She didn’t need a husband, and she sure as hell didn’t need to start over at ground zero again, saddled with a child.
A child with Mick’s deep blue eyes and dark hair. A daughter, maybe. Or another boy. Someone for Mick to watch grow, to toss a football with.
Good Lord. Put a baby in her arms, and her hormones got all whacked out. That’s all it was. She and Mick were dating, and she was suddenly having babies with him?
Right, like that was going to happen. Her baby days were long over.
Focus, Tara, focus.
With effort, she regrouped and turned her full attention to the charity event. The rides had all been set up, the booths were in place, there was plenty of food, and all the players had arrived. The kids were pouring in, and the media was spread throughout the fairgrounds. Having the venue in one of the East Bay cities allowed for easy transportation, the chance for great attendance, plenty of parking, and great weather.
She’d put all the wives and girlfriends working the carnival in pink team jerseys today so she’d be able to spot them. She’d given Nathan a red and white team jersey to wear since Mick had told her Nathan could hang next to him today, something Nathan had no problem with for obvious reasons. Nathan would be helping out the team by running for drinks, pens, opening up boxes of footballs and whatever else they might need, and assisting the team staffers. He was ecstatic just to be hanging out with the team today, so she was sure he’d act the gofer for anything they wanted, and Tara was happy Mick would be keeping an eye on him so she wouldn’t have to worry about where he was or what he was doing. One thing off her list.
Now she could focus on the charity’s kids, who were so excited about the carnival she could see it on their faces. They were all troubled youth ranging from elementary school age all the way to middle school and early high school age, so having a free day to just have some fun, ride the Tilt-A-Whirl or the Scrambler or the roller coaster, walk through the fun house, play skee ball or try to hit the ducks in the shooting booth would be a great way to decompress from their everyday lives. And they’d have the bonus of some one-on-one time with the team players. The kids had brought their parents or foster parents and siblings along, so it wasn’t long before the fairground was full, plus the charity organizers and staffers were there, too. Tara was running from activity to activity to make sure everyone was having a good time.
She stopped off at the players’ booth, which had a huge line of kids waiting to have their pictures taken and footballs autographed. Mick was hanging out with some of the guys.
“Hey,” she said. “Everything going okay?”
He kissed her and put his arm around her. “Going great here. How about you? You look hot and sweaty.”
She laughed and pushed her hair away from her damp face. “Busy. Do you all need anything?”
“Quit worrying about us. We have team staffers here to take care of us. And try to relax. I wandered around a little, and everything looks perfect.”
She inhaled, let it out. “I’ll relax when it’s over.” Her phone buzzed. She grabbed it from her pocket, listened, and laid her hand on Mick’s chest. “Gotta go and take care of something.”
“Try not to kill yourself over this.”
She laughed and darted off, met up with Roseanne and a few of the other wives, and they took care of the food serving issue. Once that was resolved, she wandered through the fairgrounds to make sure the kids were being entertained. Everyone seemed happy.
“Miss Lincoln?”
She whirled around, and a microphone was shoved in her face.
“Alan Terlin, Channel 8 news. We’d like to interview you for the local broadcast.”
“Oh. You don’t want to interview me. Why don’t you go talk to the team.”
His lips lifted. “Already did that. They pointed me in your direction, said you put this event together.”
“I’m just the event planner. You should really talk to the head of the foundation and the people who work there. They are the heart and soul behind making sure these kids lead a balanced life—education, social, and family.” She looked around, hoping like hell she could find someone from the charity, nearly crying with relief when she spotted Carmen Sanchez. “Here, let me get Carmen for you.”
She hurried over to Carmen and dragged the newspeople to her. Carmen, not a hair out of place despite running around even more than Tara was, graciously agreed to say a few words about the foundation and what they offered kids who’d had a rough start and disadvantages. Tara backed away and let Carmen have the face time on camera.
“Smooth escape.”
Tara turned and faced Elizabeth, who managed to look unruffled and cool in her sleeveless top and Capri pants and kitten heels.
“What? No power suit today?”
“I have causal clothes, Tara.”
“Could have fooled me. I thought you always dressed like a shark on the attack.” Even in casual attire—which looked designer and expensive—Liz was still put together impeccably.
“You should have done the interview. It would be good for the team. For Mick.”
“You do the interview. I’m hot and sweaty and look like hell. And the foundation can make the team look good.”
“The foundation will make the foundation look good.”
Tara shook her head. “Not my area. I’ll let you find someone to make the team look good.”
Liz shrugged her shoulders. “If you insist.”
“I do.”
Glad to be rid of Liz, Tara moved off to the midway where she found a group of kids trying to best the carnies in games of water balloon darts, ring toss, and milk bottle throw. She eyed the vendors carefully, stopping at each one for long enough to be sure there was a decent percentage of the kids winning. Mr. Stokes was funding these vendors nicely, and the kids should have a good chance of winning.
They were. Satisfied, she moved on.
Food was plentiful in the eating area, and there was enough to drink there as well as at all the drink stops throughout the fairgrounds. Everything seemed to be under control, so Tara figured she’d take a minute or two and stop in at the players’ area, which was still filled to bursting with kids, players, and media.
Liz was there, giving some face time to reporters. She had a group of kids hanging with Mick. Tara was about to think the woman had a nice bone in her body, then thought twice. She was pushing Mick, making sure Mick looked good. Tara rolled her eyes and decided to come back later, but then stopped when she realized that behind Liz were the kids she was talking about while she was being interviewed, and that Nathan stood next to Mick.