Chapter 41
41
T he Blue Beech Fall Festival is straight out of a movie.
Autumn vomited all over the town.
Everything smells like cinnamon and pumpkin.
There are hayrides and people selling food and crafts, and a live band plays on a makeshift stage. The festival starts downtown but travels down roads that are lined with booths, people, and parked cars.
My abuela put me in charge of her bake sale booth. She’s selling her sweet bread and guava pastries. Both are my favorites.
Fellow Blue Beechers stop by her booth, grabbing samples, and almost all compliment her sweets. More than half buy something. When my abuela lived alone, she stayed at home most of the time. I love seeing her make new friends here.
She swats at my arm. “Oh, look who’s over there.”
I turn to where she’s pointing to find Essie standing in front of a cider booth, talking with River and her dad.
“Essie!” she calls out, cupping her hand around her mouth. “Come here and try my pastries!”
Essie turns at the sound of her name, looking toward us. Smiling, she heads in our direction. River and Rex follow her.
“I’d love for you to try this,” my abuela says when they reach us. She hands Essie a sample before doing the same with the guys.
River and I offer each other a head nod, and I shake Rex’s hand, telling him it’s nice seeing him again. River would probably laugh in my face if I attempted the same formalities with him.
Essie bashfully peers over at me like I wasn’t naked in bed with her less than twelve hours ago.
I lick my lips, feeling like I can still taste her on them.
“This is amazing,” Essie groans after taking her first bite of a guava pastry. “I’ll take one, or two, or three. Whatever my options are.”
Rex bites into his pastry, nodding in agreement.
River does the same, giving my abuela a thumbs-up.
“As a man married to an incredible baker, I have to say, these are delicious,” Rex tells my abuela. “I’d be in the doghouse if I didn’t buy some of these for her.” He tastes the sweet bread next. “Some of this too.”
“Valeria, I’m requesting you bring these to all bake sales and festivals,” Essie adds.
My abuela stands up straight, a prideful smile on her face.
I introduce her to River and Rex. Instead of shaking their hands, she skips around her booth to wrap them in hugs.
I can’t stop myself from doing the same with Essie. “You look damn adorable,” I mutter, smiling at her pink scarf and black beanie with poofs on the top, resembling animal ears.
She returns the smile. “Thank you. This is what they call fall festival chic.” Her gaze coasts down my body. “I have to say, it looks like you’re falling into the Blue Beech fashion trend.”
I glance at my jeans before pulling on my flannel sweatshirt. “I also went for fall festival chic.”
These clothes are ten times more comfortable than suits and ties and are slowly becoming my regular attire. I still dress professionally in the office, but unlike the city, I’m not worried about running into clients outside the office while casually dressed.
She smiles before motioning toward the booth. “Please tell me you know how to make those.”
“I do.” I grin.
“Really?”
“No.”
She frowns.
“But you can come over to my abuela’s, and we can have a bake date together. She’ll teach us.”
“Is that your way of asking me out on a date?”
“If it works, absolutely. If not, I’d like to give it another shot.”
“Let me get back to you on that.”
“You have my number.”
I wink at her, and she shoves my shoulder.
For a moment, it’s like we’re the old Essie and Adrian.
The ones who could joke with each other with no expectations or hurt.
“Now, listen,” my abuela says to Rex, catching my attention. “How about you show me to your wife’s booth so I can taste those chocolate chip cookies you’ve been raving about?” She looks over at us. “I’m sure these two can watch the booth until I get back.”
“Well—” Essie starts.
“Oh, you got this.” She flicks her hand through the air. “Be right back.”
“Grab some cookies for me,” I call to her as she starts walking away. “To pay for my wages here.”
My abuela laughs, giving me an I’m helping you out here look.
“I must admit, Valeria is quite the trickster,” Essie says, joining me behind the booth.
“She only wants what’s best for her grandson.”
I hold out a piece of sweet bread, offering it to her, and she takes it in her mouth .
“Mmm,” she moans, swallowing it. She does a once-over of the booth and snags one of my business cards. “Look at you, adding solicitation with the snacks.”
“She put them up there, not me.” I smirk. “You can add yours there as well. I don’t mind sharing real estate.”
“I prefer not to bribe people for business. Though it seems to be your thing.”
“Hey now, those sports tickets were not a bribe.”
“Says every single person accused of bribery.”
“I’d purchased them for a game, but my abuela told me I couldn’t cancel our dinner plans to go. So, I thought I’d put them to good use.”
“Bribery,” she sings out. “To get into the partners’ good graces.”
“Did I think it’d prevent them from firing me at any time?” I shrug. “Yes, but I didn’t think it’d score me a promotion. All that was in my head was, if they fire me at any point, that would kill any chance of my making amends with you.”
Foster stops at our booth, interrupting us, and smiles smugly. “Is it this common to see two people in competition with each other this close ?” He grabs a pastry and takes a bite. “I’d be happy to welcome you into our family, Essie. You know what I’d also be happy about?”
Essie stares at him warily.
“Tell Ava to go out on a date with me.”
Essie snorts. “Not happening. You just want to do that to mess with River. We know you’re not in love with her.”
“Oh, come on,” he groans. “Of course I’m not in love with her, but I do enjoy hanging out with her.”
“You know she and River have something going on.”
“Yes, but she deserves more than a hookup every now and then,” Foster argues.
Essie snaps her mouth shut for a moment, as if she can’t dispute that.
Foster taps the booth, drags a hundred from his pocket, and lays it down before taking an assorted bag of pastries. “Tell your grandmother these are delicious.” His gaze cuts to Essie. “And tell your brother to stop being an idiot, or I’m asking Ava out.”
“Damn,” Essie says as Foster walks away. “I had no idea he was so bossy.”
“When …” I stop to correct myself, holding up a finger. “ If my abuela comes back, want to walk around here for a bit … hang out?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “But only on one condition.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s pretend everything is okay between us. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to figuring out real-life problems.”
“All right.” I slide my hands together. “I can work with that.”
We can’t pretend forever. Eventually, we will have to revisit the Earl problem.
I cock my waist against the booth, hiding her from the crowd, and then press my lips to hers.
She steps back for a moment, as if in shock, before kissing me back.
“Everything being okay means I get to kiss you,” I say, more confident than I should be. I don’t know what level of pretending we’re at.
“Fine,” she says, faking annoyance before smacking a quick peck to my lips. “We can consider kissing normal.”
“Oh, look at you two,” my abuela says.
I swear, she does this shit to mess with me.
She had to choose this moment to make her return known.
Terrance is now next to her, smiling as his gaze pings between Essie and me, and they’re both holding a bag of cookies. A cup of hot chocolate is in my abuela’s free hand.
“Terrance came over to take your job,” my abuela explains while Essie stares at her, wide-eyed. “You two go have your fun.”
I grab Essie’s hand and walk her away from the booth. I swear, I hear a squeal coming from my abuela as she watches us .
Essie laces her fingers through mine. “Have you ever attended a fall festival?”
“I haven’t,” I say as we pass the hot chocolate stand.
“What do you think about it?”
“It’s something .”
“Is that a good or bad something?”
“It’s a something that tells me I’d love to stay here in Blue Beech for as long as I’m welcome.”
“What made you ever feel unwelcome?”
I shoot her a really look.
She gasps, placing her hand to her chest. “Not me. I’ve been the captain of the welcome commitee with you.”
“In the beginning? Hell no, you weren’t.”
“Not many people would be jumping for joy if the man who had broken their heart came to their town and also stole the business they wanted to buy.”
“Hey, I didn’t steal anything. I had no idea you wanted Terrance’s firm. All I knew was that the firm gave me a chance to come here, where I knew you’d be.” I spin us around, moving us in the opposite direction. “But I must admit, the longer I’ve been here, the more welcoming you’ve become.”
“Well, I’d better be the only one who’s welcoming .”
I whistle. “Is that a little jealousy coming from you?”
“I don’t know. Would you be jealous if I were welcoming someone else?”
“Abso-damn-lutely. Jealousy isn’t a common trait for me to have unless it comes to you.”
She bows. “Then, I’d like to say I’m honored, counselor.”
I grin. “I love it when you speak legal talk to me.”
As we move farther into the festival, I start seeing familiar faces.
“Aunt Essie!” a shrieky girl’s voice calls out.
We turn to find a little girl running in our direction. Easton follows close behind her. A stuffed cow is in her hand, and her face is painted like a giraffe .
She runs into Essie’s legs, and Essie bends down to hug her.
“This is Jasmine,” Essie tells me. “Easton’s daughter.”
When Jasmine pulls away, I notice the resemblance to Easton.
The same dark hair and nose.
I’ve heard Easton mention his daughter a few times. I think he’s the only one with a child in Essie’s circle of friends.
Jasmine holds up her stuffed animal. “I won this!”
Easton laughs, coming up behind her.
Jasmine frowns, biting into her lower lip. “Okay, my daddy won it. But I picked the prize!” She waves the cow in the air. “And now, we’re about to get a caramel apple!”
Easton hugs Essie and then says hi to me. “They have a caramel apple station over there if you’re interested?”
Essie pays me a glance, and I shrug.
“We might stop by on our walk back,” she tells him. “I’ll burst if I eat another bite.” She points toward my abuela’s booth. “Make sure you stop by there and try the pastries. They’re delicious.”
Easton salutes us. “You two have fun.”
I’ve also learned Easton is a man of few words.
He and Jasmine head toward the caramel apple stand, and Essie and I keep walking toward the town circle, which is decorated with scarecrows and pumpkins. We pass a table with a sign that says Pumpkin Contest .
It’s lined with the best pumpkin art I’ve ever seen. Growing up, I could barely carve a pumpkin, let alone create one into a teakettle or Frankenstein.
“Did you participate in that?” I ask, jerking my head toward the table.
“I absolutely did not,” she says. “I tried one year and pretty much got last place. Even the preschoolers did better than me.”
I chuckle.
We say hi and wave to people, and I’m surprised when some know my name. I know I shouldn’t be since I’m now a businessperson here, but people remembering me makes me smile.
We’re at the town circle when Essie stops at a bench. Something I like about the circle is that there are memorial tokens of people. A statue of a child holding a balloon. A plaque on the ground, celebrating the first town doctor. A dog statue, donated by a local artist for the town K-9 who passed away after serving for twelve years.
We sit, and she taps her foot against a plaque on the ground.
“We raised money to have this bench put up in memory of Ethan after his death,” she says.
She knows she doesn’t need to explain who Ethan is.
I already know so much about him.
What I don’t know is exactly what they were.
“Were you two close friends or …” I lower my arm along the back of the bench over Essie’s shoulders.
“He was failing English and hired me to tutor him. As we spent time together, we became close friends. We were opposites, but he was so fun. We were never anything more, though.”
She kicks her feet out and scuffs her boots against the concrete. “His friends spread rumors about us, and because of them, some of the town believes that we were sleeping together. Most of that talk has died down after some years, but it was still hard. They blamed me for him dying in the accident.”
She shrugs like she doesn’t care, but I see the hurt on her face.
I squeeze her knee. “Essie, nothing with the accident was your fault.”
“I know. It’s just …” A shuddering breath leaves her. “Can we not talk about this tonight? We’re pretending, remember?”
“We can’t pretend forever,” I say tenderly. “Sooner or later, we have to talk about this.”
She curls her hand around mine on her knee. “Tomorrow night. Can we do it then? ”
“Tomorrow night it is.”
My stomach curls, tension tightening inside it, the fear of losing her returning.
We sit there for a few minutes, both of us silent.
She sniffles, her eyes watery, and I wipe away her tear with my sleeve. I take her hand back in mine, wanting every second I can have to touch her.
We spend the rest of the night exploring the festival.
I bid in the silent auction. The proceeds are going to a class field trip to Washington, DC, where nearly every business in town donated something.
Essie and River donated an Xbox and custom game remotes.
Callie donated a gift card to her bake shop.
Ava donated a free CPR class.
Jax and Amelia donated a gift card to the brewery.
And Easton’s was a basket of gift cards to nearly every business in town. Essie explains that his business, the one he took over from his father, rehabbed heavy machinery equipment, so donating something from there isn’t exactly easy.
I love how everyone is so nice here.
How they help others.
I never want to leave this place.
We stop for hot apple ciders and take a break under a large oak tree. The tree has started losing its leaves. Some are on the ground, beneath our feet, while others flutter in the wind. Looking up, I stare at the moon coming through the bare branches and smile at this new life I’m forming.
Like this tree, when spring comes around, I hope my leaves will be different.
That Essie will forgive me, and we’ll be together.
That I stay here in Blue Beech for good.
“Next year, you’d better give me a heads-up so I can donate to the auction,” I tell her, wanting to feel even more part of the community .
I went from wanting to dominate in corporate law to the desire of a simple life in a small town with the woman I love.
Essie leans against the tree trunk and pauses mid-sip of her cider. “Does that mean you’ll be here next year?”
I inch closer to her. “I’ll be here for as long as you’ll have me.”
“Don’t you mean for as long as Blue Beech will have you?”
“No, you , Essie. I can’t live here in this town, seeing you and knowing you’d have been mine if I hadn’t messed up. If I lose you, this place will only remind me of my biggest mistake. I want to stay in Blue Beech so we can build a home and life together. My dream life is growing old with you and being the happiest couple in this damn town. I want you to be mine here forever.”
The words feel good as they leave my mouth.
As if the feelings came straight from my chest and bloomed into words I’d wanted to say for so long.
Her eyes lock on mine, but she doesn’t say a word while staring at me in pain.
I know that look because I see it in the mirror whenever I think of losing her.
She rests her hand on my chest, and her voice is close to a whimper. “Let’s enjoy the night and have all the serious talk tomorrow, okay?”
I nod, attempting to read her emotions, but I can’t.
Will she or won’t she let me try to heal her heart from the hurt I caused?
But all I can do now is agree and go with her plan.
“Okay,” I whisper, taking the chance to run my lips over hers.
Tonight, she’s mine.
Tonight, our problems don’t exist.
The rest of the night goes smoothly. We see her friends and sample ales at the brewery’s tent and sit at a picnic table, eating food and talking. This is slowly growing into a circle of friends I don’t want to lose either.
And as the night ends, as bad as I want to ask her to spend the night, I don’t. We need to stay at our own places because tomorrow will be rough.
I need to be ready for it.