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“Yeah, I’m struggling to build momentum, but it should be fine. I’m hoping it’s okay.” She shrugged. “These things happen.”

He hated that the past year had taken more away from her than it should have.

“You’ve got this, and you’ve got a regular viewer in me.” He winked at her, and she smiled.

“Okay, so this was your idea, did you even get to try the cakes?” she asked.

“I got three, including the salted caramel, and that is damn good. The fact you’ve made carrot cake look so good and sound it, I mean, I’m blown away. I think my favorite is the chocolate truffle cake.”

This made her eyes go a little wide. “They’re your three favorites?”

“They’re the only ones I got to try.”

Betty laughed. “This was actually a lot of fun. You know, Doc has asked me to come and cook Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Sounds great,” he said.

“Actually, my aunt was there, and she has invited the whole club to the house for Thanksgiving,” Betty said. “What do you think?”

“We’ve got to get through Halloween first.”

“I love Halloween, don’t you?”

This surprised him. “You love Halloween?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is it the kids dressing up for Halloween, all the baking you get to do, watching corny childish movies?”

Betty wrinkled her nose. “Hell, no, well, kids dressing up is always cute. As for Halloween baking, fall cooking and baking is the best time of the year. Then, you’ve got the horror movies. Sure, the cartoon ones that are kid-appropriate are always fun, but I love a good horror movie.”

“You’re kidding me?” he asked.

“Not at all. I’m there for it, the blood, the guts, the gore, the girls doing all the wrong things. The good guys getting hurt, but actually making it in the end. I love it all.”

“You do surprise me, Betty. I did not have you down as a horror movie kind of girl.”

“Okay, asking me if I can sleep after a horror movie marathon is another thing, but it doesn’t stop me. I absolutely love it, and Halloween is the best time to do it.”

“Consider it a date,” he said.

“A date?”

“You and me, horror movies.” He was not about to tell her he actually hated horror movies. He was not much of a movie watcher, but he could get through a night of watching Betty rather than the television.

“Did I hear a date?” Aunt Martha asked.

Grim smiled, because fucking no one knew about his aversion to horror movies. Life was fucking hard, and if you didn’t make the most of it, for the most part, it was always going to suck. Watching horror movies filled with damn bad luck and disgusting shit did not appeal to him.

“Grim and I are going to spend Halloween together.”

“Is he going to take you to a Halloween party?” Martha asked.

He noticed that Betty hadn’t finished speaking, when Martha interrupted.

“A party?” he asked.

“Didn’t Betty tell you? She has never gone to a Halloween party, nor dressed up, and she has never gone as any other character.”