Page 54 of There's Pumpkin About You
“Okayyyy,” Sam says awkwardly, and only now do I realize that everyone on the table and even some people standing around us were watching the interaction between Wren and myself. “Moving swiftly on from whateverthatwas… who’s ready to get another round?”
Something tells me I’m going to need to get a little drunker than I planned.
* * *
WREN
The fact that he seemed to just immediately figure me out scares me. When I helped to look after him, he told me that he struggles with reading people and situations. Struggles to understand what one look can mean, especially when it has multiple possibilities. And yet, both then and now it’s like he can read me as if I’m made in only his language. And that kind of feeling isn’t going to help me right now.
The atmosphere here in the Locke and Key bar is exactly what I need to take my mind off of my current problems. The smell of malt needs to be a taste in my mouth right now, and thankfully since Sam is currently getting drinks, that will soon be a possibility for me.
“So any exciting new plans for Oakleigh’s thirtieth?” Finn asks, concern hidden behind feigned interest.
I throw on one of my fake smiles and Oakleigh lets me answer since she hates to reply to Finn. “Oakleigh knows that we’ve had to halt work on the barn and so we’re talking about plan B and what that entails.”
The fact that I’ve avoided the question hasn’t escaped my brother’s notice.
Finn nods slowly and takes a sip of his beer. “It’s a shame we’ve had to put a pause on it, but you insisted we help with the harvest.”
“How is that? The harvest, I mean. I promise I’m going to start helping from tomorrow.”
Surprisingly, it’s the man who hasn’t spoken since he called me a liar ten minutes ago who answers my question. “Shitter than we expected.”
“It’s the first year you guys have had to do it with only two of you. Cut yourself some slack, Gus.”
“If I cut myself some slack, I lose half of the pumpkins in the third field. And since people won’t let me work on it, it looks like we’re losing it anyway.”
“You mean won’t let you do the work you’ve been secretly doing anyway since your bed rest ended?” I ask. Gus ignores me, choosing to instead sip his beer.
“We can always start on the third field,” Finn suggests. “Split the responsibilities?”
“By the time you guys finish in the barn it’s too dark for us to work on the fields.”
“We stopped working on the barn…remember?” Bash growls the last word and I watch the boys suspiciously as they exchange sheepish looks.
“Oh… yeah,” Gus grumbles.
“My point is that you don’t have to do it alone.”
“And my point is that if I don’t do it alone then it doesn’t get done.” Gus moves to lift his beer to his mouth and a pained sound leaves his mouth. He flinches so hard that the beer bottle drops from his hand, hitting the edge of the table and shattering all over the table and Gus’s shirt.
“Damn it!” he yells, banging his hand on the table and narrowly missing a piece of the broken bottle.
“Gus, stop.” I cover his hand with mine and he tenses beneath me. “It’s okay.”
He looks around him at the broken bottle shards scattered around the table, and I see his frustration slowly dissipate. His shoulders start to relax as he lets out a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry.”
Bash claps him on the back. “It’s okay, man.”
There might be something going on with me, but I know for sure I’m not currently the only one struggling. I am not the only one bowing under the debilitating weight of stress and high expectations.
“Is now a bad time to say hi and let you know that my name is Oakleigh and I’m part of the reason you are pretending to have stopped working on the barn?”
Finn sends Lee a warning look and I send Gus a glare. That lying little shit.
Sam lifts a hand. “I’m Sam, and no it’s not the wrong time. Your intro would have been awkward regardless since it had to follow their unresolved sexual tension.”
