AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Owen’s dressed like Thanos and is wearing a huge glove with jewels on his hand. Noah’s the Hulk, but I can’t quite place who Katie is. She’s wearing a red leather coat and boots.
“Okay tell me,” I say, pointing at her outfit. “Who are you?”
She reaches below the stroller and puts on a mask. “What about now?”
“Are you freaking Star Lord?”
She snorts. “Yes! I wanted to match Owen and the twins.”
I then noticed they're dressed as Groot and Rocket. “Guardians of the Galaxy. Super cute.”
I look over at Noah and chuckle. “What happened?”
“I was originally supposed to be Yondu, but I got an allergic reaction to the blue paint. This is all the Halloween store had left,” he explains with a shrug. “Only took thirty-something years to figure out that latex paint ain’t for me. Probably not a bad thing, though. It’s kinda humid. I’d probably look like Genie from Aladdin that you all bought off Wish with as much as I sweat.”
“Wow, at least you found something last minute, geez!”
He nods. “Yeah, I looked like a creep without the paint.”
Owen holds out his hand and shakes Sadie’s. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Sadie says, staring up at him like he’s her new big brother.
“Okay, so tell me how this works,” Annie says. “It’s like a maze in here.”
Gemma laughs and points. “So we start at this end, then go all the way around to the pumpkin carving and hay maze, then end at the booths.”
“Oh my goodness, there’s so many! Hopefully, she’ll be good and tired by bedtime.” Annie glances around, and I can just tell she’s already having a good time.
“Probably not by the time they eat all the sugar in their bags.” Katie snorts. “But I’ll say a prayer for you and me both.”
We wait in line for our first stop. Little ones surround us, and they’re full of energy. When we finally show up to the boutique booth, Lexie beams with excitement.
“Oh my God. I have to get a picture of all of you. And Sassy! Pure freakin’ cuteness.” She pulls out her phone and snaps pictures like she’s the paparazzi. Heidi and Sandy, my new employee, are giving out candy to the children and boutique coupons to the parents.
“Trick or Treat!” Owen and Sadie say in unison to the girls.
Lexie grabs three big handfuls each and fills their bags.
“Thank you!” they exclaim, then head to the next one.
“Let me know if you need anything,” I tell Heidi.
“Just a husband who will dress up with me like you and Archer,” she says, lowering her voice. “Married people goals.”
I lean in and whisper. “I’ve perfected blow jobs.”
She shakes her head and snorts. “You’ll have to give me your secrets later.”
We snicker, then I follow the group who’s already at the next one. The adults stand back as the kids walk up, and I smile at how protective we look—like real-life superheroes.
Sadie and Owen are having a great time, and a few parents stop to have their little ones take pictures with us. But of course, Sassy continues to steal the show. As we pass the pumpkin carving area, Sadie asks if we can do one, and we all agree.
“There’s a contest going on right now, too,” one of the teenagers says. “You just put your pumpkin up on the ledge over there to be displayed. You can pick them all up after trick-or-treating. Judging starts at 6:30.”
“I’m gonna win!” Owen announces confidently.
Owen and Sadie start carving, giggling, and teasing each other. It’s messy, but they’re having a blast pulling out the guts with their bare hands. Once they’ve finished putting silly faces on their pumpkins, we help carry them to the front.
“I bet you’ll win,” Noah tells Owen. “That’s a freakin’ masterpiece.”
“I dunno, Sadie’s is really good,” he offers, giving her a sweet compliment. Sadie gives him a toothy grin as they walk back.
“This is so incredible,” Annie says. “Really giving me small-town vibes.”
“Just wait till Christmas in Lawton Ridge.” I wink.
“You know, this is a good place to raise a kid,” Gemma tells her, and Katie agrees.
Annie glances at Archer with a smirk. “So I’ve heard.”
“It’s a great place to raise an adult too.” Archer interlocks his fingers with mine.
Tyler chuckles. “I don’t think I’d ever want to live anywhere else with my family.”
“Same,” Noah agrees.
“Mom! They gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste!” Sadie runs up to Annie.
She snickers. “It’s the local dentist, sweetie.”
“She was nice. Told us to brush and floss after we eat our candy!”
“Brilliant.” Archer chuckles.
“She’s been doing that since I was a kid,” I say. “But I’m sure you’re better at brushing than me.”
Sadie nods as she pets Sassy on the head.
Archer leans in and whispers in my ear. “Yeah, ’cause you’re my dirty girl.”
A blush sweeps over my cheeks.
After we’ve visited every booth and eaten too many corn dogs, we go through the hay maze. It’s clearly built for kids, and we can see over the hay wall, but we follow Owen and Sadie through it. They get lost a few times and fall into a fit of laughter. It takes us nearly twenty minutes to reach the end, and it’s obvious that Sadie’s growing tired. She and Owen got so much candy. Their bags were so full, they had to get another one. The twins and Scarlett are getting fussy, and even Owen’s yawning, so we know it’s time to call it a night.
