Arthur took the maybe-dragon beside me. “Do you want me to snap a picture of you?” he asked, nodding to me on the horse.

“No, that’s okay. My hair has too much static.” I ran my hand over it and parts of it floated outward to prove my point.

“That’s half the fun.” He grinned, leaning his cheek against the pole.

“That’s okay.”

“No one will know who took the photo.”

Our eyes met and I realized he was offering to keep himself anonymous. As if I wouldn’t want anyone to know the two of us were out socializing.

I felt a twinge in my heart. “I wouldn’t care if they did,” I said, and caught the barest glimpse of relief in his eyes. I cocked my head. “Did you think I would?”

He shrugged. “I noticed you haven’t updated any of your posts anywhere since you’ve been back home.”

I tipped my head to one side. “You follow me?”

“No. I did a virtual drive-by.”

“Like a creeper,” I teased.

His lips twitched. “Absolutely.”

“Well, for the record, I haven’t updated anything because . . .” I’ve been too up in my own head. “. . . I’ve been too busy. Haven’t even checked in.”

Other than Twitter for basic news purposes, even though that was usually too depressing. Someone somewhere was always doing something to piss off someone else and it gave me a headache. Besides, almost none of my friends used it. I usually checked out the full spectrum of social media, even Facebook, though that was mainly for keeping up with some of the older relatives. But I didn’t live on it like most of my peers.

“That explains it,” he said, his tone breezy.

“Do you want a pic?”

He hesitated and to my amazement I realized he did.

Before he could answer, I hopped off the horse and came over to him, taking out my phone to get a bunch of shots. He was awkward at first, no surprise, but then startled me by throwing out a perfect Blue Steel, which cracked me up and that earned a genuine smile in return. With that cheek dimple. Which I caught on camera.

And in the process, lost my funky horse. A small boy with a Where’s Waldo red-and-white knit cap jumped on it and his mother moved to help keep him in place. A quick glance around and I realized there were no more open rides.

Which is when the carousel creaked to life.

Arthur pushed himself up as if to give me his spot, but this time I held up my hand.

“Stay,” I insisted.

Instead, I grabbed the pole of the dragon (?) with one hand and its nose with the other then planted my feet as the speed started to pick up. Arthur reached down to grab hold of my wrist to help me with balance and I had a flashback to the pond at Barrington.