Page 64 of Once Upon a Fall

She has to squeeze by me to get out of the garage, and as she does, she deliberately brushes her shoulder against my arm. Her hand grazes mine, and I catch it long enough to give her fingers a quick squeeze before letting go.

What was I doing again? Oh, right. Watching two men unload tables into Rosie’s garage.

There must be over fifty tables here. I figured the fall festival would be small and quaint, like the town. A few booths along the street and activities like bobbing for apples and face painting. This is feeling like a bigger event than I was imagining.

Standing around and supervising lasts less than a minute before I start helping, grabbing the folded tables and leaning them against the wall with the rest.

Once the tables are in the garage, I’ll help Rosie get started on the Snow White room. I’ll have to take a break this afternoon to meet a company at the farm that can hopefully remove the raccoons. They had a cancellation and moved me up to today, which is the first piece of luck I’ve had with any of this.

If they can’t do it, I may have to see if Rosie’s offer to call one of the Walker brothers still stands because I’m officially getting desperate.

I leave for Manhattan on the third. That’s only eleven days to get this done. Now that I’m pretty set on selling the farm, I wonder if I could just leave the raccoons and put in the listing Property includes occupants. Lease terms unclear.

That’s another thing I need to do: Find someone to list the farm. Something I know I’m putting off because it still doesn’t feel exactly right. Which is ridiculous. Maybe it’s the unknown parts of it all. I’ve never sold a house because I’ve never had one to sell. I’m sure once it’s done and out of my hands, I’ll feel better.

Rosie comes out twenty minutes later just as the delivery truck is driving away.

“Found some people to make pies,” she says, holding up her phone as if the proof is in there.

“That’s great,” I say, going over to the garage door and pulling it shut. The only light now is the morning sun coming through the small windows and some old-looking fluorescent strip lights mounted on the ceiling.

Rosie sighs. “It all fit perfectly,” she says.

“Yes,” I say. “And it didn’t have to go in your entryway.”

“You’re just saying that because you didn’t want to have to use the other doors.”

I shake my head at her, but I’m smiling. I would have used either door and never complained. And she would have apologized for the inconvenience every time.

It’d be so much easier if she’d just say no. Except that’s not fair. It’d be easier if people stopped asking.

“Thanks for helping with that, by the way. I wasn’t expecting you to pitch in,” she says. “Would you like some pastries from Keller’s as a thank you?”

I take a few steps toward her until I’m standing in front of her. “I’m getting paid in pastries now?”

“It’s a pretty fair trade,” she says, tipping her face up toward me with half a grin.

I hook a finger under her chin. “Keep the pastries.”

I lean in, softly touching my lips to hers.

I didn’t wait for her to ask this time. My patience can only go so far, and I’ve been thinking about kissing her again since the moment I saw her this morning.

What I do wait for is her response, which comes quickly, as she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling my head down to hers, deepening the kiss.

“You sure you don’t want a maple bar?” she asks after a while. Her lips are swollen, her ponytail crooked, loose strands falling around her face.

I chuckle. “That’s still on the table?”

“Absolutely,” she says, arms still wrapped around me. “I’m a very fair employer.”

A couple of hours later, after Rosie actually did go to Keller’s and brought back a box full of pastries, we are in the Snow White room, working on the flooring. Rosie is measuring and cutting while I do the installing.

This room is slightly smaller than the others, but all the corners and awkward angles make the flooring more complicated. Still, Rosie and I are managing it like old pros.

“So what happens if the raccoon people actually show up today?” Rosie asks, handing me the next plank.

“They remove the raccoons,” I say, my voice flat.