Page 141 of Pumpkin Spice Promises

“EEEKKTEEHEETEEHEETEEHEETEEHEE!”

Carson jumped and I did too.

Somewhere behind us, the mechanical witch outside the gift shop began cackling so loudly half the street probably heard it.

For one second, neither of us spoke. Then Carson covered her mouth with a giggle. The tension cracked completely.

I rested my forehead briefly against hers. “This town hates me.”

She was still laughing. “Maybe it’s protecting me.”

“From what?”

Her laughter faded as the answer stayed somewhere behind her eyes.

I moved back, not because I didn’t want to kiss her, but because suddenly I understood that whatever existed between us wasn’t as simple for Carson as it was for me.

I didn’t know why.

But I knew the moment was over, so I opened the passenger door.

“Come on.”

She looked at me in confusion. “No second attempt?”

“Mechanical witch killed the mood.”

“That’s weak,” she said, but she climbed in the truck smiling.

Chapter

Seventeen

BEAU

The next morning, Marigold Ranch looked different in daylight. Not because anything major had changed since the festival committee invasion. Because now every time I arrived, I noticed something new. A section of fence that needed reinforcement. An old swing hanging beneath the oak near the farmhouse. Meme’s marigolds growing along the porch. Blueberry standing near the far pasture. Carson’s jacket hanging over the fence rail.

Things that had started becoming familiar.

I parked beside Jax’s truck shortly after eight. He was already there, by some miracle, standing near the south fence holding a post level while Dad argued with him about something.

Rosie’s SUV sat closer to the barn.

I frowned.

Why was Rosie here so early?

Then I saw her. She stood beside the wagon with a clipboard tucked against one hip, hair tied back, arguing with Jax from twenty feet away despite him clearly pretending she didn’t exist.

That dynamic had developed since last night.

I got out of my truck as Dad waved me over. “Morning, son.”

“Why is Rosie here?” I bypassed the good morning and asked the question that was bothering me most.

“She has opinions.” Jax snorted with an eye roll.

“That isn’t an answer.”