Page 27 of Falling for Mr. October

“Miss Bianca,” he says, his tone whiny. “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“I won’t tell on you, just this once, if you go on home.”

They take off so quickly, they nearly raise dust in their wake.

Emily gives me a chiding look. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“But now we get to sit down and talk privately.”

When we reach the bench, Emily brushes it off with her hand, making me laugh.

“What? You think you’ll catch a stray sperm?”

“Gross,” she says, laughing with me.

After we sit down, we’re both quiet for a moment, watching the trees, which are a good bit oranger today than they were a week and a half ago, when I made my wish. I glance down reflexively, and a gasp gusts from me when I see them—dozens upon dozens of little green zinnia shoots.

Emily looks down too, her attention reeled in by mine, and her gasp is ten times louder.

“Holy shit, it actually worked!”

My heart trips in my chest as I gape at the shoots and try to think of an alternative explanation. But they’re a bit of an anomaly, those brave little shoots pushing out of the ground in the fall. Zinnias do grow in the fall, but usually they’re teenagers or adults by then, not fresh shoots.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” I mutter.

But there’s a small part of me that would like it to. Could Giovanni be the “something good” I wished for? I have to admit, it’s occurred to me that he could be the answer to the farm’s problems.

I knit my hands together in my lap. “Emily…I don’t think Miles sent Giovanni here to take his place. He had a different reason.”

“You think he was trying to set you two up?” she asks excitedly. “I thought I sensed something between you two earlier. He seemed really put out when you said it was a bad kiss.”

I brush a finger over my lips on reflex, then bury my hand in my dress pocket. “Any man would be put out by that, and no, that’s not what I meant. I was talking about the farm.”

“Oh.”

“I think Miles knows…. Look, I don’t know how much longer Theo can keep it going unless something major happens. This is something major. If Giovanni agrees to stay, it could be a total game-changer for us. I have to begrudgingly admit that Miles might have known what he was doing.”

“So he has to stay,” she says without hesitation.

“But how do I convince him to stick around after my temper tantrum earlier?”

She looks like I just handed her a winning lottery ticket. “Well… you could kiss him.”

“Emily. I’m not going to try honey-trapping the man. Besides, you saw what that woman was like. He’s probably going to have hundreds of women throwing themselves at him after it all comes out.”

“He’s already got Luanne, and no doubt she’ll have every woman in that retirement home watching those videos before dusk.”

When she’s right, she’s right. It’s funny to think about Giovanni being chased down by a bunch of older ladies with canes and walkers.

Emily’s mouth puckers as she studies those shoots in the ground. “Now, I already know you’re going to say I’m going too far, but hear me out.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You could try being nice to the man.”

I sputter laughter. “Now, you’re really being crazy.”

She gestures toward the rolling mountains in the distance, then back at the valley behind us. “The fall festivities are kicking off this weekend. Bring him around. Introduce him to people. Show him the farm he’ll be helping you save.”