Thrill Ride Read online

  “I hadn’t noticed,” I lied.

  “Yeah, right.”

  He was decked out in his park gear: cargo shorts, red polo shirt, sneakers. He did look really good. So what was new about that?

  Nothing, except I was thinking about how he’d carried me yesterday and how it had felt to be held by him and how I really shouldn’t be intrigued by him at all…but I was.

  He was grinning broadly.

  “Hey,” he said, when he got near enough that he didn’t have to shout. “So glad you decided to come today.”

  He walked past us and Sarah and I followed.

  “So you do this every morning?” Sarah asked.

  “Every morning.”

  The guard at the gate let us in without asking for our identification cards. He and Parker greeted each other, so I figured it was a morning ritual for them.

  When I worked during the day, I would get to the park just before it opened to get my costume on, but by then it was already buzzing with activity: the various vendors setting up, the cleanup crew getting into position, the ride crews preparing the equipment for the day. It was never like it was now: almost eerily quiet.

  The park had shade trees here and there. I could hear the leaves rustling in the early morning breeze. And that was about it. Maybe an occasional clank as people began gearing up for the day.

  “How long are you staying?” Parker asked Sarah as we wended our way through the maze of sidewalks that led to Magnum Force.

  “Only until tonight. So, do you have a girlfriend back home?” Sarah asked.

  I gritted my teeth, incredibly tempted to stick my foot out and trip her, but it was still sore from yesterday. I was still limping slightly.

  Parker didn’t seem offended by Sarah’s interrogation. He just laughed and said, “Nope.”

  “I would think someone as good-looking as you would have lots of girlfriends,” Sarah said.

  “Sarah!” She was really going too far. “His love life is none of your business.”

  “It is if it involves you.”

  “We’re friends,” I said. I looked at Parker. “I’m really sorry. She has a problem with minding her own business.”

  “Doesn’t bother me. I’ve got nothing to hide.” He was wearing dark glasses, so it was hard to know exactly what he was thinking. “You gonna ride with your sister?”

  I know my eyes got big. “No. I’m just here to watch.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  We got to Magnum Force and walked up the ramp. Parker had Sarah’s undivided attention now as he explained all the stats: length of track, speed, highest point. You’d think he was responsible for building the thing the way he went on and the way she gushed over every detail. Had to be a roller coaster fanatic thing.

  Not that I’d ever considered my sister a fanatic, but she was sure acting like it now.

  Since there were no people, the chains that usually forced the line to snake around the barriers weren’t in place, so we were able to walk straight through to the set of cars that was waiting on the track. A guy was standing by the controls, punching a button here, a button there. When we got closer, I could read his tag:

  CHRIS (BELLINGHAM, WA).

  He and Parker greeted each other. Parker helped Sarah climb into the first car. Then he looked back at me. “Sure you don’t want to do this?”

  I felt like such a wuss.

  “Come on,” Sarah said. “It’ll be fun.”

  “If they’re safe, why do they have to be tested?” I asked.

  “So they stay safe,” Parker said.

  “Which means there’s the possibility they aren’t.”

  He tugged on my hair and grinned. “Can’t argue with a phobe.”

  “I’m not a phobe.”

  His grin grew, revealing his dimples. “Whatever.”

  He climbed into the car beside Sarah, and for the first time in my life, I hated that I really didn’t like roller coasters. Sitting that close to him would be…well, it would be nice. Except for the screaming and throwing up part.

  They buckled up, then he pulled the bar down across them. He gave Chris a thumbs-up. Chris pushed a big blue button and the train of cars began the ascent. I moved to the edge of the platform and just watched.

  I could tell that Sarah and Parker were talking. Great. What were they talking about? Not me, I hope. Gosh, don’t let them be talking about me.

  They got to the top and there was that one second of heart-stopping anticipation.

  Then the park wasn’t so quiet anymore.

  It was echoing with Sarah’s screams.

  Chapter 18

  “It was so awesome,” Sarah said for, like, the hundredth time.

  She slurped a strawberry freeze. We’d left Parker at Magnum Force and I’d taken her on a tour of the park, finally ending at Storybook Land. I was sorta delaying going to change into my costume to get ready for my shift.

  I had nothing of interest to say to her roller coaster enthusiasm, so I kept quiet.

  “I like Parker,” she suddenly said.

  I jerked my gaze up from my grape freeze and stared at her.

  She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Last night you were on my case about hanging out with him.”

  “That was before he made me feel better about Bobby.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “When did this happen?”

  “When we were on the roller coaster. It’s a long way to the top and he said that he thinks Bobby does care about the wedding, he’s just not telling me what he wants because he really does want the wedding to be the way that I want it. At least he said that was the way he would be if he was getting married. Then he looked kinda green and said he had no plans to get married any time soon.” She was smiling, wistful, looking off in the distance. “I need to get home to Bobby, wrap up these wedding plans.”

  “Okay.”

  She peered over at me. “After I see you in costume.”

  I groaned. “He told you about that, too, didn’t he?”

  “He said you’re cute in costume.”

  “Cute?” I shook my head. “It’s embarrassing.”

  “I promise not to laugh, but I do want to see you decked out. I’ll hang around the park today. Before you start your shift, we’ll do dinner, then I’ll head to the airport.”

  She did laugh when she saw me in braids. At least, I think she was laughing at my hair. She could have been laughing at the entire outfit.

  “You’re adorable!” she cried out, in between gasping for breath.

  “Thanks a lot.” I felt a little too old to be adorable.

  But when she hugged me good-bye to head out to the airport and back home, I really started to miss her: her laughter, her complaining, her worrying about me. And her final parting words kept haunting me:

  “Watch out for Parker. He could get you into a lot of trouble.”

  I was still trying to figure out how he was going to get me into trouble when my shift ended. I mean, he couldn’t get me into trouble if I didn’t let him, right? And I had no plans to let him.

  My plans changed just a little when I came out of the costume shop and saw him leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He straightened when he saw me, and I really didn’t like the way my whole body just seemed to smile because he was there waiting for me.

  Just friends. Just friends. Just friends. We could be just friends. I was sure of it.

  “Your sister get to the airport okay?” he asked.

  “Far as I know.” I kept walking toward the park exit.

  “I like her,” he said, as he walked beside me.

  “I do, too,” I admitted.

  “You’re supposed to say that she likes me, too.”

  I peered over at him. “She didn’t say if she did or not.”

  He placed his hand over his heart. “I’m crushed. I thought a ride with me on Magnum Force would win her over.”

  He was being so m