Page 40 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
Then he straightened himself and gave his crumpled clothes a pat-down.
‘I feel like you’ve got this all figured out,’ said Rosie.
‘How do you mean?’
‘A perfect plan for the retreats, a flawless date on the lake. A pretty exciting finale. You’re full of surprises.’
‘I’m not sure I’ll ever have it all figured out.’ He sighed. ‘Like I said before, I just came up with a few logistics. I can throw the shell together, but it’s you who knows how to make the people inside it feel treasured. Does that make any sense?’
This time their kiss was softer. And like time had stretched out when they’d been out on the lake, she wasn’t quite sure how long it lasted. She just knew that with every moment, he was fillingherwith something treasured. And when it ended, he watched her go inside and went back to his own hut, alone. He’d whispered in her ear that he didn’t trust himself to stay and that the best presents were unwrapped slowly. As agonising as not rushing things was, she knew exactly what he meant.
26
Dancing. On. Air.
That was how Rosie had felt since that first kiss with Zain, just a few short weeks ago. And that was how she still felt right then, as she took her morning stroll around the pumpkin fields, the burnt-orange radiance of Zain’s beautiful fruit like warmth for her soul.
He was happy with her strolling freely here now, as long as she respected the vines. She was even allowed to poke around in his polytunnels, which were like a farmer’s version of a science lab but stuffed with all manner of gorgeous gourds. This calm morning walk was exactly what she needed before the first unofficial retreat practice weekend that was about to kick off.
The last few weeks had floated by like a dream. Zain had surprised Rosie with more romantic dates that had felt so perfect they could have been extracted from the textbook of dating. They had stargazed under cosy blankets with flasks of pumpkin-spiced hot chocolate. They’d ambled around Autumn Meadows, listening to the chatter of birds and spotting water voles. Yesterday they’d made marshmallows that looked like little Cinderella pumpkins, which they’d be toasting around a campfire later on, as part of their retreat test run.
Zain had tried to pass off their perfect dates as research for retreat activities whenever Rosie had gently teased him about the effort he’d put in. Sometimes she’d wondered if he’d lined up the wood pigeons for an immaculate dawn chorus. Even the things he said seemed poetically word-perfect, even though she hadn’t had Zain down as a talker. Most of their dates ended with ever-intensifying clinches that she hoped weren’t part of any wild retreat research.
Rosie stopped to pull out a notebook, remembering one such hot embrace that definitely deserved a place in her book. She barely needed to magic up a scene from her own imagination these days, as everything Zain said and did would make any romantic fiction fan’s heart do somersaults. She smiled as she recalled just how alive Zain made her feel, when she’d once worried that she was immune to properly falling for anyone after her run of romantic catastrophes.
With a flourish of her pen and a few scribbled hearts in the margin, she popped her notebook away and took a moment to breathe in her surroundings. She’d always loved autumn, for its stunning shades and the promise of cosiness. Being here had made her appreciate it in brand-new outdoorsy ways. The crisp, dewy mornings, when the smell of rich earth seemed to rise and fill her lungs. The way the trees gently dropped blankets of gold and russet leaves that she would sweep and gather for compost. The sheer joy of watching the crops fatten and grow ripe. After a wobbly start, she now couldn’t imagine not being here, and she was excited to share some of this with their future retreat guests, if they could just pull it off.
Her mind wandered to the retreat preparations, which had been coming along nicely. She and Zain had busied themselves collecting wood, building treehouses, and trying to beg, borrow or barter for what they needed. Rosie had rounded up kind locals to chip in with spare materials, and she’d been writing marketing bumph for local businesses in exchange for old tin baths or material for teepees. Zain had swallowed his pride and helped on local farms as a trade-off for borrowing expertise or spare hands.
With the meerkat-like interest from locals, and the infinite pompom energy of the swim ladies, word was spreading like butterflies. Rosie had even reluctantly set up social media profiles for the pumpkin farm retreats, so they could build excitement as preparations unfolded, because she couldn’t switch off from technology forever. Luna and Ellen were doing most of the social media posting, as Wi-Fi was still No-Fi around Agnes’s land, but Rosie had been using Agnes’s old bike to ride to the library with her laptop and do whatever promo she could.
With a pang of nerves, Rosie wondered again about whether all the exposure could end in her mum and sister soon tracking her down. Not even an envelope could open in the Cotswolds without those two hearing about it and turning up in their glad rags, and Rosie desperately didn’t need them to blow her cover when things were starting to go well.
She exhaled a long breath. Taking control of your own story wasn’t always easy.
‘Everything OK?’
Rosie turned to see Zain behind her, his hair still wet from his shower, but to her slight disappointment, fully clothed. He locked Rosie with hisI could do wild things with youstare, before moving in to put his arms around her. His steady warmth was exactly what she needed.
‘Ready for your big weekend?’ he asked.
‘Mmm hmm.’ In his bear-like hug, her nerves were already melting. ‘And it will be good to finally test one of the treehouses tonight.’
‘Well, if you need anyone with you, to help check yours is stable...’ he whispered into her ear.
Rosie’s giggle escaped into his neck, and she loved that it tickled him.
‘What, with Mags and the gang?’ Rosie teased.
‘If you prefer,’ he joked back. ‘But I’d rather save my energy for you.’
With the closeness of his body against her, she was getting a feel for the energy he was talking about. If he wasn’t careful, she’d be demanding a demonstration here, in his pumpkin fields. What she wouldn’t give to get down and muddy with him right then, if they didn’t have a busy day planned.
Their collection of film-set-worthy dates had left her imagining all sorts of intimate, explosive endings. Back in her old life she may well have slept with him on date one, out of some hollow desire to please. But she wasn’t in that superficial world anymore, and none of what she’dalwaysdone had worked out for her. So with Zain being gentlemanly and never rushing things, she’d been enjoying the skin-tingling anticipation of waiting.
Though Rosie was only human. There was only so long she could keep her suddenly quite hot hands to herself.
‘Tonight?’ she whispered back, her breath against his ear making him groan. ‘Tonight, I might just be available.’
