Mimi's Daddy Ch. 13: State Fair

Vast and smelling of animals the size of the first barn surprised Adam. There were pint-sized kids blow-drying the fluffiest cows he had ever seen. He stopped in his tracks, watching them. "Why... are they doing that?"

"They are 4H kids. Those cows are their babies and they want them to look their best when they enter the ring." She pointed out a particularly pretty cow with a curly coat. "For the past year, they have taken care of them. Aren't they pretty?"

"I've never thought of cows being pretty before, but yeah, I can see it."

"I always loved their big eyes." She brought her hands up to her face, turning her fingers into pretend eyelashes. "They have eyelashes like supermodels."

"I enjoy seeing the world through your eyes."

"Good, then you should be ready for llama petting." She flashed a smile at him. "Or we can visit the rabbits first if you'd like."

He wasn't sure exactly when he had started to hold her hand as they walked through the barn. His fingers engulfed hers.

Excited, she said, "We've got to go to the chicken house. Have you ever seen a chicken hatch?"

"Why would I want to?"

"They are so cute and stupid. At home, I love to watch our chickens."

"All right. If it will keep you smiling, let's go."

***

Fluffy and light as air, the fragile baby chick rested in his hand. Mimi curved her fingers around his to protect the chick from falling. Voice full of awe, she said, "Aren't they the softest things in the world?"

Her small hands around his own was the sweetest thing. She looked up at him.

Before he thought it through, he said, "You really are beautiful, inside and out."

She ducked her head and lifted her shoulders in a brief shrug. "If you keep talking to me like that, Adam, I am going to get confused and believe you are my fiancée, in truth."

A future farmer teen walked past with the lazy saunter of a bored high schooler.

"Young man," Adam said as he handed the fluff ball to Mimi so he could tug his phone out of his pocket. "Do you mind taking a picture of us and this wisp of yellow fluff?"

The boy accepted the phone and took a step back to bring them into the frame. "Hey, aren't you the cutie cupcake?"

Mimi rolled her eyes.

"My, cutie cupcake." Adam clarified.

After the kid took their picture, the teen fished out his own phone. "Do you mind if I take one? My friends will be pumped that I saw you. You guys have meme's now." Mimi gently handed the fluff ball back to the smiling teen.

"I think I should hire Jen. She is good at this." Adam squirted hand sanitizer on his hands and offered some to the cupcake.

"True." She accepted the jell.

Adam placed his hand on her back and headed her toward the fairway. The young man waved goodbye to them, braces flashing in the light. Adam said, "So, what else are you determined to show me?"

"I'm thinking the Bullet or Doom."

"You are planning my death already? We aren't even married yet. I suppose a fair is a good place to hide a body. They have pigs."

"They are rides." She held up her wrist and the bracelet on it. "We paid for these for a reason. Do you get motion sick?"

"I am a man. I'm sure I can handle it." He winked at her. "Bring it on."

"I could always start you with the Ferris wheel."

He scoffed and swung her hand back and forth as they walked.

***

When the bar came across his lap, he looked up at the rickety construction of the ride. "I think we might die."

Laughing at him, she said. "No one will die. People have been riding this ride all week."

"That doesn't mean they all survived. What is this ride called again?"

"The Bullet. It's fun."

"You should have warned me you were an adrenaline junkie." He bumped her leg with his own. "If I die, at least I die next to a pretty girl."

An attendant walked past them and jerked on the safety bar in front of Adam, startling him. "What the hell?"

Mimi rested her hand on his thigh. "It's okay. They have to check to see if the safety equipment is engaged. They don't want us to fall out."

"I don't either." He gripped the bar. Honestly, he didn't like heights. Be cool. Be cool.

At first, the ride swung back and forth, but then it flipped upside down. Biting into his thighs, the bar kept him from falling to the ceiling of the ride cage. Mimi, the crazy girl next to him, was laughing. He wasn't expecting the drop when it came, or the speed at which it happened. He heard someone frantically screaming and realized it was him.

When the ride blessedly stopped, his knuckles were white from the grip he had kept on the safety bar and Mimi was giggling.

"Not funny," he gasped.

"You are pale. Are you okay?"

"I will be once my heart calms down." As soon as the bar unlatched, he exited the ride and took her hand as she stepped out. "I am picking the next ride."

Teasingly she said, "Ferris Wheel?"

"Hilarious, young lady."

Ride after ride, they worked their way through the fairway, avoiding a few of the options with ridiculous lines. He liked the Ferris wheel best, but he wasn't about to tell her that. The house of horrors had been silly. They had paid two dollars to see an alligator and cheered on their chosen pigs at the pig races. The spotted pig he'd chosen won. Through the crowds, she tugged him along toward each adventure. As night settled behind the fair lights, the crowd changed. A country singer belted a cover song from a nearby stage.

Squeezing her hand fondly, he asked, "What is next after our great llama adventure?"

"Fried things."

"Just as a general category?"

"Yes. There are elephant ears and fried Oreos."

"Don't we eat actual dinner at some point?

She scoffed. "It's the fair."

He looked with uncertainty at the image of the elephant on the back side of one of the trucks. "Why would anyone eat an elephant's ear? I would think that was illegal."

He smelled the fried dough as they entered the food vender's row. She squeezed his hand and released his hand. "You will like it, I promise."

"I am dubious."

"How much do you want to bet?"

"Another kiss?"

She paused. "Really? That hardly seems high stakes."

He pondered. "If I win, you let me touch you, and you can see if you like that."

"Why on earth would you want to do that?"

"Honestly, I can't imagine why any man wouldn't."

"That's it?"

"Yup, those are the stakes. Mimi, what do you want if you win?"

She looked down at her sandals, where her skin had become faintly pink and chafed under the straps. "A piggie back ride to the circus." She thrust out her hand for a shake. "It's a bet."

They shook hands while the crowd passed on either side of them. Adam grinned. "It is. I am willing to face eating an elephant's ear. Even if it sounds awful."

"It's not awful." And it wasn't.

***

Giggling on his back, Mimi wrapped her arms around his neck. Adam asked, "Which way is the circus tent?" When she pointed past the benches and the kids' pony ride, he could see the colorful tent past the pig races.

"Are you sure I am not too heavy?"

"You are perfect." He gave her juicy thigh a playful pat. "Want me to run to prove it?"

Her arms tightened. "No, I believe you." She leaned in and whispered behind his ear. "You are very strong."

***

After watching the fireworks, Mimi and Adam found the kids waiting for them by the exit. A plastic frog hung from the stick Sarah was holding, and she looked happy. "Pete won this for me!"

"It wasn't anything." The gap toothed boy's chest puffed up at her words.

"I'm glad you had fun." Adam flashed Mimi a wink and looped his arm around his little sister. "We did too. Did you know that elephant ears have no elephant in them?"

***

After they dropped the kids off, Adam brought her home. The warmth of his body next to her as they paused at her front door brought up distracting thoughts. Should she hug him? Kiss his cheek?

Adam said, "I had fun tonight." She turned her face to the side, unsure what to do when he spoke in a low timbre. Her skin tingled and her heartbeat quickened. Shaking his hand seemed a silly option.

Nervously, she wiped her palms dry on her jeans, just in case. "I did too."

When he leaned back on the porch to look down the road, his flannel shirt pulled tight across his barrel chest. "Should we expect your dad soon?"

"He texted me earlier that he wasn't feeling well." She touched her phone in her pocket. "When we pulled in, I sent him a message that I was home. He didn't answer the text, so he is probably asleep."

"Does that mean I can come in?"

Resting her back against the front door, she said, "I promised him that you were going to drop me off and then head home. I told him how you were watching over your sister." Biting her lip, she held up her hand to show him his grandmother's ring. "I'm gonna see them on Sunday after they get home from church. We are having dinner. What am I going to tell them about this?" His grandmother's ring glinted in the moonlight.

"I suppose I should come with you on Sunday." When he braced a hand on the door frame and leaned into her space, her heart fluttered like a trapped bird. He smelled like cedar and summer nights. Why did he have to smell so good? "Does your mom cook as well as you do?"

"She cooks a lot better."

"I would not miss it then." As he moved closer, her mouth went dry. Was he going to kiss her again?

She stammered, "My Dad is pretty old-fashioned..." With a dart of her tongue, she wet her lips, and his gaze lingered on her mouth. "How would you feel about asking him for my hand?"

He captured her fingers within his calloused fingers and toyed with the ring, rotating it. Tingles ran down her arm. "It is a pretty hand."

"Adam, you know what I mean." Her throat felt hot, and she could hear her pulse in her ears.

Closing her eyes, she focused on how warm his hand felt around hers. When he released her fingers and braced his palm on the door frame, trapping her between his powerful arms, her eyes flew open. He was so close to her. Adam said, "I will on one condition."

Looming over her, big as a bear, his nearness caused her voice to squeak. "What is that?"

"You agree to pretend I won the bet earlier, and let me touch you." When he leaned in and brushed his lips across her cheek, her breath stopped. His hand came to rest on her waist possessively.

"On the porch?" She squeaked.

"No, at my house."

"My folks would notice if I wasn't here if they woke up."

"We can meet there Saturday, maybe after you show me the property you are so interested in." He bent down and his lips almost brushed hers. "How about it?"

Breathless, she said, "It will be daylight."

"The better to see all of you." A shiver moved through her whole body. Adam pressed a kiss to her lips, and she melted back into the door. Mimi held on to his shirt, gripping the fabric. When he drew back from the kiss, her head was spinning. He glanced down at her hand tangled in fabric and she let go. Heat flooded her cheeks. Stunned, she watched him saunter down the steps. Mimi stood with the back of her head resting against the door until she couldn't see his truck anymore. When she unlocked her knees, she slid down the door until she sat on her porch, touching her thumb to the ring on her finger.