“And now for first place.” The mayor held up the blue ribbon for everyone to see. “That honor goes to our very own Hannah Bell. Congratulations, Hannah.”

I won? I really won?

Honestly, she’d never thought she’d win. She’d done it because she’d wanted to be a part of the community and to join in the fun. But winning, well, it made her feel like a kid again.

“Hannah?” The mayor prompted.

Ethan placed a hand on her back and gently pushed. “Go on.”

Once she got in front of everyone, the mayor extended the blue ribbon, a white envelope with the prize money, and the mic. The mic? He expected her to speak.

She accepted the ribbon and envelope. But when she didn’t readily take the mic, the mayor gestured for her to take it. “Say a few words. I’m sure everyone wants to hear from the person who helped plan this amazing day.” And then the mayor turned to the crowd. “Ethan, why don’t you come up here too?” When Ethan shook his head, the mayor said, “You aren’t going to make Hannah do this all on her own, are you?”

That was all he needed to say to put Ethan in motion. Thankfully. Hannah loved interacting with the community, but she had a thing about speaking in front of large audiences.

Once Ethan was standing next to her, she backed away when the mayor handed over the mic to Ethan. “Um, thanks.”

“Louder,” Mayor Banks said.

Ethan cleared his throat. “Thank you. My aunt will be so excited. Birdie misses you all. And she can’t wait to get home. Hannah and I were honored to be able to work on this amazing festival. We hope you all enjoyed it.”

A loud cheer rose in the crowd.

Without another word, Ethan dropped the mic into the mayor’s hand as though it were a snake that was about to bite him. And then Hannah walked away with Ethan by her side.

They meandered around Beachcomber Park where the outdoor games had been set up for the kids. There were a number of corn hole tosses, a couple of volleyball nets, a couple badminton nets, an obstacle course, and a mini-derby car race track. There weren’t prizes for those games. They were just there so families could continue to enjoy themselves at their leisure.

They continued walking. They stopped now and then to talk to people. Some of them, Ethan knew. Others, Hannah introduced him to. It was nice that he was starting to recognize faces and actually be able to put names to the faces. She smiled. He was becoming a regular part of the community.

Nikki rushed up to hug each of them. She said she had the best day and hated to leave, but Sam was there to pick her up.

As Nikki went to meet her father, Mayor Banks approached them. “Well done, you two. I have to admit when I heard you were making changes to the original lineup for the festival, I had my concerns. But now that I’ve see it and watched the town’s response, you both did a great job.”