Chapter 14
“There!” Dahlia pointed across the fairgrounds. “The food of the gods is right over there.”
Dutton looked up and saw the fried cheesecake stand. The tent was in the shape of a jack-o-lantern with the eyes functioning as the service windows.
Dahlia grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd.
It wasn’t the official night for dressing up in a costume, but there were quite a few witches that were tapping into their mystical sides.
Most of the women were wearing flowing dresses or skirts with their ornately decorated witch boots, while the men were more subtle.
Some wore pentacle necklaces or carried staffs, while others just dressed up as farmers in their overalls and work boots.
There was a booth with kids participating in a pumpkin carving contest and one for bobbing for apples, but instead of the apples being in a barrel of water, they were floating in the air and moved when people went to bite them.
Another booth was hosting a contest to see who could spell a jack-o-lantern with the scariest expressions.
There were potions and pastries and pumpkin spice lattes for sale everywhere.
An everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Everyone except Dutton. He was certainly enjoying being with Dahlia, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the fire at the brewery earlier that day.
Someone had it out for the town, and he didn’t think he could just sit around waiting to see what happened next.
Especially since he’d already been implicated in at least one of the incidents.
If someone was trying to frame him, he wasn’t just going to sit back and take it.
But where would he even start? With Yvette Townsend-Burton and Sheriff Baker maybe.
He could also talk to Clay Garrison, the manager of the brewery.
Find out if they had any security cameras or ideas about what happened.
“I can’t wait for this,” Dahlia said when they got in line for the deep-fried cheesecake. “I’ve been dreaming about it.”
Dutton spotted a woman with a paper bowl with the cheesecake and toppings on it and nodded. “It looks sinful.”
“Very,” she said, her expression gleeful.
“It’s a shame you’re not having a good time,” he teased.
“Who wouldn’t have fun at a harvest festival in a magical town?” she asked.
Dutton put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to him. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his torso, and suddenly, he just felt content. His worries about the fires dimmed as her touch warmed him from the inside out.
Once they had their cheesecake in hand, they found a table and Dutton watched as Dahlia dug into her dessert. The look of bliss on her face did something to him. He was so busy watching her, that when she finally looked up at him, she said, “You’re not eating.”
He blinked and glanced at his cheesecake. “I was waiting for your review first.”
Dahlia forked up more cheesecake, ran it through the caramel and whipped cream, and then said, “I want to bathe in this.”
Dutton stifled a groan. The image of her covered in caramel and whipped cream was almost too much for him to handle. “Now that would be one heck of a date.”
She laughed and looked so sexy he was seconds from asking her if she just wanted to get out of there. Because the things that were on his mind were not safe for prying eyes.
“Oh no! Look at that.” She pointed to something over his shoulder.
Startled, he twisted, automatically glancing around for the Magical Task Force agents. But all he saw were people eating caramel apples and deep-fried cheesecake. “What is it?”
“The haunted house. Don’t you see the sign?” She got up and moved to stand next to him.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and peered through the crowd at the wooden structure. “No, I can’t see that far away. What’s it say?”
“It says, Haunted House, Cursed for Individual Nightmares.” She shuddered.
“I’ve heard of those kinds of haunted houses.
It means that each person goes in one by one, and the experience is tailored to them.
Like, if I’m afraid of bears, a bear might chase me.
Or if I’m afraid of death, I might see myself dead and experience what my imagination thinks my afterlife will be like. ”
“That’s one attraction we’ll be skipping,” Dutton said. He already knew his worst nightmare. He didn’t need to experience it. “I’m not that kind of thrill seeker.”
“Me neither.” Dahlia eased down, sitting on his lap, and then she eyed his half-eaten cheesecake. “Are you going to finish that?”
“Are you trying to steal my dessert?” he said with mock offense.
“Not steal. But I don’t want that gift from the gods to go to waste, either.”
Dutton chuckled. “Okay, you can help me finish it then.”
“You’re the best date ever.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and together they finished off his cheesecake.
Once they stood, Dahlia pressed a hand to her stomach and let out a small groan. “I think I might have eaten too much.”
“Nah,” he said. “What’s life without a little over indulgence?”
“Oh, you’re gonna be dangerous, aren’t you?” She grinned at him. “I like it.”
So did he. The more time he spent with Dahlia, the more he wanted to be with her.
He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been on a date when he’d been so enamored with a woman.
She brought lightness and fun and sunshine into his world.
And so did Shortcake. His previous life seemed a little gray by comparison.
“Let’s walk some more,” she said, pulling him out of his revery. “I’ve got to do something about this food baby before I start waddling.”
Dutton took her hand in his and let her guide him along.
They stopped to check out the crafts area that was full of handmade quilts, knitted sweaters and blankets, homemade jellies and jams, nut butters, and even some local wines along with many other curated items. There was a magical section and a nonmagical one.
The magical section had handmade daggers with crystals embedded in the handles that could hold a witch’s spells.
There was every kind of potion. But his favorite item was the blanket Dahlia found that would automatically adjust the heat based on one’s body temperature.
He immediately got a card and promised to order one from the maker’s website.
“Need a latte?” Dutton asked her when they passed the stand again.
“I would, but I have nowhere to put it,” she said, looking disappointed.
“I can relate,” he said. “I guess it’s a good thing that Incantation Café has them.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same as getting it at the harvest festival,” she pouted.
“Then I guess we’ll share one,” he said with a wink and went to stand in line.
He’d just gotten the pumpkin spice latte and was on his way back to Dahlia when he overheard someone say, “I’m not sure what to think.
The Magical Task Force agent kept trying to get me to say that Dutton was the most likely suspect in the fire today, and they said he has a history of deliberately starting fires. ”
Dutton froze, his blood running cold. Slowly, he turned and spotted Yvette Townsend-Burton walking away with her husband, Jacob.
He wanted to run after her and demand to know everything the agent had said.
But she knew about his history now. They’d told her about his record.
And now he had no idea what she thought of him.
He wasn’t sure he was ready to find out.
“Hey,” Dahlia said.
He jumped, nearly coming out of his skin.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “I just saw you standing here with the latte, staring off at the crowd, and I wondered what you were so focused on.”
“Nothing, I—” Then he saw them. The two Magical Task Force agents that had hauled him in the day before. “We need to go.”
“What? Why?” she asked, staring up at him with concern.
“They’re here. I think they’re looking for me.” Dutton turned his back on the agents and headed for a crowd of people, hoping to blend in.
Dahlia jogged to catch up to him. “Dutton,” she said, her voice low enough that he barely heard her. “What happened? Why do you think they’re looking for you? They could just be enjoying the festival like everyone else.”
They could be, but he had trouble believing that. “I overheard Yvette telling her husband they were trying to pressure her into saying that I was responsible for the fire today.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “That sounds like they have an agenda instead of being truly interested in what’s happening.”
“Exactly.” He paused for just a second. “Listen, Dahlia, I know you’re having a good time, but I need to get out of here.
I just can’t… If they’re going to arrest me, I don’t want it to be in front of the entire town.
I couldn’t take that. I have a life here, and I don’t want to be forever known as ‘that guy.’”
“I understand. We’ll just go,” she said.
“You can stay if you want. I can text Briggs and ask him to give you a ride if—”
“I’m not staying,” she said, frowning. “I came with you. I’m leaving with you.”
He let out a long breath, relieved and more than a little grateful.
“Okay. Let’s go then.” He wrapped his hand around hers, and together they walked through the crowd, both silent.
The mood had shifted from joyful delight to downright depressing, and Dutton wondered why he’d thought going to a crowded event was a good idea when it was clear he was the main suspect in a string of arson attempts.
Dahlia. That’s what he’d been thinking. He’d wanted to take her out. Make her happy. See that smile on her face and her eyes light up when she was delighted. And for some reason, he needed to remind himself that he was innocent.
After all the years that had gone by since he’d outgrown that troubled kid, part of him still thought of himself as the criminal who’d brought devastation because he was too afraid to stand up to the abusers who’d been his foster family.
“Two o’clock,” Dahlia said. “Agent alert.”