“I think so? Nothing hurts right now.” Joy sighs. “I just want to have a good day today.”

He grins. “I’m sure I can help with that.”

Joy feels herself smiling—every part of her down to the tips of her toes, tingling with excitement. Her days with Fox were numbered from the beginning and now she’s eagerly anticipating what number four will bring.

Malcolm finds a parking spot a few blocks away from the strip. Summer slips on her sunglasses. “I love being a tourist.”

The shops are a mix of standard, cute, kitschy, and downright strange—everything housed in brick buildings. Almost all of them are two stories tall with balconies and shingles out front, their company names emblazoned in an array of fonts. It reminds Joy of a stereotypical Wild West setting. Especially when they get to the horses tied to posts and hooked to carriages for rides.

There are museums, jewelers, and saloons; places where you can take old-timey photos and get tattoos; coffee shops, bakeries, and an ice-cream parlor; and restaurants boasting their world-famous specialties with strange names like May’s Bottom Butter Brew and Kitchen Sink Spaghetti. Street vendors sell even more food, like cinnamon churros, hot dogs, and roasted corn on the cob dusted with parmesan cheese, and fun items like bubble wands, wildlife stuffed animals, and attraction maps.

Within the first five minutes, Joy pulls Fox into a photo booth, swinging the curtain closed behind them. She demands for him to, “Smile, damn it!” after each flash, only to end up cackling at how he manages to be even stonier than usual just to spite her. For the last shot, she drapes herself over him, pressing a smiling kiss onto his cheek.

“For you.” Joy hands Fox the completed photo strip. He takes it, carefully folds it in half along one of the white spaces, and tucks it into his wallet.

They split an oversize salty soft pretzel drenched in mustard and two different kinds of ice-cream sandwiches, and ditch Summer and Malcolm for an hour to go on a private carriage ride around the train depot. When it’s over, Fox texts Summer—they join them in watching a performance of an Old West shoot-out.

Later, Fox buys Joy a deer stuffed animal in secret, presenting it right as she’s in the middle of chugging a root beer float for a restaurant’s sidewalk competition. She thanks him through the brain freeze and then blames him for making her get second place.

Summer says, “Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It’ll make it pass faster.”

Joy tries. “It’s not working. Holy god. Ow.” She sucks in a breath, rubbing her forehead.

“Where should we go now? We have a lunch reservation soon, right, Malcolm?”

Malcolm nods, still not speaking.

Summer continues, “I’ve eaten way too much street food, so I want to walk some more to make room.” She taps her stomach.