“That’s it,” Janet said, turning towards me. “He’s out. You’re in.”
“What?!” Hunter sputtered, his trepidation turning to outrage.
“Oh shush,” his mom said, waving him off. “I always wanted a daughter and it seems I have a new spot to fill since you clearly forgot all the lessons your fathers and I taught you about how to treat a lady.”
“I apologized—”
“Say, Autumn,” Janet carried on, smiling at me brightly as she ignored her son completely. “How do you like pumpkin brûlée? I make a killer one that is just to die for.”
“First you try to trade me out and then you offer to make hermyfavorite dessert?” Hunter asked, outraged. If it wasn’t for the little twinkle in his eye cluing me into the fact that he must be used to his mom’s antics, I would have bought the act.
“What did you do now?” Jack asked, walking up. He shot me a small smile as he came to stand next to me, a bundle of papers in one hand.
From the looks of it he had already managed to sign up and get the Fall Festival guidebook. Something that I still hadn’t managed to accomplish yet. But first there were some things I needed to get clear.
“You didn’t tell me you were Hunter’s brother,” I said looking at Jack before turning to Hunter, comparing the two in my mind.
“I thought you knew,” Jack said, his face growing a bit pale. “Hunter said he introduced himself.”
“I gave her my full name, not my whole life story,” Hunter said with a sigh. “Look, whatever we have going on between us, don’t blame my brother. He genuinely thought you knew. Hell, honestly I thought you’d made the connection between our last names and just decided you didn’t care when he came home all chipper after introducing himself to you.”
His little speech was somewhat redeeming, not that I was truly upset about my little run in with the law. It was the most excitement I’d had in awhile, kicking off this new chapter in my life with a bang.
I’d forgiven him the second he apologized for the mix-up and took the cuffs off me. Although if I was honest with myself I wouldn’t mind if he broke them out again. I was all for a little kink in the bedroom and from the stories his mom told, he wasn’t a stranger to them either.
It was my own fault that I hadn’t made the connection, but I didn't really remember the good sheriff’s last name at the time. I had been a little…distracted.
“We’re good Jack,” I reassured him, reaching out to take his hand and squeezing it. “I can see now why you’re the favorite.”
Janet let out a whoop of laughter as she pretended to wipe tears from her eyes.
“I see why Jack’s taken a liking to you,” she said. “You’ll fit right in. Come on, let’s get you signed up.”
“I’ve got to get back to work,” Hunter said with a sigh, excusing himself from further laughter at his expense. Just because I was a snarky brat I gave him a finger wave and grin before he turned to leave.
She walked around the table we were gathered near, taking her place and turning around her clipboard. Humming to herself she filled stuff out, asking me questions here and there about what kinds of goods I was going to have and how much space I’d need for my booth.
“How much space is standard?” I asked, looking between her and Jack.
Jack was still having a bit of trouble meeting my eye, the blush on his cheeks from his family’s teasing still making himself known.
“There’s two sizes of booths that we assemble each year. You can always go off what your grandpa Roger gave last year, but it really just all depends on how many products you plan on delivering. How about I put you down for the same space regardless? If for some reason you can’t fill it, then you can just sell fresh baskets of apples or consider doing gourmet caramel dipped ones, both of which are easy enough to do,” Janet offered.
Her suggestions had merit and I made a mental note to expand the plan to include those regardless. Couldn’t hurt to spice up what the town was used to. And apparently they were missing their apples.
“You’ll be fine,” Jack assured, seeming to gather his courage as he squeezed my hand reassuringly just like I had him a moment ago. “You have the whole town behind you. Plus, if I learned anything about you this past week or so, it’s that you’re determined and strong. You can do anything you set your mind to Autumn.”
Touched by his words, my eyes locked on his bright blue ones, a moment seeming to pass between us. It was so sweet I thought I’d melt.
“I guess there’s only one question left then,” Janet said, the tone of her voice filled with anticipation. “Will you be entering the tenth annual Fall Festival pie contest?”
I looked back to Jack who was smiling broadly at me now, his tentative shyness seeming to abate more and more as we spent time together. This look though, was damn right confident.
“Is that why you’ll lend me a cup of sugar but not let me take over your massive kitchen and school me in pie crust?”
“It could have something to do with it,” he acknowledged, shrugging his shoulders not so innocently.
Janet hummed under her breath, her eyes darting back and forth between Jack and I. “It seems like you’re testing both of my boys,” she said with a small laugh. “I knew I liked you. So, what’s it going to be, Autumn?”