Chapter 34
Penny
apennyforyourbooks: All dressed up and ready to meet book boyfriend for a date at the Haunted Hayride. Tell me, what’s your favorite spooky story? Here are a few of mine!
I upload the picture of me with three of my favorite horror romances blocking my face, making sure to link the titles in the caption, along with information on their tropes and how to purchase them.
Then I hit post and close out of the app.
I don’t have time to interact with people today; the store was super busy this afternoon and I’m running late as it is.
I’m trying to be excited about tonight. Truth is, I am dreading the haunted hayride. I don’t know how we’ll do this without my father, or what it will feel like having someone else tell his stories.
God, I miss my dad. It’s normally a dull ache, but today it’s throbbing. I wish he were here. I wish Monty had come back before he died. I wish he could have seen us together.
Although we’re not together. We’re…
“Call me your fake boyfriend again, I dare you.”
Monty’s words from last week come back to me and I remember how it felt when he called me his. How yesterday he showed up when I needed him most. He spent the entire day with me packing books.
Then he gave me his book. A book that I’m still reeling over.
And he fed me. And then fucked me again. Softer than ever before, though. He stared into my eyes as he sank inside me and I swear he felt what I felt in that moment. That connection. That love.
Because shit, I’m in love with Jake Montgomery.
I refuse to ruin this for myself. Refuse to ignore everything he’s been telling me for weeks. I’m not too much for him. Not my curves, not my obsession with books, not my personality. He’s obsessed. He likes me.
This doesn’t have to be fake anymore.
He hasn’t said that much but he’s said everything else. So maybe…
Maybe I stop overthinking it. Maybe I live in the moment. Enjoy the night. Enjoy this season. Enjoy him.
By the time I arrive at the farm, there’s already quite a few cars parked and people milling about.
I head toward the field where we host the hayride and spot my sister and mother checking people in as Billie hands out hot chocolate and apple cider to guests, who head over to warm themselves by the big bonfire.
With the sun officially set, and a slight breeze coming off the water, it’s going to be a cold night. I’m glad I thought to wear gloves and a hat.
I go to text Monty to let him know I’m here when I spot him talking to Walker. They’re standing beside the tractor, decorated with glittering red and orange Halloween lights that hang from poles around the back. Bales of hay for everyone to sit on during the ride line the wagon.
Monty clocks me as I make my way over to them. My stomach flips as his face lights up and he moves quickly to meet me.
“Hi,” I say when we’re in front of each other.
Monty grabs my hand and tugs me into his chest, wrapping his other arm around me and hugging me tight.
“Missed you, Xuxuzinho,” he murmurs into my hair.
I shift so I can see him. “It’s only been a few hours!”
“A few hours too long.” He leans down and brushes his lips against mine softly. “You ready for tonight?”
That ache rears itself again and I shrug. “Little nervous.”
“First one without him, huh?”
My throat grows tight and I struggle to form words. I blow out a breath and release him. “I don’t even know who’s doing the stories tonight.” I glance around the farm. “I should probably ask my sister what she needs me to do.”
“I’m doing it,” Monty says, drawing my eyes back to him.
“You’re doing what?”
“I’m going to do the haunted story.” He hesitates before taking a step closer. “If that’s okay with you?”
“But how do you even know what stories to tell?”
“It’s all in here.” Monty taps at his head. “The best stories always are.”
Tears threaten as memories of my dad saying those exact words come rushing back. That throbbing ache burns into a full fire.
I was an insecure girl and questioned everything I did. I always sought my dad’s advice because he seemed to always have the answers. When I’d ask how he knew he was right, he’d tap his forehead and mutter those exact words: “It’s all in here.”
One of the last conversations we had was right before I quit my full-time job at the library to open Bonfire and Bliss. I was so nervous and begged him to tell me whether I was making the right decision.
He tapped the side of my head then. “It’s all up here, Penny. You don’t need your old man to tell you the answers anymore.”
God, I wish he were here now to see how much I’ve grown, how much more confident I have become in my decision-making.
I wish he could see me choose the right person for once.
Because the right man—the one meant for me—is standing right in front of me, echoing my dad’s words, honoring his memory.
And I didn’t even have to ask him to do it.
“That’s what my dad always said,” I rasp.
Monty leans in close, cupping my cheeks and swiping away a falling tear with his thumb. “I know. He used to say it to me, too, whenever I was at the farm. It was my dedication for my first book. I sent your father a copy and everything.”
The tears flow as I remember how excited my dad had been to receive a signed copy of the book. He’d paraded it around town then, told everyone who would listen that little Jake Montgomery had written a book. God, how did I forget all that?
“I hate seeing you cry,” Monty says now, concern etched on his face. “I won’t do it if you’re upset. I just—” He pauses and glances up to the house and then out at the fields. “I wanted to give something back to the man who gave me absolutely everything.”
His thumbs stroke at my jawline, and though he doesn’t say it, I know he’s talking about me. Maybe this is as real for him as it is for me. Maybe Jake Montgomery might love me, too.
“Okay.”
Monty smiles. “Okay?”
I nod as he presses his lips to mine. It’s quick—my sister’s hollering pulls us from the moment, and within seconds, we’re dragged in opposite directions. Me to help Billie hand out drinks and Monty to get settled on the tractor and ready for story time.
By the time I see him again, the haunted hayride is about to start.
Tally is hanging back to welcome the next round of guests but my mom and I decide we wanted to do this first ride together.
She squeezes my hand as we take a seat beside Monty and then leans across me.
“Thank you for doing this,” she says to him.
“Hopefully Peter approves of my story.” He flashes her one of his beautiful smiles.
“He was always forgetting a line or two.” My mom laughs. “Don’t get it all right or he might come back and haunt you.”
“Do you have room for two more?” I hear Tally call from outside the truck.
I check the seats and notice two free spots in the back corner.
“Yup!” I holler. “There’s some space back here.”
“Great. You guys are all set,” my sister calls over to the tent where the ticket holders are relaxing.
When they stand, I realize it’s Monty’s dad who is heading in our direction.
I glance just past him and my eyes practically double when I see a woman who looks exactly like Monty’s mother by his side.
I turn my attention back to Monty, wondering if he knows they’re coming. Maybe he told them about the hayride and invited them. Maybe this won’t be an epic disaster.
Even as I think it, my heart knows that isn’t the case. And when I turn around and watch for Monty’s reaction to their arrival, I know with certainty that he had no idea they’d both be here.
And that he’s not happy about it in the least.