First Kiss Last by Sara Miller (read e book .TXT) 📗

turned and saw Sky had followed her. Cade stood farther back with a teary-eyed Liam in his arms. Sky looked uncomfortable. “I guess you can come if you want,” she shrugged.

“Are you sure?” Leah double-checked. Cade came up behind his daughter. When she nodded, he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She looked up and gave her dad an uneasy smile.

“So we are all going?” Liam asked hopefully, still sniffling.

Sky nodded decisively.

“Yes,” Leah willingly agreed to the change in plans, “We’re all going.”

Liam let out a whoop of delight and Cade laughed. Even Sky smiled. It was a start.

♦

Climbing into Cade’s truck, Sky complained about having to sit in the backseat with her brother. She scowled when her father assisted Leah with a boost to her butt. Sky pouted when Cade turned on a country radio station and rolled her eyes as Liam continued to talk about his new favorite animal, the capybara. But other than those awkward moments, Leah enjoyed the ride. Especially since Cade held her hand the whole time.

As they waited to get their tickets, Cade took her hand again. Liam held her other hand, bouncing up and down with anticipation. Sky was still less than thrilled. She stood several feet apart, slightly turned away, arms crossed over her chest. Leah saw the visible strain on Cade’s face.

The line moved forward and they got their wristbands and map. When they made it out the other side of the ticket building, Leah took it all in: a giant corn field, a picnic area, and a giant catapult far off to one side. She heard a rumble and turned to see an approaching tractor. So they have hayrides too, she thought.

Everyone rushed around happily. Truth was, Leah had never been to a corn maze and wasn’t sure why walking through a corn field would be exciting. But the Emerson family and many others seemed really into it. Even Sky dropped her attitude. She was smiling and scanning the crowds. Maybe this would work!

“So what first?” she asked Liam, her ally.

“Corn maze! Then donuts and cider. Yum! Sometimes we do the hayride, but not always.” He bounced, pulling on her arm. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Leah winced. Thankfully Cade and Liam did not notice. Unfortunately, Sky did. She smirked. Leah felt annoyed. Not really wanting her along was one thing, but happy she was in pain was another.

The girl ran hot and cold but maybe it was just a teen thing. Leah wished Sky was not with them and instantly felt bad. She sighed.

“What?” Cade asked, squeezing her other hand.

Sky’s eyes widened, smirk now gone.

“Nothing. I just think it’s nice you have this tradition and I’m glad to be here with you.” She looked up at Cade and smiled. Most of her answer was genuine but the “nothing” part had been a lie and from the look on Cade’s face he knew it. He shifted his gaze momentarily to his daughter, then back to Leah.

“I’m glad you’re here too.” He kissed her lightly. There was a noise from Sky’s vicinity but they ignored it.

“Can we go now?!” The patience of a six year old only lasted so long.

“Yes, we can! Everyone got a crayon?” Cade asked.

“Uh . . .” Leah stared at Cade in confusion. “A crayon?”

“I’ll go get her one.” Sky’s voice sounded as if she was auditioning for a role as a martyr. She jetted off toward the ticket building before anyone could get a word out.

“You gotta have a crayon, Miss Leah,” Liam’s little voice was earnest. “Because when we get to the special spots in the maze, we put our paper on the sign and rub our crayons over it and it makes a picture. Longways, like this, right Dad?” Liam held out his own green crayon, demonstrating the technique.

“That’s right, bud, good job,” Cade nodded.

Liam grinned proudly before continuing. “And the pictures give us clues to solve the puzzle. If you don’t have a crayon, you can’t help us solve the puzzle! You do wanna help, don’t you?” His big brown eyes looked up at her hopefully.

“Of course I do,” she nodded.

“Yes!” Liam whooped and danced around. Leah laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Show her, Dad,” Liam pointed to the paper his dad was holding.

Cade handed Leah what she had assumed was just a map of the maze. Instead, she discovered several pages. In addition to the map on the back, the pages held nine squares waiting for the rubbings Liam had explained, plus a fill-in-the-blank section—all designed to reveal a secret word. The entire activity revolved around a train theme. Glancing at the map, she realized the maze was in the shape of a train engine, complete with puffs of smoke.

“Wow,” Leah was impressed.

“Here she comes!” Liam exclaimed, jumping up and down at his sister’s return.

Leah handed the papers back to Cade, thankful she understood what the crayons were for.

“Got it?” Cade asked.

“Yup.” Sky approached Leah and extended her arm, fist closed. Leah held out her hand and watched as Sky dropped the ugliest nub of crayon Leah had ever seen into her waiting palm. It was less than an inch long, had no wrapping left, and was a puke shade of yellow.

“Thank you,” Leah forced a smile, determined to be polite. She slipped the bit of crayon into her pocket before Liam or Cade could see it. Sky ignored her thanks and turned to her father.

“Um, Dad?” Sky’s voice was sweet, too sweet. Leah saw Cade stiffen, his guard up. “I saw some of my friends,” she pointed at a group of three girls behind her who smiled and waved. “They are getting ready to go on the hayride and I was wondering, can I go with them? Please?” She bit her lip and waited.

“Sky . . .” Cade shook his head.

“She has to go with us, Dad! It’s tradition!” Liam whined.

“But Dad—”

“Hey, what’s that?” Leah interrupted, pointing at the giant catapult in the distance.

“Huh?” all three Emersons spoke at once. In the midst