Parade Route to Romance

By Katie Fitzgerald

“Look, Aunt Mandy!” Seven-year-old Aaron stood at the front of the parked golf cart outside the community clubhouse, pointing to the red-white-and-blue dinosaur cut-out he had just fastened between the headlights.

Mandy beamed at her nephew from where she stood on a stepladder adding shiny streamers to the edges of the cart’s top. “Great, buddy! I think we’re almost done.”

Mandy and Aaron had been planning for this Fourth of July parade since school let out. It was a great distraction for them both. Aaron’s best friend had moved away, while Mandy had recently ended a relationship, leaving her wondering if she would always be single.

“I love dinosaurs!” called the driver of a neighboring golf cart, a handsome sandy-haired man in a blue polo shirt and khaki shorts. He gave them a thumbs up.

“Thanks,” Mandy replied, as she checked out his decorations: several U.S. flags, tons of birthday hats, and a Happy Birthday, America! banner. “The birthday theme is fun!”

“Do you have our hats?” asked Aaron as Mandy stepped down, folded up her ladder, and stowed it in the back of the cart.

“Right here.” Mandy reached into the cart and picked up two paper top hats styled after Uncle Sam. Each one bore the picture of a red dinosaur wearing a patriotic bowtie. She plopped one onto Aaron’s head and stuck the other on her own. She felt silly wearing it in front of another adult until she looked over and saw the man putting on one of his own birthday hats.

“My cousin and her kids are watching the parade,” he explained sheepishly. “I promised I’d wear one.” Well, that was adorable. “I’m Lee,” he added.

“Mandy,” said Mandy, noting again how handsome Lee really was. “And this is my nephew Aaron.”

“Pleased to meet you both.”

“I hear music!” Aaron said excitedly, jumping up and down as the marching band that was to lead the parade began to play in the distance. “Time to go!”

“Okay, climb on up here,” Mandy said, laughing at his enthusiasm. She settled in behind the wheel and patted the seat beside her. When Aaron was seated, she pulled the key from her pocket, inserted it into the ignition and gave it a turn. Nothing happened. Puzzled, she tried again. Still nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked, and Mandy could hear the quiver in his voice. She turned the key one last time, then smacked the palm of her hand against the steering wheel in frustration. Shielding the display in front of her with her hand, she squinted to see the battery indicator, then let out a groan.

“Everything okay?” Lee asked, hopping down from his own cart and coming over.

“It won’t go!” Aaron cried.

“It’s the battery,” admitted Mandy. “Aaron, I’m so sorry. It looks like it didn’t charge enough.”

“But what about the parade, Aunt Mandy?”

Mandy opened her mouth to say they might have to skip it when Lee spoke up. “The parade must go on!” he said in a determined tone. “You both can ride with me.”

“Oh, that is so nice of you.” Mandy found she was even more attracted to his kindness than to his good looks.

“No trouble at all,” Lee said easily. “But Aaron, there is one thing I need from you.” He pointed to the front of the cart. “America’s birthday party needs a dinosaur.”

While Aaron scampered over to grab his dinosaur decoration, Mandy stood alone with Lee for a moment. “Seriously, thank you. You’re really saving the day for me.”

“Honestly, you’re doing me a favor, too. I was supposed to ride with someone, but we broke up a while back. I was dreading riding alone.”

“I can certainly relate to that,” Mandy said.

“Now I’ll have a beautiful woman by my side after all,” Lee replied with a soft smile.

“You’re very sweet.”

Along the parade route, with patriotic tunes floating in the air, Aaron tossed candy from a bag Lee had brought along, while Mandy and Lee chatted and laughed together. Halfway through, they traded hats, and by the time the parade ended they were hoarse from singing along to the band music and calling “Happy Fourth of July!” to spectators.

“That was the greatest!” Aaron said when the cart stopped back at the clubhouse.

“I agree completely,” said Lee, glancing at Mandy.

“We really did have a wonderful time,” Mandy added. Such a wonderful time, in fact, that she didn’t want the day to end. “Any chance you’ll be at the fireworks tonight?”

“Every chance,” Lee said. “If that’s where you’ll be.”

Under Lee’s admiring gaze, Mandy’s heart did a little sizzle and pop of its own, like a firecracker launched into the summer night sky raining down light and color everywhere.

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Katie Fitzgerald is the author of Library Lovebirds, an ebook collection of bookish romances, and a novel in flash, The Bennetts Bloom. Her short stories and flash fiction appear online at Spark Flash Fiction and Micromance Magazine, as well as in various anthologies. She is a 2024 Sparkie Award recipient for Best Romantic Suspense and a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and the Cupid Prize. A graduate of Vassar College and a trained librarian, Katie resides in Maryland with her husband and five kids.