Page 55 of Love and Lattes at Pumpkin Hollow
‘I don’t care if she is an ex-girlfriend,’ I joked to Dylan when he showed me that we’d sold five hundred tickets the morning after she posted about the patch.
‘I told you – there’s never been anything between us. I think she still has a crush on Nate. Maybe she thought he’d be grateful for her help.’
‘Little does she know he hates this place. She’s going on a date with Steve so hopefully, she’ll forget all about Nate. I’ll call her tonight to say thank you.’
‘We should go to the pub to celebrate once we finish work for the day. If this rate of sales keeps going, we’re going to smash our target for ticket sales for the first week.’
‘You should, love,’ Dad said, overhearing as he helped a couple put their pumpkins into a wheelbarrow to carry over to their car. ‘You’ve worked so hard this week, and the weekend will be crazy based on these new ticket sales. Relax tonight; it’s Friday, after all!’
‘I suppose we could…’ I said, hesitating because although letting off some steam after the stressful week sounded really good, I wasn’t sure about being alone with Dylan and drinking. ‘I’ll see if Sabrina and Bradley might be able to get a babysitter and join us.’
Dad walked off to help the couple, leaving Dylan looking at me. He grinned. ‘Are you thinking safety in numbers or something?’ he asked, a definite flirty edge to his tone, as if he’d worked out my plan.
‘Dylan…’
‘I’m only teasing,’ he said quickly. ‘I know I don’t deserve a night out with you alone, as much as I want one.’ He waved at a family who were looking for help and hurried over to them.
His words left an impression. I liked him wanting to be alone with me. But I was scared to want the same thing after all we’d been through. I wanted to trust his feelings for me. But it was hard.
I pulled out my phone to ask Sabrina if she fancied meeting us at the pub. I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to say yes or no.
42
Dylan and I walked into the Birchbrook Arms that night. The evening had turned chilly so the crackling log fire inside was a very welcome sight. The pub was busy as it was Friday night but Sabrina and Bradley had secured a small table in the corner. They had jumped at the chance to have a quick drink with us, and I was relieved to have ‘safety in numbers’ as Dylan had put it earlier.
‘We had so much fun today!’ A woman accosted me on the way to the bar so Dylan said he’d get us a drink and I stopped to smile at her. ‘I’ve been telling everyone they need to come along to the pumpkin patch,’ she added.
I recognised her then as having come to the farm earlier with her family – she was a newcomer to town and said it was so much more fun than the one she had been to near her old house.
‘Thank you so much,’ I said. ‘That really helps us out.’
‘I might bring the kids again in half-term; it’s hard to find things to do all week!’
When we said goodbye, I joined Sabrina and Bradley as Dylan carried over a beer for him and wine for me. ‘That was some week,’ I said as I sank into the chair and took a grateful gulp. I slipped off my coat as the pub was so warm and I felt some of the tension of the past few days slip away.
‘You have worked so hard,’ Sabrina said, raising her glass in the air. ‘We need to toast Pumpkin Hollow.’
‘Everyone keeps saying it’s the place to go,’ Bradley added. ‘I told my colleagues all about it and they’ve all booked tickets.’
‘It’s like Birchbrook never realised we were missing something to do at this time of year,’ Sabrina agreed with a vigorous nod in her husband’s direction.
‘Apart from the lantern festival,’ Bradley said.
‘Speaking of, Dad has a meeting booked in with the mayor on Monday to see if she will let us tie in the farm to it this year,’ I said, smiling at how enthusiastic they were about it all. ‘Maybe people can set off or end at the pumpkin patch and I’ll decorate it even more for Halloween and light it up. I think it could be really great.’
‘He’ll persuade Taylor, I’m sure of it. He said she is an old friend, right? And your dad is so happy with how it’s going,’ Dylan said. ‘Ticket sales have increased so much. I have high hopes for half-term.’
‘It’s your birthday before that – next week,’ Sabrina added excitedly. ‘How shall we celebrate?’
‘I haven’t had a chance to think about it,’ I admitted. ‘It’s so full on at the farm, I don’t want to do anything much.’
Sabrina pulled a sad face. ‘Okay, well, I’ll have a think of something; you have to celebrate it a bit.’
I smiled. ‘Okay. We will do something,’ I promised, although I was already feeling very tired.
Bradley started telling us a funny story about his work and I leaned back in the chair to listen, glad I didn’t need to make much conversation, just relax. I glanced over at Dylan as he laughed at what Bradley was saying. I had a strange feeling that he wouldn’t be a newcomer in our group for long. That the four of us would have many drinks together in this pub. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. That I wanted us to do that.
When I went to the loo, Sabrina joined me and, standing in front of the mirrors as we washed our hands, she studied me.
