Page 46 of A Love Like Candle Light

And the world comes to a standstill.

His breath hitches, but he doesn’t retract his hand.

Our eyes meet. Suddenly the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

His expression shifts, but I can’t read it, as he lets go of the piece and hurriedly shoves another bite into his mouth, clearing his throat and blushing. Fuck, that’s adorable.

“Though, I suspect it’s going to get a little busy from now on.” He nods at the windshield, water streaming down it in little rivers. What were we talking about again?

“Why? Is rain the go-sign for burglaries around here?”

“No, no burglaries.” He chuckles lowly. I put my palms on my cheeks, willing the heat away. But his car’s heater is still blasting away and rain-wet jeans be damned, I might be overheating in here. “But anytime it rains like this, there’s bound to be a tree or branch to succumb to nature and block a road.”

“Are you the one who has to clear the roads?” I frown and glance outside again. “In this weather? That doesn’t sound safe.”

“Eh, nothing is safe.” He shrugs, and another piece of pastry disappears into his mouth. “You can also get hit by a branch or a car when the sun is shining.”

I’m about to answer, but a voice crackles out of his walkie-talkie.

“Hang on a second.” He listens intently. I try to decipher the words as well, because I’m nosy like that. However, the static is horrible. I can’t even make out one word.

“Got it.” He says into the walkie-talkie, then turns to me with a grin. “Called it.” He pushes eats the last piece of pastry, then swipes the crumbs off his pants. “There’s a branch in the road. Do you want to tag along?”

Do I? Truth is, I can think of nothing better than spend time with him. So I nod.

“Sure.” I extend my legs and grin. I have no more meetings or deadlines this afternoon, so even though I have an hour or two of work left, I can handle pushing them to this evening. “Let’s go on an adventure.”

Chapter 16

Kylie

"Achoo!"

The back of my nose continues to tingle. I close my eyes, preparing myself for the next sneeze, but it won't come. I didn't think joining Nic, Lauren, and Kieran for the autumn fair preparations would involve this much hay.

And apparently my nose and hay aren't friends. You learn something about yourself all the time, I guess.

"Whose idea was this again?" I grumble once my nose decides to relax, picking up another bale, carrying it over to where one of the booths will be. The weather today is beautiful. Blue skies, the occasional cotton candy cloud – it’s the perfect sweater weather. And my sweater is full of hay.

While we’re playing autumn décor fairies for the main square park, all the stores of Wayward Hollow have upped their decorations too. More leaf garlands. More pumpkins. Baskets filled with more pumpkins and apples. Sunflowers and wreaths, on every door, even Caleb’s.

"Ours!" Lauren shouts with a grin. When she sees me rub my nose, worry replaces it. "But if the hay is too much, you can help Kieran with the pumpkins."

I glance over to the other end of the town's main square, ignoring the chaos. As Kieran mentioned, it has to be a mess before we make it pretty. Half an hour ago, a pickup truck loaded to the brim with pumpkins arrived, and I heard another two are coming soon.

"Holy shit." My eyes widen at the mountain of pumpkins. When did those get here? "That's a lot of pumpkins."

"Don't worry." Nic nudges me with her elbow. "Some of them are for the pumpkin carving booth. Not all of them are décor."

"Okay." My shoulders sag in relief. "I'll see if I can give him a hand because..." I sneeze into my elbow crease again. "This is not for me."

"You were fine when we started." A little crease forms between Lauren's eyebrows. “I hope you can still visit the fair without sneeze attacks.”

"Well, walking past hay or looking at it from afar is a little different to carrying it around and just below my face. But just in case I’ll stock up on allergy pills, because after all this, I’m definitely not missing out on the fair."

"That’s the spirit." Nic shoots me a grin.

Abby loves the hay, though. She found a pile, declared it hers, and has been taking a nap in there for the past half hour while Nic, Lauren, and I carry bundles around the park for aesthetic distribution.