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“Chris, this is Margery,” Maye said. “She is the most pragmatic of the Lunch Ladies.”
“She means I’m a grump,” Margery said. “It’s nice to meet you, Chris.”
“Hey, grumps can be endearing,” Chris said.
Maye placed their pumpkin down. “We would like to enter this into the contest, please.”
“You can’t enter that in the contest,” Margery said.
“What do you mean?” Maye said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Margery pointed at a sign that said: Only one decorator per pumpkin allowed.
Maye’s jaw dropped. “But—”
“Sorry, I don’t make the rules,” Margery said. She waved her arm in the direction of a tractor nearby. “You might as well take this romantic hayride since you have nothing to stay here for.”
Chris started to laugh. “This is honestly so much better in real life!” He hopped up onto the flatbed and reached out a hand to help Maye. “M’lady.”
“There’s a blanket up there in case you get chilly,” Estelle added.
“So, is this Fall Fest living up to your expectations?” she asked as she sat on a bale of hay next to Chris.
He pulled the plaid throw over their legs. “Oh, I’d say. This whole thing feels like a movie. The decorations, the lights, the people…”
Every streetlight was topped with a pumpkin to look like a carved jack-o’-lantern, and strings of lights webbed above the streets.
“You know,” he said as he inched closer to her, “I think you can count tonight as doing a movie plot in real life.”
“Really? Which one?” Maye asked.
She leaned into him as they bumped along the road.
“Hmmm,” Chris stared into space for a few seconds. “I can’t think of one that has a marching band kick off a Fall Fest, at which the leads are forced to decorate one pumpkin and then barred from entering it into the decorating contest, only to be ushered onto a hayride and whisked away. But I think there might be something there,” he said playfully. “You know what?” He said, appearing the most serious Maye had seen him since he arrived. “This week should count as your movie plots in real life! I can help guide you through them.”
“Oh, so you think I need professional help?” Maye cracked a smile. “I don’t know how you do it. Acting is much harder than it looks.”
“That was pretty good. You had me for a second,” he said.
The hayride slowed to a stop in front of the inn where Chris was staying.
“Well, I guess this is my stop,” he stood up and folded his portion of the blanket onto Maye’s lap.
“Three-legged race tomorrow night?” Maye asked.
“It’s a date,” he smiled.
Maye felt the warmth of a roaring fire rush through her body. She barely needed the blanket anymore.
- 26 -
Fall Fest
Wednesday Night
Maye had been anticipating her three-legged race date with Chris all day, excitedly counting down the minutes between her appointments. But when she met Chris at the inn so they could go to the festivities together and caught a glimpse of him hopping from the inn steps onto the sidewalk, she stopped in her tracks.
“What are those?” She said, pointing at his feet.
