As they’d crossed the border from Texas to Louisiana, she’d had to conclude that she wasn’t the girl who could hold a grudge. Not when there were places to buy daiquiris from. She’d actually managed to pass by a bunch of drive-in daiquiri places and not buy one. Or four. New Orleans had gone by and she’d still held her tongue.

And then she’d looked up from the book she’d been staring at and seen a magical place. It was like something out of a fairy tale, the trees rising from the water as though they floated there. Once she’d seen Chompy, it was over.

She couldn’t help it that she thought the world was pretty cool. Maybe that made her a nerd, and it definitely made her a bad brooder, but she couldn’t help it.

Besides, the whole time she was brooding, all she could think about was the look on Remy’s handsome face when he’d said those words to her in the hospital.

Please don’t give up on me.

She stared out the window of the truck. He’d stopped in the middle of the road. Not at a stop sign or a red light. Just stopped and looked up at that sign. For at least a solid minute.

Someone honked behind them.

“I think we’re blocking the lane,” she pointed out.

He sat there, staring at the sign.

She heard the peeling of wheels and an SUV drove around them, a fist shaking their way.

And there appeared to be a Ferris wheel. It lit up and started moving in the distance. Ferris wheel. Did that mean carnival food? Because again, she’d eaten like an actual adult all day and that meant she was super hungry.

There was a knock on the window and she nearly jumped out of her seat. There was a man in khakis and a greenish hat that proclaimed him Sheriff of Papillon Parish. He was a big guy who looked like he should be on a football field. Broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, and a jaw cut from granite.

“You all right in there?” The sheriff stood up a little taller. “Remy Guidry. Remy, my friend, you get your butt out of that truck and go and see what your family and friends have done to welcome you home. What are you doing sitting there when we’ve got beer to drink and women to dance with?”

Lisa leaned forward. “Is there cotton candy? Wait, funnel cakes. I would rather have funnel cakes.” She winced. She had to at least pretend to be something of an adult. “Okay, corn dog first because I skipped dinner and it has some protein.”

Remy frowned her way. “You said you weren’t hungry.”