Mike didn’t let him see her frown. Forey hadn’t asked Hayes a single question. She’d been very polite to him, but not the least invasive or inquisitive.

When they got to Forey’s booth, Mike stood back and watched the women. None were under seventy and they were all flirting with Griff. He said he liked pie better than cake, so he was given a paper plate with three kinds of pie. They waited for him to take his first bite, but he stopped, fork in the air. “I just want to be sure that this fruit is from Heritage Harvests.”

“Of course it is!” Forey sounded affronted. The women smiled. A quarter of Mason worked for the company.

“Truly delicious.” Griff ate all three slices and the women were beaming at him.

He told them thanks, put a twenty in the donation box and walked away with Mike. “I am stuffed! You Kansans sure know how to eat.”

“Healthy begins in Kansas, then spreads across the nation like a sunflower.”

He laughed. “I’m beginning to believe it. I saw you playing the games with your boyfriend. Did you beat him?”

“I didn’t play any of them with Hayes.”

He stopped walking and looked at her. “Why not?”

Her lips tightened. “I didn’t want to.”

He shrugged. “You aren’t any good at them, are you? You only play games where you’re sure you can win. I understand that.” He looked around. “Think I can find anybody here who’d offer me any competition?”

As she walked past Griff, she said, “I’ll beat you at everything.”

Grinning widely, he followed her.

For the next hour, she and Griff battled it out. There wasn’t a game they didn’t try. He was going to pay for them, but the look Mike gave him made them take turns at paying.

Mike told Griff about Vera on the ladder and Jared and his sons blowing up the balloons. Griff listened eagerly. “That’s the kind of story I want to hear. They make her human.”

She thrust a stuffed monkey into his arms, along with the four he was already holding. “She is very human. The cellar proves that.” She gasped at her slip.

Griff’s eyes widened. “What is that?”

“Nothing. Let’s get rid of these.”

They went to the fire department booth and dropped off the prizes in their donation box. The firefighters teased Mike. “Stay and help us. We’ll lend you an apron.”

“And I’m to be shirtless, too?” she teased back.

“Of course. It’s all for charity.”

“Maybe,” she said. “I could—”

Griff spoke up. “I can beat you at the ring toss. Let’s go.”

“Looks like someone’s jealous,” one of the men said.

“So, Mike, you got two boyfriends now? Wanna make it three?”

“I’ll tell Charlotte on you. Save me some burnt ends,” she said. Laughing, she turned away to leave with Griff. “You aren’t really, you know, are you?”

“Jealous?” He snorted in derision. “That would imply ownership.”