, this is the first roller coaster in the area—the whole state. Can you imagine not riding it?”

“As a matter of fact”—Lilly held the screen door for her—“I have no plans to ride that beast.”

“But Nick built it.”

Lilly slipped the large basket into the corner, then took the smaller one from her friend and placed it on the shelf. “Nick knows how I feel. I tell him the truth.”

“Okay, okay.” Marguerite held up her hands. “I’ll tell Trip—after I ride the roller coaster one time. You coming?”

“To watch you make your stubborn self sick on that thing?” Lilly untied her apron strings. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

The rare perfect days in Iowa made living through the cold winters and hot summers worthwhile. Lilly took a deep breath of tangy, lake-scented air and decided this was one of those perfect days. Perfect temperature. Perfect breeze. Perfect friends.

She glanced at Marguerite. Well, two out of three wasn’t bad. Marguerite certainly wasn’t perfect, but at least she was a dear—if a little foolish—friend. Ahead of them, Tate, Faith, and Levi zigzagged through the Midway patrons on their way to the coaster, barely able to contain their excitement.

“Levi, remember, you are not riding on the coaster,” she called. “You’re only watching.”

He twirled around and walked backward. “I know, Mama.”

“He says that now, but as soon as we get there, he’ll be begging me once again.” Lilly slipped her hands into the pocket of her skirt and fingered a nickel. “Sometimes he’s as bad at handling
no
as you are. Maybe I can distract him with some popcorn.”

“Or maybe you could let him have a ride.” Marguerite gave her a sidelong glance. “Sometimes it’s okay to take a chance, Lilly.”

“And sometimes you can’t. Not when it comes to your children.”

Marguerite rolled her eyes. “It’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

As they approached, Lilly spotted Trip waiting for Marguerite at the ticket counter, his horizontally striped, blue sailing shirt standing out among the suit coats of the other patrons. He tipped his white cap to them. “Hello, sweetheart. Good afternoon, Lilly. Did Marguerite convince you to join us on the ride?”

“No, I’m simply here to watch.”

“Look, Mama. It’s Aunt Emily.” Levi pointed down the walk where Carter and Emily approached, pushing Katie in a baby carriage.

“Did you stop by and invite them too?” Trip snaked his arm around his wife’s waist and kissed her temple. “You’re a regular social secretary.”

Marguerite waved to them. “It wouldn’t be a party if they weren’t here.”

After they’d all exchanged greetings, Trip turned to the ticket counter. Forest, one of Nick’s men, served as clerk, but Lilly knew that was only temporary. She guessed he was training the young man beside him.