Page 65 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
Rosie felt herself bristle. At least she’d told Agnes that wasn’t her name, even though there was stilla bitof a mix-up.
‘We’ll see Wilbur later. I’m sure he’ll want to catch up with you.’
Bloody. Brilliant. Rosie just had to get through that night, raise enough money to replace Agnes’s collapsing roof, and get out of there. No head-to-heads, no heart-to-hearts, and absolutely no fireworks. Was that too much to ask?
‘I’ll be too busy for socialising.’
Rosie knew her tone was clipped, but she couldn’t help it. Tonight would be tense enough, with the uncertainty of whether the final auction would be enough to save Autumn Meadows. Even if Rosie wasn’t sticking around, she couldn’t bear to think of it being concreted over to build a factory, otherwise the last few weeks had been for precisely nothing.
At least Agnes’s back kitchen hadn’t been damaged in the roof-tumbling tragedy, so their chef could still use it. And luckily, Agnes had been able to rope in Zain and some locals to cover the exposed parts of her roof earlier that day, so it was temporarily waterproof.
‘You’ll be fine, love.’ Agnes gave Rosie an awkward pat on the back, even though comforting people really wasn’t her thing. ‘I’m proud of you.’
Onions barked in agreement and Rosie had to blink back a tear. She’d miss this funny lot. Well,someof them.
Warning Agnes to come back later to help with the auction so she didn’t have to get within screaming distance of Zain, they said theirgood lucksand got moving.
Fresh from hayrides around the pumpkin patches and campsite with Zain, visitors soon began piling into the field around the lake, their excitement tangible. Guests were dressed in swishy skirts and casual trousers, paired with wellies and warm shawls, using big umbrellas like walking sticks, ready to celebrate, come mud or rain.
The sight made Rosie’s spirits lift a little. She’d worked hard for this night, and she ought to enjoy some of it, even if it was tinged with an undeniableend of adventuresadness.
‘Rosie! What a beautiful job you’ve done.’
Rosie spun around to see her swim friends bouncing over. She fought to swallow back the lump in her throat. She would miss being here with them too.
Mags had brought along her newly formed hurdy-gurdy band, as encouraged by Luna and Ellen. Those two were behind, their arms draped protectively around Bonnie. Bonnie had already declared she’d belooking for a hot genttonight, so Rosie guessed Luna would have to loosen her clutches on her mum, now that she was thriving.
They pulled in for their usual group hug, congratulating each other on how well they scrubbed up. Rosie had opted for a floor-length floaty dress that made her feel like an autumnal flower fairy, and a fluffy cardi that her sister had once told her looked like a pile of moss.
‘I’m so glad you’re here.’ Rosie wasn’t sure how she’d get through it without them, now she and Zain were warring, and he knew enough of her secrets to bring the whole night crashing down, if he was outrageous enough. She hadn’t told them about their fall-out, because well-meant matchmaking could end in disaster.
‘Luna, Ellen and I are donating ourselves as waitresses,’ said Bonnie, plucking three pumpkin-patterned aprons from her bag.
‘Oh wow, you don’t need to do that,’ said Rosie. ‘I want you to enjoy yourselves.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Bonnie, pulling the apron over her ashy-grey mohawk, which she’d decorated with orange and gold bows. ‘Many hands make light work.’ She lowered her voice. ‘And if I want to nab a hottie, I’ll need to mingle.’
‘Take it easy, Mother,’ Luna breathed, as if she knew her words were futile.
‘It’s an exciting night for you, Rosie. Are you feeling OK?’ asked Mags.
It looked like she’d already got her hands on some of the chocolates Rosie and Zain had made, that day in the kitchen. She shook away a memory of him licking chocolate from her finger in a way that had made her soul dance.
Rosie lifted her chin. ‘Yes, I will be.’As soon as this is all over, she silently added. Her holdall was already packed.
When her friends had dispersed, Rosie rushed off to begin hosting duties. She hadn’t yet spotted Zain –notthat she was looking for him. They’d kept a suitably standoffish distance all day, though it was clear they were both still steaming. She hoped her particularly angry stares had warned him not to dare tell Agnes she was an impostor, because he needed this night to be a success more than Rosie did.
Hearing a splash and some yelping from the lake, Rosie’s head shot up.
The Three Tuxedos. She ought to have been furious at the sight of the three conspicuous men clambering into a wobbling boat, even if their squealing and shoving was farcical. They must have paid a small fortune for aromantic diningexperience. With the tickets having been auctioned off to the highest bidders, many using discreet profile names, Rosie wasn’t quite sure who would turn up. A fact that was adding to her nerves.
She tried not to wince as she noticed the boat they were climbing into was the one Zain had paintedRosie and Him, for their first real date.
Correction. No doubt his chatbot puppet master had come up with that too. She huffed. Perhaps it was fitting that the annoying bottoms of her Cyber Purrz nemeses would spend the evening wriggling around and probably breaking wind inside it. She couldn’t help a wry smile when she saw a stony-faced Zain forced to help them. He deserved to be stuck with those donkeys.
Could her night get worse from here? She shook away the mental image of fending off a clowder of robotic cats whilst serving pumpkin fizz to her ex-boyfriend and his sexbot, Zoe. Becausesurelythings wouldn’t get that bad.
Right then, her question was partly answered by two more unexpected faces in the distance.Oh God.What had she done to deserve this? A huge part of her wanted to go and hide in a nice, autumnal bush. But if she was learning anything, it was that problems spread less when you nipped them in the bud. And tonight was about seeing through her commitments with her head held high. So she took a deep breath and marched over.
