20. Gabby
The Curly Pig isn’t my favorite place to be. It’s usually too crowded for me. Tonight, with Heath by my side, it feels different—tolerable, at least. I watch as Heath takes a huge bite of his burger. “You’ve got a bit of mustard,” I say, pointing to his chin.
“Thanks,” he says, grabbing a napkin and wiping it off.
I’m glad we talked, but I can’t help feeling a little raw still. Like a shirt tag rubbing on a sunburn. “Do you ever think things should be easier?” I ask. I always assumed love, when it was right, was easy. Heath and I feel right together, but it certainly has not been easy.
Heath shakes his head and swallows the bite he’s just taken. “I’ve found that things that are worthwhile, the things that really matter, aren’t always easy.” He sits back in his chair and studies me. “Relationships are hard work, or so I’ve been told.”
I nod. “I guess that makes sense.” Gram always talked about Pops like he hung the moon. Maybe through the lens of her memories, their big problems seemed little after all.
I take one last look in the mirror before grabbing my boots and heading to the living room. Heath will be here any minute to pick me up for the Fall Festival. I slip my boots on and grab my purse just as there’s a knock on the door.
“I’m ready,” I say, swinging open the door.
Heath takes a step back and whistles. “My goodness, Gabby. You look gorgeous.”
I fan the blush creeping up my neck. “It’s just jeans and a t-shirt.”
He shakes his head. “You could be in a potato sack, and you’d still be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He leans in and kisses my cheek. “Thank you for coming with me.”
I step out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. “I’m excited.” I lock the door and drop my keys into my purse. “I can’t wait to see what Matti thinks of the festival.”
Heath takes my hand and guides me to his truck. “I wonder if he’ll want to ride any rides.”
It doesn’t take long to drive to the festival grounds and find parking. Knox, Lacey, and Matti are waiting for us at the entrance when we walk up. “About time you showed up,” Lacey calls from the other side of the ticket stand. “Matti’s ready to have some fun. Aren’t you, buddy?”
Matti claps his hands from his seat in the stroller. “YES!” he squeals.
Heath pays for our tickets, laughing when Matti yells, “Let’s go!”
“Where to first?” Knox asks, pushing the stroller forward.
“How about some of the smaller rides?” Lacey suggests. “The carousel was always a favorite of mine growing up.”
We all agree, and make our way to the “Kidway,” the section of rides and games geared towards little kids. After the carousel, where Matti picked a monkey, of all things, to ride, we head over to the bounce house.
“If you two will watch Matti, Heath and I will go grab us all some lemonade.” Knox points to a food truck behind us.
“Only if you also get a funnel cake,” Lacey says, grinning.
“You got it.”
“So, how is everything going between you two?” Lacey asks.
“Things are going really great,” I say. “Can I ask you something?”
She nods.
“Do you think love is supposed to be easy?”
Lacey laughs. “I wish. My mom and dad loved each other, and look how that turned out. Now they wish they had fought harder to be together back then. Life’s all about choices. From what I can tell, choosing each other, even when it’s hard, is what keeps love growing.”
Lacey’s grandparents had interfered and forced her parents apart when they were young. Now they’re dating and Lacey’s been shopping for formal dresses “just in case.”
“Here we are,” Knox says, walking up behind Lacey, a box filled with drinks and a funnel cake in his hands. “Did you miss me?”
Lacey smiles and takes her lemonade from his hand. “Always.”
Heath hands me my cup and smiles. “Do you think he’s ready to move on?” he says, gesturing to Matti who’s literally bouncing off the walls of the bounce house.
Knox shakes his head. “I doubt it, he could be on this thing forever. Why don’t you guys go ahead and we’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
“Are you sure?” We’d come together, and I knew we’d be spending most of our time following Matti around.
“Yes,” Lacey says. “I’ve got a funnel cake to eat. Just save the tilt-a-whirl for me, you know it’s our thing.” She raises an eyebrow and points her finger at me. “No trying to get out of it either.”
I groan. “You know that thing makes me want to throw up, right?”
Lacey cackles. “Yes, that’s why I love it!”
“Let us know when you’re ready to go to the petting zoo,” Heath says. “It was always my favorite.”
Knox and Lacey agree, and Heath takes my hand. “Well, where do you want to go now?”
“How about we see who can win a teddy bear?” I say, pointing to the water shooting race stand across the way.
Heath grins. “Remember the time I spent nearly a hundred dollars to win you that teddy bear you wanted?”
I nod. “I still have Mr. Fluffles, I’ll have you know.”
Heath leans in and plants a soft kiss right on my lips. “It was worth every penny.”
Three rounds and thirty dollars later, we give up. “That was fun.”
Heath laces his fingers through mine. “It was. Knox just texted they are headed to the petting zoo. Want to pet baby goats with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” We walk hand in hand to the small enclosure that houses some goats, a chicken, a fluffy bunny, and a piglet. Matti is already inside feeding the goats from his hand.
“Hey,” Knox says when we join them near the fence. “Now he wants a goat,” he says, pointing to where Matti is now trying to hug the goats.
“Just tell him Flower would never allow it,” I say. “Except she probably would. Flower is the most relaxed rescue dog I’ve ever seen.”
Knox nods. “She’d probably want the goat to share her bed. Until he started trying to eat it, that is.”
We all chuckle as Matti loses interest in hugging the goats and is crouched down near the bunny. “Maybe he needs a new pet,” I suggest.
“No way,” Lacey says, coming to stand near us and giving Matti room to roam on his own. “Flower is more than plenty. I think he’s about tuckered out though.”
“You two should go ride some rides before he’s done,” Heath says. “Knox and I will keep him entertained for a while longer.”
“Thanks!” Lacey says, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me away toward the dreaded ride.
“I’ll puke!” I protest. “I’m not kidding. I’m not eight years old anymore. I’ll throw up.”
She turns toward me and grins. “That’s the fun part!”
Thankfully, I kept my food in my stomach . . . barely. “Let’s head back to the guys,” I say, trying to take deep breaths through my nose. “I don’t think I can handle another ride right now.”
Lacey laughs, but she looks a little green herself. “All right.”
When we catch up with the guys, Matti is in the stroller rubbing his eyes. “I think it’s time to go,” Lacey says. “Thanks for spending a few hours with us.”
“It was fun,” I say, giving her a hug. “We’ll have to do it again. Minus the tilt-a-whirl,” I add.
“Want to ride the Ferris wheel?” Heath asks when we part ways. “I seem to remember the top being the best place to share a kiss.”
Memories of that summer flood my mind. He’d driven me nearly two hours away to a small church fair, and we rode that Ferris wheel probably ten times just to share a kiss at the top. “I remember.”
We wait in line, and Heath makes sure I get the inside seat when it’s our turn to get on. Sitting side by side, my hand in his, as the cart slowly rises higher in the sky, my heart feels settled. “Almost at the top,” I say softly, leaning against his shoulder.
He turns as we reach the top, causing me to sit up. Taking my face in his hands, he leans in and presses his lips against mine. The feeling of home, of love, of wholeness overcomes me.
“I love you,” he whispers when he pulls back. “One day soon, I’m going to ask you to marry me like I should have done years ago.”
I open my mouth to say something, but the words won’t come.
“I just wanted to let you know,” he says. “I know how you feel about surprises.” He winks at me and pulls me in closer to his side.
“Do you really need all this candy?” Heath asks, looking at the three buckets I’ve got set up on a small table on the front porch.
“Absolutely. Big bars for the teenagers,” I say, pointing. “Glow sticks and stuff for kids with food allergies. And snack-sized treats for everyone else.”
Heath looks from one bucket to the next in awe. “You do this every Halloween?”
I nod. “It’s a tradition I’ve kept going since Gram passed. Well, I added the blue bucket, but the rest is from her.”
“I think the only Halloween tradition Mom and I had was getting a discount costume and walking the block.” Heath smiles at me. “This is amazing.”
A steady stream of superheroes, princesses, community helpers, and all kinds of other costumes I don’t recognize quickly depletes the candy stash. “See,” I say, as a group of teenagers walks away, a large chocolate bar in each of their hands. “This is why we have so much.”
Heath looks inside the nearly empty buckets. “Maybe we should get more next year. I’d hate to run out.”
My heart thumps against my ribs. Next year? “You want to do this again next year?”
He glances at me, and back to the cute little ballerina currently picking out a treat. “Of course. This year, and every year for the rest of our lives.”
I step back, letting him man the table of candy. A vision of him in a few years, holding the hand of a little boy who looks just like him, while they walk around the neighborhood trick-or-treating steals my breath away. I slide down into the rocking chair that Gram used to call her thinking chair, and watch as he hands out candy, laughing with parents and patiently waiting for the kids to choose their favorites.
I want this, I realize. I want to create a family, pass out candy, go to the Fall Festivals and walk on the beach holding hands with him. Forever. Now, to show him I’m ready for that proposal.