Chapter 40
Penny
apennyforyourbooks: Book boyfriend and I need costume ideas! Tell me your favorite book couple.
theredheadedsmut: Well, it definitely can’t involve a cow since someone already has that covered…I’m feeling a Great Gatsby couple for you two!
apennyforyourbooks: OMG ROSIE IT IS YOU!
I shoot a text to our group chat with a screenshot of my Instagram post and the comments below.
Me: ROSIE!!!!! I KNEW this chick sounded like you.
Rosie: Bahahahahah always supporting you chickie
Tally: I feel like your cow comment has a tone, Rosie, but I’m going to ignore it and just say I’M SO HAPPY THAT YOU AND MONTY MADE UP SISSY
Billie: Same! Love you girls. And I agree with Rosie. You guys would totally rock a 1920’s costume.
Billie’s right; we totally would rock a 1920s costume. And I know exactly which couple we should be.
I close my phone and set it on the dresser, a smile playing on my lips. I’m never not smiling now.
The past two weeks have been a dream. I fall asleep on Monty’s chest every night and wake up to him peppering kisses on my shoulder each morning.
We take walks down by the water in the evenings, soaking up every second of Hope Harbor’s magical autumn, before he has dinner with Vovo and I head back to finish up in the shop.
He always brings me a plate of what they’re having, then works away on his book while covering the register so I can eat.
Every night, he lets me read the words he’s written, and asks me to help him plot what he’s going to write next.
Most of the time, I just offer him the tiniest of thoughts—I don’t want to affect his writing too much—but I always notice how he subtly manages to incorporate those little details.
It makes me feel like I’m actually helping him as I promised I would.
Monty’s mom chose to stay in town for the time being, too, so he gets to work on the book with Rebecca during the day.
He shared with me what happened between his parents—how their divorce affected him for so many years, and made him scared to fall in love because he was terrified of ever facing that level of loss again—which helped to explain why he reacted the way he did at the hayride, and the next day.
He also told me about the talk he had with this dad.
Though I haven’t seen his parents since we made things official, and don’t know if his father took Monty’s advice and talked to Rebecca, I hope he does.
It’s heartbreaking to think that they’ve wasted so much time being unhappy when all he wanted was for her to live her dream.
The Liberty Ladies are hosting a bonfire on Saturday night and it’s set to be a big one since it’s Halloween Eve and Hope Harbor always goes all out on the thirtieth of October. Everyone will dress up and have entirely new costumes. Well, except Tally and Walker. He’s barely agreed to one costume.
It’s my first Halloween with a man willing to do a couple’s costume. Having someone who doesn’t grumble about the ridiculousness of it all and is as excited as me to see what our neighbors come up with next makes this year even more special.
“You almost ready?” Monty calls from the kitchen.
At the sound of his voice I stop messing with my braid in the bedroom and grab my sweater.
“It’s almost like you can’t wait to get there,” I tease.
Monty’s facing the counter, but at my approach, he spins around and I have to pinch myself to believe he’s really mine. His own eyes darken as he drinks me in, as if he’s thinking the exact same thing.
Monty is wearing one of his band T-shirts. This one is 311 and immediately the melody to “Amber” plays in my head. It’ll probably be stuck there for the next few hours. His lips twitch with amusement as he studies me from behind his black frames.
“You’re trying to remember all the words to ‘Amber,’ aren’t you?”
My mouth falls open. “How—” I shake my head. It’s no use. He’ll just tell me that he pays attention, that a good boyfriend always does. And while I’m not sure about other boyfriends, I can tell you that this one is very attentive.
I nod to the metal mugs in his hands. “Whatchya got there?”
“I wasn’t sure if tonight was a definitely coffee event or if pumpkin spice lattes would suffice.”
He tips each cup forward to show me that one is filled with sparkly gold liquid while the other houses warm frothy goodness.
“Oh, you are going in prepared for this town meeting!”
“Well, we know they can get lively.”
“We’ll start with the hot stuff.” I grin as I snag the Baileys bottle from the counter and then reach for the coffee in his hand. “But bring the other cup. We can share.”
Monty pulls back the mug before I can grasp it. “How about a kiss for all my hard work?”
“I like where your head is at tonight.” I tap my finger against my lips. “First treats. Now kisses. A girl could get used to this.”
Monty steps closer so that his mouth is a breath from mine.
I can feel his words tickling my lips as he speaks.
“Good, because I intend on treating you like this always. And if I don’t, you better call me on it.
” Then he presses his mouth to mine and I melt.
Yup, I could definitely get used to this.
***
Leaves crunch beneath our feet as Monty and I walk hand in hand down Maple Lane in the brisk evening air.
Between the streetlamps that are glowing an eerie yellow with the faux spiderwebs wrapped around them, and the ghosts and skeletons that hang from the trees, Maple Lane has gone from cozy fall to spooky right in time for the last weekend of October.
I do love cozy fall more than most, but for this week, I don’t mind the over-the-top Halloween decorations. When we pass in front of Babs’s salon, smoke filters out from below the door, creating a fog, and the sounds of owls and crickets play over a speaker.
“If she jumps out at me like she did last night, I’m throwing your coffee at her,” Monty warns.
I grab my coffee protectively. “Don’t worry, Babs is definitely at the meeting already. She likes to find out what’s on the agenda before it starts so she can properly interrupt everyone.”
Monty looks at me, amused. “And how does one interrupt properly?”
I grin. “You’ll see.”
“That’s what you’ve been saying all week whenever I ask about this meeting. You wonder why I’m so excited for it! You’ve hyped it up.”
“I can’t help it. I like town meetings.”
Monty slings an arm across my shoulder. “I know. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
Love. I soak up the word, one he uses freely now. For a man who was so scared of it, Monty tells me he loves me at least every couple of hours. And I am here for it.
I take a moment to look at him now, soaking up how perfect he is.
From his chiseled jaw covered in the day-old scruff to those intelligent eyes that I know are cataloguing every single detail surrounding us.
The autumn colors, the crisp air, the fresh scent of burning fire, and hope.
The warmth that radiates from every window we pass, like a glowing fire, just out of reach.
As we approach the town hall, I spot Tally and Rosie in a heated conversation with Rayna.
“Hmm, let’s see what my sister did now.”
Monty laughs. “Why do you assume—”
But he’s interrupted by a loud mooo and it becomes obvious what their spat is about when Daisy pops out between my sister and her best friend.
“Pets can’t come to town meetings,” I hear Rayna saying.
“Daisy is not a pet,” Tally argues back. “She’s a member of our family.”
“Daisy is a cow,” Rayna states calmly, but when she sees me, she points toward the small animal. “Penny, can you talk some sense into your sister? Cows can’t come into the town meeting.”
It’s clear Rayna’s patience is waning, but honestly, this is why I come to these meetings.
“I’m not sure why Daisy would be any more disruptive than anyone else,” I say with a shrug.
Rayna grits her teeth. “The cow keeps mooing.”
“Everyone interrupts when people are talking,” I counter.
Rayna turns up her nose. “And she smells.”
Rosie covers Daisy’s oversized ears as I bat away that complaint. “So does Stew.”
Rayna sighs. “She’ll probably try eating the flowers.”
“Mrs. Bennet’s grandson ate three marbles at the last town meeting.” Tally crosses her arms. “And Mindy ate all the brownies.”
“She’s a cow!” Rayna says shrilly.
“Sorry, Mrs. McGovern,” Monty interrupts as he curls an arm around her shoulders to guide her inside. “We can’t win ’em all. But how about you—”
I don’t hear the rest of his sentence as he disappears inside.
“I love that man of yours.” Tally smirks triumphantly. “He’s so helpful.”
I shake the two metal mugs in my hand. “And he made us drinks.”
Rosie reaches into her teal leather bag and produces cups. “And I brought our mugs!” She angles the bag so I can see the unopened bottle of Fireball inside. “And backup.”
The hall is complete pandemonium when we enter. Which, honestly, isn’t surprising. Poor Fletcher is standing up front at the lectern, furiously writing down whatever Babs is saying to him. I’m guessing it’s her requested changes to the agenda tonight.
In the right-hand corner of the room, I spot my mother chatting with Mindy and Ruby while Eli sits up onstage with his elbows on his knees, hands folded together nervously, a forlorn look on his face. I wonder what that’s about?
“What’s Eli doing onstage?” Tally mutters as we take our usual seats in the front row. I thought maybe she’d try to sit us in a corner since she has Daisy, but she just takes the seat front and center, moving the one next to her out of the way to make space for her pet.
Daisy’s a pretty cow, with her brown and white hair styled to perfection, but she’s still a damn cow. She’s also not great at listening, and when she spots the cookies set up with the coffee and water at the back of the room, she starts tugging on her leash in that direction.
Rosie hands me the mugs. “You pour, I’ll spill.”