Page 39 of Love and Lattes at Pumpkin Hollow
I heard a snort from Dylan behind me.
‘But yeah, I’ve got spare tarpaulin that we use to cover the crops in summer if the weather gets crazy. I’ll have to get it from the barn later.’
Once they had driven off, I stood and looked at the pumpkins. I carried a few inside the tunnels too for the photo opportunities. I would get the unusual pumpkins delivered over the weekend which I’d stack on the wooden planters I had built, but the orange ones were perfect for the photo set-ups I had created. Dylan helped me carry them inside and I noticed he kept grinning across at me.
‘What’s so amusing?’ I snapped finally.
‘I liked you telling that guy off, and Paul too, and me…’ Dylan said, shaking his head. ‘You’re feisty. I like it.’
‘But you’re going on a date with someone else,’ I found myself saying. I wished instantly I could take it back as the grin faded instantly from Dylan’s face. We stared at one another.
‘I didn’t say it was a date,’ Dylan said. ‘It’s a potential client. But if it was a date, would you mind?’
I couldn’t answer.
‘Willow…’
I turned away. ‘There is too much to do to talk.’ I could feel his eyes boring into my back. I sighed. ‘We said last weekend was a one-off, right?’ I whispered, unsure what I wanted him to say.
‘That’s what you said,’ he replied before ducking out of the tunnel, leaving me alone.
A sigh escaped my lips. What did that mean?
30
‘Look what I found!’ Sabrina came over on the way home from picking her daughter up from her grandparents. Work had finished for her for the week. Daylight was diming outside so I’d come into the farmhouse, exhausted from another long day. She pulled out pumpkin mugs from her bag. ‘I got two sets of four – four for us, four for you.’ They were large, deep-orange, pumpkin-shaped mugs with pretty, white, autumn leaves on them. ‘How could I resist them?’
‘They are so cute. I’d love to sell autumn merch like this at the patch. Sometimes, I think my ideas are too big, though,’ I mused as I picked up one of the mugs and smiled at it. ‘Like I wish I could build a straw maze. I have to reign myself in; we open on Monday and everything needs to be perfect.’
‘You can save those ideas for next year then,’ Sabrina suggested. ‘Have two for the farmhouse, and two for the cottage so Dylan can use them. Where is he?’
‘Getting ready to have dinner with a potential client. Dad is walking Maple. I’m just checking on the slow-cooker beef he made and then I need a shower. I’m knackered but the patch is really coming together now.’
‘I’ll be over on Monday as soon as school finishes for the day. Oh, Paul came by to see if you guys could borrow our benches; I think Miss Walker has let him have a few,’ she said, referring to the headmistress.
‘Great,’ I said. I gestured to Dylan’s open laptop on the kitchen table. ‘Ticket sales aren’t really going that well, though. There’s only been a few today and I’m not sure what to do over the weekend to get more people to book.’
‘Maybe people want to wait for it to open; they might not be in the full autumn spirit yet but once October arrives, they will be.’ She saw me bite my lip. ‘I’ll rally everyone at work, don’t worry. I need to get home. You look tired; are you going to rest tonight?’
‘I’ll try. It’s hard to switch my mind off. There’s only two days to go…’
‘Don’t stress, it’s going to be great. I’ll drop these two mugs in for Dylan on my way out. Has anything more happened between you two?’
I shook my head and she looked disappointed.
‘Maybe we can have breakfast tomorrow in town to start the weekend off?’ she said. ‘The four of us?’ she added hopefully.
‘There’s too much to do,’ I replied regretfully.
‘Okay, well, we could come by afterwards and help out. I’ll message you.’ She gave me a big hug and I found myself clinging to her for a second. I was trying to be optimistic and when Dylan told me we had sold ten tickets earlier, I’d been thrilled but that was all we had sold. Ten tickets wouldn’t make me any profit. What if I ended up losing money on this idea?
Sabrina left and I saw Dylan drive off for his dinner so I had a shower and got changed then sat down to eat with Dad. Outside, it was dark and the earlier breeze was stronger now. I could hear the wind blowing down the chimney.
I pulled out my phone, feeling a bit worried.
‘It doesn’t say there’s any bad weather on the way but that wind is really getting up.’
Dad looked out of the window. ‘Yeah, and it feels like rain is in the air. I’ll secure the chickens after dinner and check on the crops.’
