He jogged toward the ticket booth, leaving Michelle to stare at her feet as Garret stood beside her. Joseph probably expected her to come up with something witty to say to his younger brother. Something that would seal the deal on their plan to get him to notice her, but she had nothing. As usual, her tongue wasn’t working around the man.
“So...Brown, huh?” Garret rocked on his heels, his hands deep in his jean pockets. “How’s that going?”
“It’s good.” Somehow, her ability to speak had returned, but her brain wasn’t picking up much steam. “Really good. Seriously good.”
“Oh, that’s...good.”
She bit the inside of her cheek until it hurt, wishing she didn’t sound like such a babbling fool. “How’s K-State? Have you been to any football games this season?”
“Been to every home game this year.” He puffed out his chest and grinned. “Snyder’s going to take us all the way this year, I can feel it. Nobody beats our coach.”
She combed her fingers through her hair, unsure of what to say next. That was the entirety of her football knowledge. Most of her conversation points these days surrounded education, books, and cat memes. She doubted Garret cared very much about education or reading. He’d never been the best student and had spent more time on the field than in a library. And she’d rather die than bring up cat memes to Garret Smith.
There was one topic left that they both had in common and it was the only thing she could think about in the moment.
“You said earlier that your brother’s been staying home a lot lately. Has he been like that since he got out of the military?” She glanced up at Garret’s face, her hands still nervously running through her hair.
He shrugged and leaned back on the picnic table behind him, pushing himself up to sit on it. “Ever since he got home, he’s been a different person. Won’t go out. Shuts himself in Dad’s study. I mean, I know the military was tough on him, but he can’t exactly disappear in our home forever. I was really surprised he came out tonight. I’m not sure what you said to him, but it worked.”
She shook her head, taking a seat on the table next to him. “I didn’t say anything. It was all his idea.”
It was the closest she’d ever been to Garret in a long time. She could practically feel the heat from his body in the inch that separated them. It was a strange feeling. She never thought she’d speak to him again, let alone be sitting right next to him on a picnic table at the town carnival.
“So, what is it with you and Joey?” Garret leaned back, splaying his hands on the table top. “You two got a thing going?”
His voice was steady and noncommittal, but Michelle knew that if what Joseph had claimed about his little brother was true, a lot was riding on her answer.
“I don’t know,” she answered with a shrug. She peeked at Garret from the corner of her eye and was thrilled to see him watching her closely. “He’s a nice guy, but we’re just friends.”
At that moment, Joseph returned with the tickets in hand. He stopped short when he saw the two of them sitting so close, his expression unreadable. Michelle jumped from the table and brushed off the seat of her pants. She couldn’t help but feel like she’d been caught doing something wrong, which was absurd. The whole idea was to make Garret jealous. She’d been following the plan.
“Ready, Michelle?” Joseph spoke quickly, his voice breaking. “Last ride of the night?”
“Last ride,” she repeated, glancing between the brothers. “Who’s going with me?”
They both tried to speak at the same time. Michelle could’ve sworn that Garret was jumping in to ask her, but Joseph cut him off with a punch on the shoulder. “Only room for two on this one, bro. Guess you’ll have to go solo.”
“Nah, you guys go ahead.” Garret’s eyes glittered with unsaid words. “I’ll sit this one out.”
“You’re a good man.” Joseph nodded and offered his hand to her. “Shall we?”
She couldn’t help feeling confused in that moment as Joseph led her away from his brother. Their plan seemed to be working. Garret had almost asked her to ride the Ferris wheel with him. Hadn’t that been what Joseph was planning all along? But now, he was leading her away from him. It didn’t make sense.
“Why didn’t you let him take me?” she asked, skipping to catch up with Joseph’s massive strides. “He was about to ask.”
“All in good time.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile, his grip on her hand softening. “Believe me, I know my brother. The bait’s been cast. Now, all we have to do is wait for a solid strike. We don’t want to reel in the worm too soon.”
She wasn’t all that familiar with fishing metaphors, but Michelle had to wonder about the wisdom of being compared to a wriggling worm on a hook.
It never ended well for the bait.
Chapter Four
Joseph stood silently in line to the Ferris wheel, his head reeling. By all accounts, their mission today was going according to plan. Garret had certainly noticed Michelle and had even joined in teasing her a few times today as they wasted their money at the carnival booths. He’d kept a healthy distance from her when Joseph was around, but had swooped in as soon as Joseph left to buy tickets. That had been the idea, so why was he feeling so grumpy?
“Look at those two,” Michelle cooed, bumping him gently with her shoulder.
She pointed at an elderly couple three spots ahead of them. The gentleman had carefully combed white hair and his wife a short perm. They were holding hands, swaying in time to the music playing over the loud speakers across the town center.