AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I brought ice cream,” George said, and as if on cue, Grant opened the freezer.
I gasped. It was fully stocked, and not with the cheap stuff Pete tried to buy for me.
“Thank you,” I stammered, grinning madly.
“Remember.” Pete smiled, sipping his afternoon coffee like a manic. “No stress, Sierra.”
“No stress,” I repeated, laughing as I took a bowl from the cabinet and set it on the counter. “Hand me a spoon, please.”
I couldn’t help but smile as Grant had me choose between the flavors and settled on giving me a scoop of each.
I’d never felt this before. Never felt like I was… loved and welcomed.
Like I had a family.
I smiled up at Pete, and knew he saw the absolute joy on my face.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Pete
Ihad to get her out of the house.
It had been just over a week since Vera stormed into town and confronted us. We’d been sequestered at the apartment, and Sierra had only left to go to mass on occasion. But I could tell she was getting anxious, oftentimes pacing around the apartment, and fidgeting with stuff.
It was a chilly autumn afternoon. The leaves on the trees were bright orange and deep red that looked almost unreal as I walked with her around downtown. The autumn market was in full swing, and I watched as Sierra, bundled in a thick, insulated jean jacket that I’d worn as a teenager and an even thicker red scarf, did a little shopping as we stopped at each and every stall along the main street.
“We should get a pumpkin,” she mused, her teeth chattered as she clutched a paper cup of hot chocolate between her gloved fingers.
“What are we going to do with a pumpkin?”
“Carve it,” she said, snorting at my question. “We can put it on the bar.”
“I don’t decorate the bar for the holidays—”
“Well, you should. Jules and Frankie really want to, but Wes said no because you said no.”
“I said no to fake spiderwebs that will clog up the vacuum cleaner.”
“You are no fun,” she quipped, rolling her eyes as we continued our little walk around town.
I took her out to dinner at an Italian restaurant within walking distance to the bar and my apartment. Our hands were chilled and the warm air inside was a welcome relief.
Outside, snow was beginning to trickle down from thick, dark clouds that only made the foliage brighter.
“It’s so pretty here in autumn,” she said over a plate of authentic spaghetti and meatballs.
I got steak, of course.Can’t go wrong with a steak.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“You know what would make it even prettier?”
“What?”
“A pumpkin—”
“Okay, fine,” I relented, giving her a look. “We can stop at Walmart—”
