Chapter 16: Vanilla Swirl on His Dimple
VANESSA BELMONT
At the lemonade stand, Ollie paused as he looked at something over my shoulder. "Is that Kevin Jang?"
I turned and followed his gaze. Kevin Jang, mouth crusted with cinnamon and sugar, held a foot-long churro in each hand.
"Can you die from a gluten allergy?" I asked.
"I guess Kevin wants to find out."
"I really hope it’s not a dead-body kind of afternoon," I said.
"I’ll drink to that."
We downed our lemonades and tossed the plastic cups in a nearby trash can. I heard the trill of Ollie’s cell phone. He took it out of the front pocket of his cargo shorts. "Hello? Yes. What?" He pointed at the phone to indicate he needed to take the call and walked toward the manse.
I was on my own. I wandered around the party zone. Bouncy houses. Pony rides. Carnival games. Ice cream carts. Entertainers. In other words, a blowout bash for Ollie’s nieces.
I came upon a booth serving alcohol and got myself a strawberry margarita. I took my new sweet tequila friend with me to watch people play the carnival games.
"You’re Vanessa Belmont."