A Date with a Turkey (The Dating 11) - Page 3

Jeremy chuckles. “Sounds like my mother. It turns out she was right, though. I met Kaylee at the Turkey Festival. She was visiting family over in Campton Hollow when they decided to come down to Plymouth to check out the festival for the day.”

It’s such a sweet story too. Kaylee says it was love at first sight. She drove down every day of the festival to see him. They were twenty years old, and she was visiting her family during college break. After that week, they stayed in touch and made it work until she transferred schools to be closer to him.

“I don’t think my story is going to end up like yours, Jeremy. I didn’t have many friends in school, and I was made fun of for being homely and plain.”

Jeremy bursts out laughing. “Well, you’re not like that now. You’re edgy and full of fire. There’s not a guy in this town that would pass up the chance to go on a date with you.”

He parks the ambulance, and I smile at him. “Thanks, Jeremy. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” He opens his door and waves me out. “Now come on, we got work to do.” We get out, and he sets up the canopy while I drag out a couple of our medical bags. Over the years I’ve attended the festival, there’s never been a time when paramedics were needed. I look around at all the different booths of various foods, crafts, and treats, and there are people everywhere. The festival has grown a lot over the years.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” The voice comes from a man at the podium in the center of the park. He waves at the crowd and smiles as everyone gathers around. “I’m Mayor Jim Hayes. The Turkey Trot is going to start in five minutes. Would all the runners please get into position at the starting gate.”

I’m curious to see who all is competing. When I was younger, I wanted to run it but was always too shy to do it. I hate it took me so long to break out of my shell. Jeremy stands with me and scans the lineup.

“Nice. I bet you’ll recognize a couple of the racers. You graduated with at least one of them.”

The sun peeks out from behind the clouds, making it hard to see, but I get a good look at the contestants as soon as it disappears again. Jeremy is right. I do recognize one of the racers. He’s none other than Kyler Groff, star quarterback in high school who never gave me a second glance. I wasn’t in the cool crowd like he was. I was one of the people he and his friends would make fun of. I couldn’t wait to graduate just to get away from them all. And, of course, time has been good to him. He looks the same as he did in high school, only now there’s a little bit of gray in his light brown hair. I’m too far away to see the color of his eyes, but I know they’ll still be the same hypnotic blue as before. All the girls used to go crazy over him.

At that moment, it’s as if Kyler can hear my thoughts. He turns his head my way, and our eyes connect. He smiles at me like he used to at all the girls in school. Sorry, buddy, but that’s not going to work on me. “Oh yeah, I recognize golden boy,” I say, making sure Kyler can see I’m nowhere near interested. I stare back at him, unamused by his flirtatious grin. I hope he breaks his leg.

The mayor clears his throat. “You have five seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two. One!” The race is on.2KylerFinally, the Turkey Trot is here. I have trained all year for this event, and I fully intend to be the first one to cross the finish line. Okay, all year is a slight exaggeration, but ever since the gym next to my office opened, I’ve been going at least three times a week with this race in mind. Back in the day, I was a star athlete who could run circles around my competition. I was the same in college, but adulthood is taking its toll, and I’m determined to strengthen my core and get my physique back. My trainer tells me I need different goals, though, because looking I did in high school and college is probably a reach. I’m going to prove him wrong.

Mayor Jim Hayes tells everyone to get to the starting line. I’ve been standing here for about twenty minutes, stretching my arms and legs, and jumping up and down to keep them warm. I adjust the headband I wore for all my football games and track meets. It has never failed me, and I doubt it’ll let me down now.

Tags: Heidi McLaughlin The Dating Romance
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