Page 26 of Falling for Mr. October

“So scram,” Bianca says. “I’m guessing we don’t have too much time before Eva St. Claire broadcasts news of your presence far and wide. If we’re going to be dealing with crazy fans, then I think we at least deserve to know why.”

I hang my head, feeling like a real piece of shit. I should have refused to come to the pumpkin patch. But ever since my last video, I’ve felt this awful gaping hole in my life. It’s only grown deeper. So when Bianca asked me to help out in the pumpkin patch, I was desperate enough to agree. And I enjoyed every minute of it up until that woman recognized me. Now, I feel like an idiot.

“Like I said. My grandmother and I will go,” I repeat. “There’s no point in sticking around if⁠—”

Bianca’s finger pokes me in the chest before I can finish. “You think you’re bailing on us just like that? Miles still isn’t here, and he sent you as his replacement.”

“Yeah, but…” She’s still poking me, her finger like a cattle prod, shocking me awake. “It got a little crazy back home. You don’t want that here.”

Something I can’t read flickers across her gaze. “Don’t tell me what I want.”

“Oh, you should never tell a woman that, son,” Luanne says with a chuckle. “There’s a useful life lesson.”

“But you want me to go now?” I ask Bianca.

“Yes,” she says, her stare fixed on me. She finally pulls her finger away. “We’re going to watch that last video.”

The memory flashes before my eyes⁠—

My grandmother shouting and gripping her face like she wanted to gouge her own eyes out. Was this how I repaid her for teaching all of us grandchildren how to cook?

My big brother, glaring at me like I was some kind of idiot pervert who couldn’t possibly share genes with him…

I sigh, already feeling the embarrassment. It’s one thing to make shirtless videos in the privacy of your own home when no one knows about it. It’s another when nearly every person you’ve ever met has seen them.

“What am I supposed to do?” I ask, feeling like a sullen kid the second the words pass my lips.

She smiles, but at least there’s a teasing glint in her eyes this time. “Why don’t you go cook something?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

BIANCA

“This is wild,” Emily says. “Absolutely bonkers.”

We just brought Luanne back to The Rotten Apple after I corralled a couple of the pot-loving teens to take over at the pumpkin patch.

It’s obviously not ideal. I meant what I told Giovanni earlier—a Murphy should be there today. All the research I’ve done about how to help Theo with the farm indicated a personal touch was important. But we’re in crisis mode, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

If the videos and comments that Emily, Luanne, and I binged in the pumpkin tent are any indication, we’re about to get a lot of visitors at the farm—all of them in search of Giovanni.

Luanne wasn’t too keen on going back to The Rotten Apple—she made a lot of noise about “seeing this through to the end,” although I don’t know what or when the end will be. So we brought her out for a late lunch before returning her to her room so she could watch more episodes of The Shirtless Chef on her TV. It’ll probably freeze every so often since the Wi-Fi sucks, but she’ll have something good to look at either way.

As advertised, Giovanni is very shirtless in all the videos.

Shirtless, delicious, and magnetic.

Now Em and I are walking up to Gallagher Park, our favorite thinking spot. There’s something about sitting on that hill, looking out over the leaves and rolling mountains, that puts everything into better focus.

I steal a glance at her as we step through the park’s filigreed gates. There’s something I need to say, but I don’t feel great about it.

Knowing Emily, she can probably tell, but she doesn’t push me. She doesn’t say anything at all as we ascend the hill. When we reach the top, we discover a couple of teenagers are making out aggressively on the bench. I recognize the boy as one of the “weed kids” from the pumpkin patch.

“We could get them to leave,” Emily comments in an undertone. “But there’s something sweet about young love, don’t you think?”

I clap my hands loudly. “All right, enough of that. BJ, I’m going to tell your mother.”

He gets up so abruptly, the poor girl he’s with nearly tumbles off the side of the bench. Well, best she finds out what he’s like now.