Page 188 of Deadfall

“Fall. For sure. Visiting apple farms, the color of the trees, the way the afternoons still feel like summer but aren’t sweltering—”

“That surprises me.”

“Because of the clowns?” He predicted.

I nodded and attempted to hide a smile.

“Yeah, I like Fall, not Halloween,” he shivered dramatically. “No, thank you.”

“You don’t hand out Halloween candy?” I teased.

“Nope, I lock my doors and turn off my porch light.” He winked.

Memories of my childhood flashed through my mind.

“My dad would take us around on Halloween,” I said abruptly. “That feels so weird to think about now after everything. It feels like another lifetime—one that maybe wasn’t even mine.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “Did you know I was a twin?”

“I’d heard that, yeah.”

“His name was Cole,” I said. “When we were younger, my parents liked to dress us up as matching sets of things.” I laughed. “He hated it.”

Seven chuckled, and a vivid memory of me and Cole dressed up as peas and carrots, of all things, came to mind. I smiled even through the pain it caused in my heart.

I fell silent. “I think I like winter best.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, because of Christmas.”

“I didn’t really experience many fun Christmas memories growing up,” Seven admitted lightly and when I looked at him, he shrugged. “Foster care kid.”

“Well, we’ll need to change that,” I declared. “So, you’ve never looked for a pickle on a Christmas tree? Or—”

Seven’s eyebrows rose. “A what?”

“A pickle.”

“A pickle,” he stated.

“Yeah, it’s some sort of German tradition I think—”

“I didn’t know you and North were German.”

“We’re not—”

“Then why?”

I laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know actually. It’s fun though. You’ll see.”

He seemed playfully skeptical. “Alright, I’ll trust you. Hopefully it’s not a real pickle.”

“Of course not!”

He laughed softly. “Alright, what’s your favorite pizza topping? And if you say pineapple, I don’t think we can continue to be friends—”

I looked at him sheepishly.

“No!” He groaned. “Not you too! G insists it’s a topping too. I say fruit doesn’t belong on pizza.”