Hooke town looked like the perfect description of a fair after all the designers had put in their final additions. The gaming areas, mini-rides, antique stores and every other side attraction took up every single space the town could provide. The red line around the entire setup had children looking anxiously from their position behind it.

Cassandra smiled at Susan, who waved enthusiastically when they spotted each other. She turned to her driver and told him it was okay for him to leave her side. She had asked Dylan to invite his wife, a tall woman with a welcoming disposition, and she had to admit they were a cute couple. Dylan had his hand wrapped around her waist as he pointed in the direction of every ride they planned to go on.

"Everyone is very glad to know you are doing this. It means the whole world to them. The news that Harrison Clark would be here as well makes them even more excited."

Cassandra stopped and turned around to face Susan with her hands crossed beneath her breast. "Why are they glad he is coming to the event?"

The main problem was that Harrison kept getting involved in many aspects of her life. He did it unconsciously, as it seemed, but she just wanted it to stop. When they talked about Josephine, he had been casual, smooth, like they were friends who spoke all the time. Her mind lingered on it, and that only served to annoy her.

Susan swallowed and pushed her fingers into her wild mane, "Now that I think about it, I should have mentioned that before. It's not that I forgot; I just thought bringing it up might be a bad idea."

"I am not a monster that would swallow you up for knowing Clark, Susan." She dropped her arms and began to walk towards one of the benches, "Sit down and tell me all about it please."

"No need to sit down because it's not really a long story." After all her talking, Susan sat down anyway. She crossed her legs and she placed her elbow against her knees as she waited for Cassandra to sit down as well.

"Talk."

"Two years ago, Harrison and his father came to Hooke town to donate some money, give out books and pens, school bags, food items and all that stuff. They even gave out some furniture so people could decorate their homes. Afterwards," Susan turned and pointed straight over Cassandra's shoulder, so she turned to see what Susan was pointing at. "That building used to be uncompleted."

"I am guessing they had something to do with it looking like that?"

"You guess right. Harrison brought up the idea of completing the building and turning it into something useful. After he left, he returned some weeks later with construction workers that helped build it into a library. There are books of all kinds in there; many different genres, and there's even a section for children."

"Very nice of him to do all that." She squeezed Susan's shoulder, reassuring her that there was no problem to be worried about.

From the things she heard of the late Mr Clark, there was no doubt that he was an honourable man. Despite all that people said about him, Harrison appeared to be a man of integrity. He had, on more occasions than not, been polite to her when they ran into each other. Some days ago, she had seen him walking with his mother, putting in the effort to look oblivious to their presence, she cut her walk short and left the park to return home. She was so grateful he didn't try to call her over or wave or call her over. Harrison seemed to be very assertive, and she hoped that trait helped them get through the charity. when he finally arrived.

"Cassandra."

At the sound of her name, Susan and Cassandra turned their heads to see the caller. Cassandra pulled herself to her feet and went to kiss her uncle on his cheeks before hugging him. "It's nice to see you, Uncle Ruben. I am so glad you could make it."

For the longest time, she could remember, Ruben had been a father figure for her. Always at her house on her birthdays, scolding her when she did something wrong in school. Stepping up to support her and his sister when her father had died.

"I love what you have done with the place. Everything looks amazing." Her uncle pulled her into another hug before turning to walk towards the stage.

"I am delighted you could make it, uncle. It would have been so sad if you had anything doing because you usually make light of events like this one."

"Wouldn't miss at all." He kissed Susan on the cheek then turned back to Cassandra, "When is your mother arriving?"

"She won't be able to make it because she had some other arrangement set for today, and she couldn't..." the words died on her tongue as a sleek grey Mazda sportscar rolled into the parking space. Harrison stepped out confidently, dressed in a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt beneath it with matching jeans and sneakers. He had shades perched on his head, strutting over towards them with long casual strides and a large grin.

"You didn't finish your sentence."

She swallowed and averted her eyes from Harrison as he stepped out of his car and walked round to join an unknown man he had brought along with him. He did not look anything like a man who just broke up with his girlfriend, a piece of news she knew thanks to the well-informed gossip columns. Instead, he looked happy and excited as he observed everything around him.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?"

Cassandra moved her eyes away from Harrison and tried to string together what she had been saying to her uncle before Harrison's car distracted her, but she drew up blanks.

"Sorry uncle. What did you say?"

Her uncle sighed and looked over his shoulder to look at what had grabbed her attention. His eyes widen as Harrison spotted them and waved from his position behind one of the many rocks littered around the town. The man captured interest wherever he went, whether it was good or bad or the observer was curious.

"Harrison Clark is here?"

"Yes, uncle, I invited him."

Her words only served to stoke the fire of his curiosity the more. He blatantly stared at Harrison, moving his eyes and following Harrison's movements. Harrison didn't notice and kept speaking to his friend while Cassandra tried to divert her uncle's attention from what was going on.

"Uncle, please don't stare at him like that! I invited half of Santa Montes for this, so it didn't seem appropriate to exclude him just because we don't get along. Besides, we called some sort of ceasefire for today. We only want to have fun while supporting the town.'

"That's good to hear. Stop picking fights with everyone who rivals you in business. Competition is healthy till it becomes an addiction."

She baulked. "I am sure I have no idea what that means."

"Indeed. No arguments." He stated firmly, and she nodded.

There would be no arguments between them for today. With a final breath, she moved to the small mounted stage in the middle of the fair and picked up the microphone that lay there. Not many people noticed she had climbed onto the stage, but Harrison had kept his eyes on her, and she was sure he was looking at her now.

"Okay everybody!" she spoke into the microphone as excitement began to make her joyful and giddy, "Gather around and take someone hand. The fun is about to start, but first, we need to bless the event. Now, I want you to bow down your heads and close your eyes, all of you, as my dear Uncle Ruben gives the opening prayer for this event."

Stepping down from the stage, she handed the microphone over to her uncle and squeezed gently between two people without looking who was by her side. People started to gather closer, taking a hand as she asked, with closed eyes, she firmly wrapped her fingers around the hands that held her own. Her uncle began to pray, and a quiet hush fell over the field.

"Amen!" He called out at the end of his prayer.

A loud resounding 'Amen' followed, and she pulled her hands free to clap gleefully. When she turned around to see who stood by her side, she wasn't too surprised to find Harrison looking back at her. Swallowing the urge to ask him not to hover around her, she moved to retrieve the microphone from her uncle and remount the stage.

"Okay everyone, this event is officially open. There will be games and activities for the citizens to win money, clothes, furniture, books and much other stuff so prepare yourselves. Everyone has fun and prepare to return home with lots of gifts."

The children rushed past the cut red line and moved to the different attractions the events had to offer. Their wide eyes followed every pattern and every design around the gaming areas. They looked up with awe at the tall man in charge of the rides, some even begged him to carry them, and when he did, they kicked and squealed with happiness.

"This was a wonderful idea."

"Of course it is, Clark." She replied without moving her eyes from the playing children and thrilled guest. There was no need for her to start a discussion with him, so she hoped he would go away when she did not respond. The hope was farfetched, and she knew it in her heart.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

"Ignoring me won't make me go away."

Groaning in frustration, she spun on her heel and faced him, "Didn't you just go through a breakup? Not that I am trying to tell you how you live your life, but maybe you should focus on that instead of trying to play 'who is next'."

He raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Who is next?"

"Yes, next in line to be your new girl when the old one has been out for like only three minutes."

"I can assure you I don't have that vibe." He tucked his hands into the pocket of his jeans, an impish grin still playing on his lips. "I told you before that that's just how I am. Won't be ashamed of it, or try to hide it for any reason. It's like me telling you to kick back and relax in your business. Both things just won't ever happen."

She smiled. "Nice. If you insist on hanging around me, then make yourself useful and help me get those boxes away from the table. Julia is bringing some cupcakes and deserts, but she is running a little late. Traffic."

He nodded. Without any question, he walked over and started moving the boxes, stashing them neatly underneath the table. When he cleared the table, he helped her spread the massive festive table cloth over it, and they decorated it with the little cards and balloons Sarah had bought. Harrison didn't attempt to start another conversation, he only busied himself with the work at hand, smiling proudly when they finished.

"Well, all it's missing would be the food."

"My phone is in my purse," she chewed on her lip, absentmindedly fidgeting with a card. "I'll call Julia to ask where she..."

She was about to walk away when her eye caught something behind his shoulder. Josephine was walking up to them. It wasn't for no reason that she had not extended an invitation to Josephine even though she wanted as many people at the charity as possible. Cassandra knew that there would be no way she wouldn't fight or argue with the woman, she wasn't ready to allow her to ruin the celebrations with her hysterics.

"Get her away from here before she finds a way to muck all of this up." With a slight pause, she met Harrison's confused gaze and held it, "Now."