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I couldn’t help but laugh at her exuberance. “Today is the first day, I doubt they’ll all be gone by the time we get there.” The patch would be available through the weekend, but Lila had insisted we go on day one and I could deny her very little.
“Not all gone,” she insisted with an eye roll that was far too mature for an eight year old. “But the good ones will be. Hurry!” With a shove that barely did anything, Lila pushed me down the hall towards my bedroom.
“You’re bossy today.” The truth was she was bossy every day.
“Daddy,” she whined again, and with a laugh, I made my way to the bedroom to change into something other than loose fitting sweatpants and a plain white tee that had seen better days.
Ten minutes later I found my little girl bouncing impatiently beside the front door. “Better?”
Lila gave me a quick look and shrugged. “You look fine. Let’s go!”
It was a short trip to the Town Square so we walked, stopping every once in a while to talk with a neighbor. With the Mayor or anyone else who had a piece of gossip dressed up as news to share. Even though Lila and I had lived in Pilgrim for nearly two years now, I still wasn’t used to how much everyone seemed to care. Even the worst gossips were the first to pitch in when help was needed.
“Daddy, did you hear me?”
I looked down at Lila, who frowned up at me as she tugged my arm. “Sorry, I didn’t. What did you say?”
“I asked if you think we should have brought a bag or a box for the pumpkins?”
Crap. I had no idea, but there was no way I would delay this trip a minute longer. “You think your dad can’t handle carrying a couple of pumpkins?”
She giggled and started to skip forward now that the Square was in sight. From half a block away I could see rows upon rows of pumpkins, two scarecrows and even some hay bales to give the area a proper fall feel.
“You’re pretty strong Daddy.”
“Gee, thanks.” Nothing kept you humble like having a kid around. I knew Lila thought the world of me, but her brutal honesty managed to keep me grounded most of the time.
Lila’s feet froze in place and her whole body started to vibrate. For a moment I was worried, and then a loud squeal erupted from her.
“Officer Tara!”
And now it all made sense as she bounded over to Tara, looking sexy and casual out of her police uniform. She turned with a smile for Lila and I was struck once again at her effortless beauty. Her thick brown hair was free of the bun she wore most days I saw her around town, and now hung around her shoulders, stopping right before the swell of pale cleavage peeking from her red blouse.
“Lila! Hey, it’s good to see you again kid. Have you been keeping your eyes open for clues?”
Lila gave an exaggerated nod, and it was only as I drew closer that I could hear what she was saying. “There’s a strange car on our block for the last few days. You think it could be a burglar? Or a,” she leaned in towards Tara and looked around cautiously as if she had a big secret, “a killer?”
Tara bit back a laugh and arched her brows in my direction. “While that’s certainly possible, officers of the law try to think a little more basic. For example, maybe one of your neighbors has a friend or family member from out of town visiting?” She ruffled Lila’s hair to take any sting off her words.
“Oh. Right.”
“I’ll have a look, just in case though. All right?”
“Okay. Are you decorating pumpkins too?” Just that simply, her attention was diverted back to the pumpkins all around us, big and small, orange and white and blue.
Tara pushed her hair aside and nodded with a hand on Lila’s shoulder. “I plan to decorate one pumpkin for my porch, but I love to eat pumpkin. Don’t you?”
Lila’s brows crinkled into a frown and she shook her head. “You can eat pumpkins?”
Tara’s green eyes went wide with surprise. “Of course you can! You can eat the seeds. You can make pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies, or one of my personal favorites, pumpkin walnut bread!”
Her excitement was contagious and Lila caught it easily. “Wow! You can do all that with a pumpkin?”
“If you’re patient and you really want to, absolutely. Tonight I plan to make pumpkin soup.”
Lila stared at her for a long time as if she was a cartoon character brought to life before her gaze swung to mine, pleading taking over the wide eyed wonder. “Can we Daddy? Please? I wanna cook pumpkin…everything!”
I glared at Tara who did nothing to hide her amusement. “See what you’ve started?”
