Dandelions on the Road Read online

  “Thanks for coming,” Eva said as the men gathered around her. “The station set up quite a feast for us. Let’s take some time to enjoy the food and chat. There’s a blanket over there and I’d like to have a little time with each of you alone at some point as well.”

  Eva led the men to the shelter and grabbed a plate. She would have preferred to let them go first, but she knew no man on a date would allow that, so she went through the food line and took a seat at the center of the picnic table.

  Kurt joined her on one side and Steve sat on the other. Pete grabbed space directly across from her and Cane and Trent surrounded him. Eva surveyed the table. Pete’s plate was overflowing on both sides. He dug into his sandwich with gusto.

  Eva picked up her sandwich and took a small bite. It was good. “How have the people in your lives reacted to the news that you were coming on the show?” she asked. It was hard to make conversation with five men at once. General questions were best. She would dig into deeper things with them on an individual level.

  “My family wasn’t surprised,” Steve spoke first. “They want me to find someone to complete my life and they’ve always thought I would be good on TV. If nothing else, they knew I’d have a good time.”

  A few of the men laughed with Eva. Steve struck her as an out-going, up-for-anything sort of guy. She was certain hanging out with him would be fun no matter what they did.

  “What about you, Trent?” she asked. He was the polar opposite of Steve, much more shy and reserved.

  “My friends were shocked,” he answered. “They thought it was a joke or something when I told them, but then they remembered that I don’t tell jokes.”

  Eva chuckled. He was humorous even if it wasn’t his intention.

  Trent had the floor and could have elaborated and kept the attention on himself, but instead he went back to eating.

  “Pete?” Eva inquired.

  Pete covered his mouth with his hand and stifled a burp. “Excuse me. Yeah, my buddies were kind of surprised, I think because I go on plenty of dates. They were like, why the show, man?”

  Eva detected a hint of arrogance, but she was willing to overlook that for the time being. It was early in all of their relationships. Pete’s true colors were bound to hide for a while.

  “Everyone I knew was absolutely floored.” Kurt cut in once Pete finished his sentence.

  “Why’s that?” Eva was curious about Kurt. He talked about life’s higher purpose a lot and she wanted to dive deeper into his background.

  “I’ll tell you the whole long story another time,” he said. “Suffice it to say, I left a lot behind to be here.”

  Eva tilted her head in wonder. She made a mental note to ask him about that when they were alone. She definitely wanted to figure out what made him tick, but for now, she would let him get away with the answer he gave.

  “Cane?” Eva turned her attention down the table.

  “I think everyone who’s important in my life understands that I don’t do a big thing like this without a reason. And when they found out you were the bachelorette in charge…well, they knew what the reason was.”

  Eva threw her hand up to her chest. She was touched and unsure how to react in front of four other men.

  “That’s very sweet Cane.” Eva gazed into his eyes down the table.

  Pete burped, breaking the connection between the two. “Excuse me…again.”

  Eva spied a playground across the grassy area of the picnic grounds which gave her an idea. The show gave her carte blanche on the dates. They set up the basics, but in terms of what else they would do and how they would entertain themselves, it was up to her.

  “Hey guys,” she said after taking another bite of her sandwich, “I have an idea. I went on a hike with the other group earlier and we had a race to the top of the observation tower in the park. The winner got some extra time with me.”

  “Oh, please tell me we’re going to set up an obstacle course on that playground.” Steve’s enthusiasm for life was contagious.

  Eva laid her hand on his arm. “That’s a really good idea. If we have time, let’s do that, but I had something else in mind. What about a good old fashioned game of hide and seek?”

  Kurt lit up. “That sounds like fun. But if you’re going to say the first one you find is the one that gets more time with you, I’m pretty sure we’ll all hide behind that tree.” He pointed to a new sapling about an inch in diameter halfway between the playground and the picnic area.

  Eva threw her head back and laughed. “Excellent point, Kurt. Let’s confine the game to the playground. And the last person I find is the one who gets the time, okay?”

  “That makes more sense.” Kurt shrugged.

  Eva planned to speak to all of the men individually, but the game would be fun and a way to choose one man for extra time.

  Pete stood abruptly from the table. Eva wasn’t ready for the game to begin. She wanted to chat longer as a group and enjoy the food. She studied his face and realized something was wrong.

  He held one hand over his throat and began beating his chest with a fist. His plate, once full of food, was almost empty.

  Eva leaped to her feet. “Are you choking?” she asked.

  The other four men jumped up as Pete nodded and his face turned a deep shade of red. Trent was closest to Pete and slapped him soundly on the back a couple of times. Pete’s expression reached a new level of panic. Cane elbowed Trent out of the way and wrapped his arms around Pete. He balled his fists in front of the larger man and thrust them up and into his torso.

  Eva held her breath. Mike whispered to a cameraman and the man dropped his equipment and took off running. He was likely going for help, but Pete hadn’t taken a breath in a while. He would pass out soon.

  After a few thrusts, Cane squared his feet behind Pete and gave him another hard Heimlich motion. Pete’s mouth opened wide and what looked like an entire sandwich flew from his lips and catapulted through the air. Everyone watched the sandwich as it tumbled end over end, as if in slow motion…and landed squarely on Eva’s left hiking boot.

  Eva watched Pete gasp for breath. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He nodded, grabbed Cane’s elbow and squeezed. Eva was certain he would thank the man out loud when he caught his breath.

  “That was amazing, Cane. You saved his life.”

  Cane shrugged. “I’m a paramedic.”

  A few of the crew members approached Pete to ensure he was okay. The men sat back down at the table as Pete took a couple of deep breaths.

  Eva looked down at the partially chewed sandwich on her shoe. Gross. Kurt knelt beside her with a napkin in his hand. “Let me get that for you,” he said.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “It’s okay. I have nothing against feet.”

  Eva chuckled. “It’s not my foot I was concerned about.”

  “Oh you mean the half-eaten sandwich?” Kurt winked. “Lucky for you I’m a servant at heart.”

  Eva smiled. “Thank you, Kurt.”

  He wiped her boot a few times after removing the sandwich. She may have to do a little work on it later, but it was much cleaner.

  Once everyone was seated again, Eva sighed. “Don’t feel bad, Pete.” She reached for his hand across the table. “You look like you’re recovering nicely. On the date this morning, one man ended up in the lodge medical clinic.”

  “Really?” he asked.

  Eva nodded. “Poison ivy. At least you should be able to continue on this date.”

  Pete burped. “I think I’ll be fine, thank you.”

  Eva withdrew her hand. They would finish their meal and move on to the game, though she hoped Pete was already full.

  BRIAN REMEMERBED ALL the things that went wrong for Renee Lockhart on the first season of Accept this Dandelion. Things weren’t shaping up much better on season two. Though the mishaps revolved around different men, they were still there. Perhaps the show was cursed.

  As the group finished
their lunch, he drew a few of the men aside for interviews. He talked to Pete first.

  “It was a really good sandwich,” Pete said. “I guess I inhaled it too fast.”

  Inhaled was right…in more ways than one. Brian pulled Cane aside next.

  “I’m no hero,” he said after Brian asked him what it felt like to save the day. “I was just doing what anyone with my training would have done in that situation.”

  The humble paramedic, Brian scoffed. These men weren’t measuring up to his standards. But he wasn’t the one holding the dandelions. Those decisions were up to Eva.

  Once everyone was done eating and Eva seemed to run out of small talk, the group headed over to the playground.

  “I’ll give you till the count of one hundred,” Eva said. “Brian and I will go around the corner of the restroom building and he’ll make sure I don’t peak. The first four guys I find are out. The winner is the last man hiding. He will get to go on a paddleboat ride alone with me. Sound fair?”

  The men agreed and Brian watched their eyes as they searched the playground for spots to hide.

  “Ready? Set…go!” Eva smiled as the men scampered off to hide. She turned to Brian. “Shall we?”

  Brian and a camera operator followed her to the other side of the nearby building. It was a good time to get in a few interview clips. Once they were situated, Brian asked his first burning question. “What were you thinking when that sandwich hit your shoe?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  Eva raised her eyebrows. “My first concern was for Pete, of course. But once I knew he was okay, I think it was something like, ugh, gross.”

  Brian laughed. “Are any of the men on this date standing out to you?”

  “Several, actually. I was really impressed by the way Kurt took it upon himself to clean my shoe. That shows me a lot about his character. And I was so relieved that Cane stepped in to help Pete. I’m anxious to learn more about his training as a paramedic…and him in general.”

  Brian could be mistaken, but he thought he saw a glint of interest in her eye. Cane made an impression on her. And it wasn’t just his heroic sandwich-dislodging rescue.

  “The count to one hundred is probably up.” Brian didn’t want the interview to end, but he was anxious to see where the men had hidden on the children’s playground. “Are you ready to search?”

  Eva’s bright eyes widened. “Absolutely!”

  Brian liked her child-like attitude. She was having fun with the guys. It wasn’t a bunch of stuffy conversations about what the future might hold. She was trying to get to know them in unique ways.

  He followed her back around the corner of the building. Holding a hand over his eyes to shade the sun, he immediately spotted one man…Kurt, he thought.

  Eva jogged over to the playground. She must have spied Kurt as well. He crouched behind a plastic bouncy frog, but his feet showed beneath it. Eva tapped him on the shoulder. “Found you!”

  Brian surveyed the rest of the area and watched Eva find Trent in a nearby tunnel on the ground. Pete had wedged himself under a slide. Eva searched for a few more minutes. Good thing it was a weekday and there weren’t any kids around. Adult men hiding on the equipment would surely disturb child’s play. Steve and Cane were still missing.

  Brian caught a flash of color atop a set of monkey bars. Eva noticed at the same time and tagged Steve. That left Cane. Brian walked toward the middle of the playground. Some of the men were back on the mulch while others stood on the equipment, helping Eva search.

  “I give up,” Steve shouted. “I’m just going to play!” He threw himself down the tallest curly slide in the park.

  “Oof.”

  Steve didn’t come out the other end of the slide right away. Instead, Cane appeared at the bottom followed shortly by Steve. “Found him,” Steve announced.

  Eva rushed over to the two men. “There you are, Cane! You’re the last bachelor hiding. Are you ready for the paddleboat ride?”

  Brian watched Cane offer his elbow to Eva. She threaded her arm through his as they headed off to the small lake on the other side of the picnic area. Brian wondered if she chose a paddleboat ride on purpose. There was no way Mike was letting a camera sit on top of a small boat like that. He would have to film the ride from the deck or the shore. Though there would be plenty of eyes on them, Eva and Cane would have privacy to talk.

  Brian didn’t want to watch. The cameras would do their job and capture all they could. He’d finish his duties and conduct the rest of the interviews while waiting for Eva to return. The date would wrap up soon and they’d all drive back to Omaha. Maybe Eva would share some of the boat ride details on the way home.

  Though unfortunately, it was none of his business.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  EVA CLIMBED INTO the station vehicle with a wide smile on her face. The paddleboat ride with Cane couldn’t have gone better. She’d given him a dandelion after the ride. He was safe from elimination that night. She was physically and mentally exhausted, but she knew she would rally for the evening events.

  Brian closed the driver’s door and started the engine. “Ready to roll?”

  “Home, James.” Eva laughed.

  “So now I’m the chauffeur? What about Accept this Dandelion host extraordinaire?”

  “Sorry.”

  Brian waved his hand. “No offense taken.”

  Eva rested her head against the seat, but turned to chat with Brian. “Did you have a nice afternoon?” she asked.

  Brian snorted. “Me? What about you?”

  “I feel like I’ve been talking about myself all day. I’m spent.” Eva sighed. “How do you put up with those early morning hours every day? Do you ever get used to it?”

  Brian shrugged. “My body acclimated to it eventually, but I think I just got used to being tired more than anything.”

  “You never look tired.” Eva pictured his bright eyes exuding warmth to her both through the TV screen and in person when she came for her interviews.

  “Must be the makeup.” Brian muttered.

  “What?”

  “Did I say that out loud?”

  “You most certainly did. Are you admitting to wearing makeup, Mr. Schaffer?”

  “Only for the cameras.” Brian rubbed his hands on the wheel as he steered the van out of the parking lot and toward the park exit. “And only because they make me.”

  “That’s okay. I like a guy who does what it takes to look good.”

  “You mean like Aiden?” Brian chortled.

  “Aiden was nice, but not the one for me.” Eva liked fit, athletic men, but Aiden was over the top.

  “Sleep deprivation can definitely do weird things to a person.”

  “Are you trying to steer the conversation away from the fact that you wear makeup?”

  “Indeed. Did you know I interned at KETO when I was in college?”

  “No,” Eva answered. “I don’t know much about you at all.”

  Brian took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll tell you a story that not many others have heard. How does that sound?”

  Eva settled into her seat and watched the scenery out her window. “Perfect. Let’s hear it.” She needed to think about her decisions for later that evening, but she wanted to get away from the show for a while.

  “Okay, so as the summer intern at KETO, I got a lot of jobs that no one else wanted. You know, clean the reels out of the back room, make coffee, that sort of thing. And the hours I worked were always changing depending on what they needed that week.”

  “Mm hmm.”

  “I got in with the morning crew and the producer wanted me to help out with some camera work one week. That meant arriving at 3 a.m. to get things set up and rolling before the morning show went live at 5.”

  Eva nodded. The pleasant tone of his voice surrounded her.

  “Since I was in college, it wasn’t physically possible for me to go to bed before midnight, right? I mean, I had socializing to do.”

  “A b
it of a rebel, were you?” she asked.

  “The worst kind.” Brian glanced her way and grinned. “Anyway, one day after my shift in the morning, I drove back to the little studio apartment I stayed in over the summer. I was in a hurry to grab a shower and I rushed out of my car. I remember jumping out, punching the lock, and then closing the door behind me.”

  Eva narrowed her eyes as she sat up in her seat. Something intriguing was about to follow.

  “The only problem was that I left my keys in the car, in the ignition. Oh, and did I mention the car was running?”

  Eva put her hand over her mouth and stifled a giggle. “How in the world?”

  “Believe it or not, that’s exactly what I said. Looking back on it now, I blame sleep deprivation. It couldn’t have been my fault in any way, though I guess I’m still to blame for staying up late every night.”

  “What did you do?” Eva tried to imagine him standing outside his car, peering in the window at the keys hanging from the ignition.

  “I took my shower.”

  “How did you get into the apartment if your keys were in the car?”

  “Oh, I didn't take a shower inside. I took one right there in the parking lot.”

  Eva frowned.

  “Yeah, that’s when it started raining, and not some light drizzle either, more of a torrential downpour.”

  “Oh no.” Eva shook her head.

  “Oh yes. I think I looked up at the sky at that point and said ‘Really?’”

  “Can’t blame you. Of all the luck.”

  “Tell me about it. Thankfully, I had a spare key hidden in a magnetic box on my car behind the bumper. Just in case something like that were to ever happen. I didn’t remember exactly where it was, but I crawled under the car and began the search and eventually I ran across it.”

  “So whenever you make a mistake, sleep deprivation is always to blame?”

  “Oh yeah. I have plenty of proof of what it can make an otherwise perfectly normal person do. Sleep deprivation is the worst. That and beautiful women.”