Page 36 of Trick or Tease

“Sorry, Mrs. Mae.”

I grabbed a dish towel and started mopping up the mess. “It’s okay. Rookie mistake. We’ve got plenty.”

“I can do it,” Garrett protested, reaching for the towel at the same time I did. Our hands collided, and somehow he managed to knock over the bottle of red food coloring in the process.

“Oh, come on,” I groaned as crimson drops splattered across the white counter. It looked like a candy crime scene.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing another towel and making the mess worse by spreading the red dye around instead of blotting it up.

Granny Mae clucked her tongue. “Honey, maybe you should just stand back and let Sabrina handle the measuring.”

But Garrett was determined to prove himself. “No, I’ve got this. Just tell me what to do.”

Twenty minutes later, I was seriously reconsidering my decision to bring him along. He’d managed to spill sugar across the floor which made the linoleum floor feel like we were on an ice rink. When Granny asked him to stir the syrup, he’d somehow dripped it onto the hot burner, filling the kitchen with the acrid smell of burning sugar.

“Is it supposed to smell like that?” he asked, waving the wooden spoon around and flinging more drops of syrup.

“No,” I said, rushing to turn on the exhaust fan and open a window. “Definitely not.”

The poor man was so far out of his element. I hoped it humbled him a bit.

While we waited for the kitchen to air out, I leaned my hip against the counter. “I’m really excited about all the events at the farm this year. It’s all coming together so well. Billy did a good job.”

I wanted Garrett to acknowledge his brother’s hard work. And mine.

Garrett looked up, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah, I have to admit, it’s impressive. I didn’t expect it to be this big of a deal. But I can see why people would want to come. Good wholesome Halloween fun.”

Granny Mae stirred the syrup on the stove. “It’s more than just Halloween, though, isn’t it? It’s a whole fall celebration. Spooky, yes, but also warm and welcoming. The crisp air, the pumpkin patches, the cider are all part of it. You need a name for this.”

I nodded, catching her drift. “You’re right. ‘Halloween stuff’ doesn’t quite capture it. It’s bigger than that. It’s about the season.”

“What about something like ‘Fall Fest’?” Garrett suggested. “Simple, to the point.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Too generic. Everyone calls their fall events ‘Fall Fest.’ We need something unique to us.”

Granny Mae looked thoughtful. “What about ‘Harvest Haunt’?”

“We’re trying to stay away from scary,” I said. “I’ve been vetoed.”

“I think you should include the old haunted house as part of the festivities,” Granny said. “That’ll bring more people in. Nothing like a haunted house to drum up curiosity.”

“We all know that house isn’t haunted,” Garrett said with a shake of his head like he’s tired of defending the place. “It’s just closed up. Sabrina made all those stories up.”

Granny scoffed. “She made up that one story, but there are plenty of real stories about that old farmhouse. The House on Hogan’s Hill is the place where love died.”

“What?” Garrett asked. “I’ve never heard that before. My parents always said my great grandparents had lived there, and when my great grandpa died, my great grandma couldn’t bear to be in their home anymore. She had the new house built and boarded up the old one.”

Granny nodded. “You’re just missing the part about your great grandfather’s restless spirit roaming those halls eternally, looking for the love he lost.”

Garrett laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Maybe we should do a haunted tour of the place,” I said.

“I doubt it’s safe for the public to walk around in,” Garrett said. “We would have to check everything out and fix it up. I don’t think it’s worth the cost or the effort.”

“How about a haunted hayride?” Granny suggested. “It can just drive past the house and no one has to go in. You could hang sheets in the window or something. Add some music and vibes.”

I looked at Garrett to see what he thought about it. He wasn’t outright saying no.