“Now, you’ve done it,” I tell Mary. “People are gonna be all over me.”
“We miss hearing you,” she says. “Nothing wrong with that.”
There’s a small group growing around us now, and out of the corner of my eye I can see Harper looking on curiously. I laugh, shaking my head. “You’re all sweet, but I don’t do that anymore. Preston’s doing a good job holding down the crooning. Let’s just listen to him.”
Mary tuts, but she moves along, taking most of the group with her, and I let out a little sigh.
Harper tips her head to one side. “So that used to be you up there?” she asks.
“Kind of. I didn’t have a band like Preston does, just sang and played guitar and whoever wanted to join me usually would.”
“Sounds like you were popular. You must be good.”
I shrug a little. “I was good enough. And you know this crowd, they’ll enjoy anything they can tap their toes to.”
“I think you’re downplaying it a little,” she says with a smile.
“Yeah, maybe. It was…” I sigh again, dragging fingers through my hair. “I had thoughts of trying to make it big. Get a contract, do albums and bigger shows, that kind of thing. Everyone here was really supportive, and that meant a lot. I think most of them haven’t let go of the dream, even if I have.”
Harper’s tongue darts out, sliding across the pink bow of her lips. “What happened? Did you fall out of love with it, or?”
“Nah. Just circumstances. My mom got sick, and I had to stay in town to take care of her. Everything else just took a back seat.”
“Ah,” she says softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We all just do what we have to do, right? We take care of our own, and sometimes that means letting the things we want fall by the wayside. I’m not sad about the way my life has gone. Things could’ve been different, sure, but that doesn’t meanthey would’ve been better. Maybe I’m right where I’m supposed to be right now.”
I watch her take that in, brow furrowed. I think Harper probably understands a hell of a lot about taking care of her own and doing what she has to do.
“Maybe you are,” she finally says. She takes a breath and then smiles. “So what’s next on the Summer Festival tour?”
I grin back at her, grateful. “Well, I think Miss Cora deserves another treat after being so good all evening, don’t you?”
“Is this another bid to get her hopped up on sugar?”
“Nah, not this time. Come on.”
I lead them down the way a bit to where some of the farmers have brought animals for the kids to look at. Bessie the cow is there, and Cora immediately runs over to the fence to gaze at her. Someone has brought some goats in another pen, and a little ways down, there’s a woman with a pen full of kittens.
Cora only has eyes for Bessie though, and Harper and I stand back a little, watching as she holds a hand out for the old cow.
There are other kids clustered around the fence, and one of them comes right up next to Cora and shoves his hand through the fence as well. Bessie gives them both the eye and moves to press her nose against Cora’s hand first.
“How’d you do that?” the boy demands. He looks about eight or nine, bigger than Cora and pushier. “I want her to touch my hand.”
Cora looks at him for a second and then goes back to stroking Bessie’s nose.
“I said how’d you do that?” he says. “Tell me!”
When Cora just keeps petting the cow, it’s clear the little kid doesn’t like being ignored. He points at her, lips twisted. “You’re supposed to share,” he says. “And why won’t you say anything? Are you broken? I think you’re broken. I bet that cow is your only friend.”
Cora’s eyes go large and shiny, and she steps away from him. I move to intervene, but before I can, Lincoln shows up out of nowhere.
He kneels down to the boy’s level and meets his gaze head-on. The boy immediately drops his hand and steps back a bit, surprised at the sudden appearance of a grown up, probably. Lincoln is all quiet intensity, and it works here to make the kid pay attention without scaring him.
His voice is calm, but that doesn’t hide the layer of steel underneath for anyone who knows to listen for it. “We don’t do that,” he says to the kid. “You’re older and bigger than her, and picking on little girls isn’t acceptable. She didn’t do anything to you. Do you understand?”
The boy nods quickly and runs off without a second look.