The Carrier (The Carrier Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

until later.
     
     
*     *     *     *
     
    A
few days after Nolan rescued me from my embarrassing stunt on the hill, I was
more than thrilled when I caught sight of him in a booth called Lower One. He
was training with expert ticket agent, Suzanne, and a guy I knew from high
school, Brian. 
    Lower One was one of the largest ticket booths,
complete with two ticket windows, green Astroturf carpeting, and oversized
pictures of the Dells covering the walls. It was situated at the entrance to
the grounds of the Lower Dells docks and was the best booth in town because it
was constantly populated with people.
    Jack and I stood at the dispatch booth,
chatting with Rob. I could see Nolan across the way, laughing with Suzanne and Brian.
My heart jumped into overdrive and my head spun. How could his heavenly smile
get such a reaction out of me?
    “Let’s go hang out in the ticket booth, Jack.”
I had wanted to thank Nolan ever since he left me stunned a few days before.
    “I’m game. I’m sure Suzanne is good for a
laugh.”
    My nerves rumbled around as we snuck in the
door and sat on the two captain’s chairs in the back of the tiny booth,
watching Suzanne, Brian, and Nolan sell tickets out of their windows.
    Although Nolan was still in training, he seemed
to be a natural at selling boat tickets. His charm and poise enabled him to
sweet-talk anyone into buying tickets for both the Upper and Lower Dells tours.
This was known as the complete tour, or “combo” to ticket agents, and it
provided the biggest commission. Somehow, Nolan knew exactly what to say to
each kind of tourist that arrived at his ticket window. I suspected that if he
really wanted to, he could use his suavely crafted words and those beautiful
baby blues to get some unsuspecting tourists to hand over their first born.
    DBT owned several booths all over town with the
intention of coaxing tourists on every corner of the city into taking a boat
tour. Sixty years ago, ticket agents would jump into the streets of the Dells
and even hang onto passing cars trying to solicit tourists to buy tickets. Now,
of course, the agents had to wait for the tourists to approach the booths, and
in order to be a good agent, you had to know how to talk the talk.
    Most ticket agents were college kids who came
home for the summer to make a few bucks and have a great time partying at the
company’s summer housing. The ticket booth at Lower One, however, was
consistently inhabited by Suzanne, a veteran agent well out of college who
sported a cropped hairstyle and a taste for noticeably inappropriate jokes.
    In the off-season, she spent her winters
subbing at the high school in town, although I couldn’t imagine her leading a
class full of teenagers anywhere besides down the wrong road. She was joined
daily with another agent in the booth at Lower One, and together they would
stay busy shelling out combos the entire day.
    Jack and I often spent our breaks hanging out
in the booth listening to Suzanne and Brian goof around, so it wasn’t anything out
of the ordinary for us to show up on the chairs in the back. I was trying to
figure out how I could have a private conversation with Nolan in the booth
while everyone else was there. I was sure I didn’t want the others to know
about my ridiculous brush with death, but I needed to thank Nolan.
    Susan engaged in conversation with us the
moment we entered, but Brian and Nolan were busy with customers. When the old
couple left Nolan’s window, he turned around, smiling at me, and walked right
over to my side. Susan continued talking with Jack; it was my one chance.
    “Ava. It’s so good to see you.” His smile was
intoxicating.
    “I’m so sorry about the other day,” I said
nervously. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”
    “It was my pleasure,” Nolan said sweetly. But
then his expression changed quickly. “But it was not my pleasure believing you
were about to plummet to your death. Do you normally