Page 6 of Sweet Treat for the Mountain Man

Colleen: anytime my friend.

I sat on my couch with a thud and typed, deleted, and re-typed the same text a few times. I wanted to ask about Coast, but I didn't want to come off as a girl with a crush.

Though I was very much a girl with a crush.

Me: I asked Coast to come to the party with me, but he turned me down. He’s married, isn’t he?

Please tell me no.

Colleen: No, he’s single. But now that you mention it, I’ve never seen him with anyone. He had a long-term girlfriend in our early twenties. Want me to dig for info?

Me: No, that’s okay. Thanks again for enlisting his help. I’ll see you tomorrow night! Can’t wait to see your costume!

Colleen: Same! See you then.

As I got to my feet and headed to the shower, I thought about what Colleen said. He had a long-term girlfriend once before.

Maybe he was hurt. Closed off to love. It happened.

But the vibes he gave off…

He was definitely feeling us, it, me, whatever.

I turned on the water and undressed as it warmed up. There was no use worrying about it all night. I needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was the big day. I had to be up bright and early, running around for food pick-ups and putting out any last-minute fires, before stopping at home to change into my costume.

The hot water cascaded over my head and I closed my eyes as it ran down my skin.

Coast…

His handsome face…

Tall frame…

Why wouldn’t he leave my head?

He plagued me all night and when I crawled into bed, I fell asleep thinking of him.

The day flew as I rushed around Apple Falls, picking up food orders and balloons.

At city hall, I worked hard making sure everything was ready to go, including double checking the order with the caterers.

I met with the DJ, set up the balloons, and helped with the fog machines.

With only two hours left until the party, I headed home to morph into my getup. I only had an hour before I needed to be back at city hall to oversee the drop off of the food delivery.

My costume was from the movie, Coraline, the character of the other mother, the Beldam. I wore the black bodice with white polka dots, the matching pencil skirt, put my hair the classic black bob wig, and even had button glasses. I wore a red chocker and red Maryjane platform heels. I’d always enjoyed dressing up since I was a kid and even won a few of the costume competitions over the years.

When I arrived back at city hall, the music blared from the speakers and the fog machines pumped out foggy smoke. The skeleton lit up as people walked underneath and the orange and purple lights glowed around the room.

“I love it!” Debbie, a friend from the local paper, gushed as she ran over to me. “The party, your costume, the skeleton! You outdid yourself this year, Amora! I know your parents are proud.”

“Thank you,” I hugged her. “Speaking of my parents, where are they?”

“They’re in the kitchen,” Debbie informed me.

I headed there to greet them, before the party kept me busy. They were dressed as Danny and Sandy from Grease and looked great. “Mom, Dad, hi!” I hugged them both as we chatted.

I went around and greeted more guests as the party got underway and a couple of hours later, the party was full.