"Another bean bag in the basket and I do believe that makes me the winner," Edison said.

He turned in a victorious circle, proudly holding his arms outs. His only audience was Kit and the small boy he had been competing against. Kit applauded as the little boy began to argue. Edison rumpled the boy's hair.

"Better luck next time kid," he said.

He swaggered over to the game operator and accepted the star in his booklet with a smug smile.

"That's how it's done," he boasted. 

Kit smirked as they left the bean bag toss. "It would have been more impressive if you weren't competing against a seven year old."

"Hey! A win, is a win," he argued.

He put his arm around her shoulders and their steps quickly synced up. 

They had moved through the tents around the fountain, dominating the ring-toss, bowling and water gun games. By the time they left the town circle, they had filled half of their booklets. They moved up and down along the side of the town hall, hunting for the games among the craft tents. They ran into people from the group everywhere they turned, but Edison was on a mission and never stopped long enough to talk. 

They were walking through the back tents of woven bracelets and handmade dolls when Kit spotted Amanda. She was with a small group of cheerleaders. Every tent they passed people called out to her, greeting her with excitement. 

"I thought Jaxon was joking when he said Amanda was the town sweetheart," Kit said to Edison. 

He glanced around until he found Amanda a few tents away. He watched her interactions for a moment.

"Everyone loves Amanda," he said. "She is on almost all the town committees. Her dad owns the local car dealership, and has donated a lot to the town. Her family is dedicated to helping keep Lighthouse Point thriving." 

"I didn't realize she was so noble," Kit said.

They both continued to watch Amanda. She looked more in her element than on the football field waving her pom poms. Kit knew this was what Edison was talking about when he said no one ever leaves. It wasn't hard to imagine Amanda's dreams consisted of finding a husband, buying a house with the picket fence, and raising her brood of kids. 

They would go to Pete's in the summer and Al's during the football season. Her kids would attend the same high school, and every time she attended the football games she would be reminded of her own glory days on the cheer squad. She would follow in her parents footsteps, and her children, in hers. 

And then it all clicked into place for Kit. All Edison had said on the water tower suddenly made perfect sense as she played out Amanda's ideal future. Just imagining it, she could feel the noose of a mundane life tightening around her neck. She turned away, unable to imagine the dull existence a moment longer. She grabbed Edison's hand and gave it a squeeze as she pulled him to the next game. 

A few tents away they found a dart toss. The game was manned by two older women with curly, white hair. They both smiled brightly as Kit and Edison walked up.

"Edison dear, how are you?" one of the women asked. She wore thin glasses and laughing wrinkles. 

He smiled warmly. "I'm doing good. How are you, Joyce?"

"Wonderful. Isn't it a beautiful day?" Joyce said. Her voice was sweet, and she seemed to sing her words. 

"Isn't it just grand when the whole towns comes together?" the other woman said. She had a flag pin on her white shirt, and a blue and white striped headband. 

"It is." He turned to Kit. "This is Joyce," he pointed to the woman with glasses," and this is Valarie. Joyce works with my mom at the bank," he explained. "And Valarie lives next door."

Both women turned their attention to Kit and smiled.

"Who is your friend?" Joyce asked. 

"This is my Kittery Maine," he said. 

Both women's eyes went up at the silly name, but Kit didn't notice. Her eyes had jumped to Edison at the possessive term he had used. A warm feeling swelled inside her and her cheeks suddenly felt warm. She quickly looked back at the woman and smiled. The word had been possessive, but it hadn't felt controlling or dominating. It felt oddly reassuring. Steadying. 

"Kittery Maine? That's an interesting name," Joyce said. 

"Are you from Maine?" Valarie asked. 

"California," Kit said, picking the first state that popped into her mind. "But my parents are risk takers. They decided to throw a dart at a map and name me after wherever it landed. Thank goodness it didn't land on Duluth." 

Edison chuckled. "You would have made a cute Duluth," he said. 

Both women looked confused. "Well..." Valarie said. 

"We are happy you are here," Joyce said. "Are you just visiting?"

"Yes. My cousin Jaxon lives here," Kit said. 

"Oh Jaxon. He is such a nice boy," Valarie said. 

"And so handsome," Joyce added. Kit laughed. Jaxon would be pleased to know his charms extended beyond the high school girls. "Edison is also very handsome," she added. 

"Joyce has always had a crush on me," he whispered loudly to Kit.

"He was the cutest kid," Valarie added. "He used to run around in his diaper all the time. I would look out my window and there would be Edison, playing in his front yard in his diaper." Kit laughed. "He is still running around without any clothes on." There was a joking twinkle in Valarie's eyes as she teased him. 

"Hey! I wear shorts now," he argued. 

"Only sometimes," Valarie whispered to Kit. Both women hooted with laughter. 

Edison just laughed and shook his head. When Valarie and Joyce stopped laughing, Kit and Edison were able to complete the dart toss. Kit received loud applause when she beat Edison and they both received stars for their booklets. 

An hour later, Edison and Kit had a sticker in every spot in their booklet, plus an extra dozen on the back. The game official seemed confounded by the extra stickers, but Edison and Kit just gave innocent shrugs when questioned about it. They weren't going to tattletale on Joyce and Valarie. As the games had been winding down, they had circled back around to Joyce and Valarie's tent, and both women had given Edison and Kit all their extra stickers. 

They would have won anyways, but the extra stickers from Joyce and Valarie made their victory a definite. When the winner was announced as a tie, Kit and Edison were brought up onto the steps of the town hall. Kit stood proudly as the game official placed a plastic, gold medal around her neck. She raised it victorious into the air while the crowd applauded. 

As they left the steps, workers appeared to collapse the tents in the town circle and bring in long tables and chairs. The crowd seemed to grow in size and noise as the air began to smell like a mixture of sizzling meat and fried food. Smoke began to billow out of a group of tents and people began to form lines. 

In the food frenzy, Kit lost Edison. She searched among the crowd, but was barely able to move. Once she pushed free, she spotted a large group of Edison's friends, and Jaxon was among them. Someone had stuck a small flag through the button hole of his polo. His lazy gaze landed on her as she walked up, then to the medal around her neck.

"What poor child did you steal that from?" he asked. 

She grinned. "She looked about five. She cried, but hey, life's not fair."

He nodded solemnly. "The faster they learn, the quicker they can settle into being pessimists for the rest of their lives."

She reached out and pinched his cheeks. "And no one learned as early as you dear cousin."

He slapped her hand away. "No, thanks to you. Life was grand, I was living the dream until you came along and stole the title of baby grandchild." Jaxon recited it all in a flat tone, never once letting the dramatic nature of his words slip into his voice. "Now, I'm moody and mysterious and all the girls love it. It's a heavy burden I carry." 

Kit laughed. "Speaking of the burden of female attention, I met some of your admirers today." 

He gave a lazy smirk. "You'll have to be specific, my admirers are abundant."

"You mentioned that before," she joked. "Valarie and Joyce." He shrugged and shook his head. "About my height, great smiles, white hair," she added. 

He nodded in recognition. "Val and Joyce. They are long time fans."

She shook her head. "Is there any female who doesn't fall for your brooding, moody, ever-present glower?"

"This is on you," he said. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "I could have been a happy, boring youngest grandchild. I could have had an optimistic life view if you hadn't ruined my dream of living a spoiled life." His voice was harsh, but he was smiling. 

His raised voice caught the attention of the group around them. Everyone looked over curiously, wondering what problem Kit was causing now. The girl's exchanged knowing looks, as if they had predicted she would cause a scene, and they prepared to sit back and watch. But their hopes were cut short when Edison cut in. 

He scooped Kit up into a victorious hug, spinning her around. This caused the reason behind the girl's annoyed glares to shift from Kit's attention grabbing antics, to her attention grabbing effect on just one boy.

When Kit landed back on her feet, she wasn't aware of the girl's glares with Edison by her side.

"I found you," he said. "I looked for you near the food tents. I figured your stomach had led you that way."

"And I figured you would be with the closest group of girls, so I came here," she said. 

He grinned. "I guess we were both wrong. I bought you a cookie."

Her face lit up. "Oh happy day!"

She kissed his cheek while accepting the cookie. 

His grin grew wider. "If I knew cookies made you this happy, I would have bought you cookies a long time ago. I would have bought you a million cookies."

She took a big bite and talked while chewing. "A million cookies, what a dream!"

"This is extremely boring," Jaxon interjected. He snapped a few times to get their attention. "Can we cut the googly eyes and cookie exchange and get on to some real celebration?" he said flatly. 

"Ahh Jaxon." She threw her arm around her cousin. "Your joyful enthusiasm is celebration enough."

He stole part of her cookie. She took another bite and offered some to Edison. Drew joined the group and called out for everyone's attention.

"Alright, who is driving with me?" he shouted.

Everyone began to talk at once, arranging who would drive with whom. Edison, Kit and Jaxon stood in the back of the group, sharing the cookie. 

Amanda popped out of the crowd and walked towards them. "Eddie, wanna head out?" she asked. She jingled her keys. "I'm parked just around the corner since I was here so early." 

"I have my truck and I'm giving Kit a ride," he said. "Jaxon, do you need a ride? Amanda is parked just around the corner." Edison took Kit's hand and began to lead her away. "We'll see you guys at Drew's." 

He didn't wait for an answer from either Amanda or Jaxon as he walked away. Kit glanced back to find Amanda watching them leave with an angry glare. But Jaxon flicked her ponytail and she giggled and playfully swatted his hand away. 

Kit and Edison's high from their victory helped them keep up a steady stream of silly conversation for the first part of the drive. But as their energy ebbed, they slipped into a comfortable silence until Edison began to fidget with the radio. He quickly skipped between the channels a few times before turning it off completely. He rolled his window down, then changed his mind and rolled it back up. He played a beat on the dashboard, then stopped. He cleared his throat a few times, rolled his window down then stopped.

"So..." he finally started. "What was with you the other day?" 

"Hmmm...?" Kit murmured.

She kept her eyes on road. She knew what he was talking about, but she had been hoping she wouldn't have to give an answer for her somber mood. 

"Two days ago," he clarified. 

"That was a fun day. Who knew a twelve year old's party hunt could be so much fun?" she said. "Although, I'm still burping up that Extreme Punch. I'm pretty sure it was toxic."

Her words ran into each other as she rambled, trying to get the conversation a few topics away from the one Edison had brought up. 

"I probably have ulcers because of it," she continued. "I'm lucky it didn't eat me from the inside out. Do you think it could be weaponized? I bet we could use it in an alien attack. Some people believe aliens are real. Some people think the world is flat. Albert did." 

She stopped talking, finding herself out of breath. She took a deep breath, and waited for the typical amused response from Edison. But she didn't get one. He didn't say anything. She looked at him.

He was resting back in his seat, giving her an entertained look. She looked back at the road and pursed her lips. She had the sinking feeling her strategy had backfired. She kept her mouth shut tight, determined not be the one to break the silence. 

He cleared his throat but there wasn't any hesitancy in it like before.

"That was entertaining," he said. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Hmmm...?" she repeated. 

"I think this might be the cutest you have ever been," he said. The statement surprised her. She looked at him, finding laughter in his gaze. He grinned. "It's adorable that you think you can change the subject with silly stories."

"Hey! Albert wouldn't appreciate that. He didn't think it was a silly story."

His soft chuckle had conflicting effects on her. The sound was like a favorite song that had the power to touch something deep in her soul. She felt pure joy at his laugh, even as the feeling of defeat came rushing in. He had seen through her attempt to distract him. 

"You think I'm cute?" she threw out as a last ditch effort. 

"Very. Now, about the other day?"

"What day?" 

He laughed loudly. Again, she couldn't help but smile as she was swept up in a happy feeling. He reached over and took her hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

She shrugged. "I dunno. It was an off day. I don't like Mondays," she said. 

"Nope. Try again." 

"I was on my period."

She crossed her fingers, hoping the awkward topic would scare him away. But he seemed to find this answer the most entertaining. His joyous laugh resounded throughout the car. His laugh was so cheering, she couldn't even be mad he didn't scare easily. 

"I've been around enough girls to know that a cheesy birthday hunt and Extreme Punch can't change someone's mood on their period," he laughed. "But if that were true, it would make life so much easier for us guys." He gave her hand another squeeze. "Now....the other day?" 

She sucked in a breath and was surprised to find a small nervous bubble was growing in her belly.

"Honestly, it was just an off day." He started to say something, but she squeezed his hand, letting him know she wasn't finished. "Jaxon and I visited our grandparent's grave the day before and it put me in a funk." Her voice dropped in volume as she spoke. 

"They were amazing and I miss them," she said. She hesitated, not sure if she should voice the thoughts that followed, but she finally did. "I've never been able to wrap my head around death. It doesn't comply with your plans. It does as it pleases, and only leaves victims in it's wake." 

Her last words hung heavy in the air. The space between them had suddenly turned serious. She cleared her throat, swallowing down the bubble of emotion rising. She coughed and waited for Edison to say something. Anything. 

"I'm so sorry," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

She shrugged off his apology and shut out all thoughts other than the road before her. "It's okay. They passed away a few years ago. They lived good lives."

"I know. I remember them," he said. 

"You knew them?"

"Everyone knew Henry and Violet." 

She smiled at the familiar way he spoke about them. It didn't surprise her. Her grandparent's had always welcomed everyone into their lives. She shrugged again, as if the action could cast aside all her emotions. 

"So, you found out I'm not always sunshine and waffles," she joked.

She grasped at anything to escape the heavy mood that had fallen down around them. 

"I know life can't always be sunshine and waffles," he said.

His said it in an understanding way, and Kit could see the direction their conversation was going. There were parts of Edison that truly did understand the harder sides of life, but she didn't need to feel understood. Life was hard. She had accepted that fact. 

What she wanted, was to celebrate the Fourth of July to the fullest. She wanted to eat hot dogs until she felt sick and then have an ice cream sundae. She wanted to get caught up in the patriotic fervor and the firework excitement and keep the hard parts of life at bay for another day. 

"But what if life could be waffles and sunshine?" she said. "What if that was all life was? Then you would have time to try every kind of waffle." She spoke excitedly, letting her tone of voice lead her emotions to a cheerier place. 

Edison followed suit. "And what about toppings? Don't forget whip cream or strawberries," he said. 

"Or chocolate chips."

"And how could you not mention peanut butter cups?!" 

"Or chocolate sauce."

"And candy! The options are limitless!" he said. 

They were still throwing out different types of waffles and toppings when they arrived at Drew's. "Kit-Kat and peanut butter cups!" Kit suggested.

"We'll call it the Kittery Maine Spectacular," Edison said. "We can open a waffle house and call it Sunshine and Waffles and only sell waffles. But we'll sell every kind of waffle."

"We can hire Roger as the head cook," she said.

They instinctively reached for each others hands as they headed towards the group gathered near Drew's dock. 

"People will flock to our waffle house from around the world," he said. 

"Obviously. Who doesn't like waffles?"

They laughed and gratefully let their previous conversation fade into background.

**********************************************************************

My wonderful waffles!
(I had to since we were in the waffle mood! RichieHomes You still need to try one!)

Who thinks Kit was avoiding the question and why?

Also who is joining me to visit this Waffle House??

Okay! Now I have a sad warning for you, this book is a lot shorter than my other ones. So we are slowly moving into the end of the story, just so your heart isn't broken when it gets to the end and you're expecting like twenty more chapters.

I'm sorry it's that way, but life will go on! I will post another book! Because not even Grant Gustin holding a gallon of ice cream inviting me to share it with him could stop me from writing!

😂 Oh gosh who am I kidding?! Of course I would choose Grant and the ice cream!

One thing you want to do before you die?

平和 愛 アイス (Japanese)

Random fact: did you know the earth is actually flat?
Don't believe me? Look it up. 😉