Page 17

This was his out. His chance. “Then, we put the horror movie fest on hold until next year, and this year we go out, dress up, the works. I’ll talk to Maeve, and you will be in full costume.”

He was not much of a Halloween man, but giving Betty a good time through Halloween would be better than sitting through horror movies.

****

Halloween

Betty loved Halloween, and she always wanted to go out with the other kids, but no one would take her. Her mother also made sure she was never with her Aunt Martha at Halloween, and she had a sneaking suspicion she did it on purpose, so she had no choice but to stay in.

That was why she developed a rather freakish love of Halloween movies. It stopped her mother from stepping into a room to say something nasty about the candy she was eating, or calling her a slob.

“I don’t know,” Betty said, looking at her reflection.

Maeve had left an hour ago, and she stood looking at her reflection with her smoky eyes, dark red lips, and pale complexion. She wore a witch’s costume that Grim had dropped off earlier. She tried to talk him out of it, but he would not budge. He knew what he wanted and what he didn’t want. So, she had to wear a wig, put the full makeup on, and wear the outfit that molded to her like a second skin, reminding her that she had large breasts. Her waist, although thick, compared to her hips and boobs, was in fact small. She had the hourglass figure, with a few extra pounds.

“You look stunning,” Martha said.

She turned to her aunt. “I’m nervous.”

“I know.”

“What if he thinks this is a joke?” Betty asked.

“Grim wanted to take you to this party. It’s at the clubhouse, so I know you’re going to be okay.”

“What about you and the trick-or-treaters, and answering the door?” Betty asked.

This is what she loved about Halloween and why she’d been buying candy for the past couple of weeks, so they didn’t run out and get toilet paper thrown at the house.

“I’ve got this. Besides, Doc and Maeve said they would stop by. As did Savage and Charlotte. I’ve got company, and you get to enjoy yourself.”

“You could get dressed up and come to the party.”

“And cramp your style?” Martha asked.

“It wouldn’t cramp my style.”

“Honey, trust me on this. You’re going to have a lot of fun. Tell me you don’t feel great in that costume?” Martha asked.

“I do, and it’s fun, but it is ... revealing.” She felt like she needed to cover up her body.

Martha rubbed at her arms. “You look beautiful and I know Grim is going to be blown away.”

“He’s just my friend,” Betty said, and she had to keep reminding herself of that very fact.

“Honey, I can see you want more.”

She was about to argue when the doorbell rang.

“That is either him, or the first wave of trick-or-treaters.” Martha rushed to the door, and it was actually both.

Betty didn’t have any time to stall.

Grim gave Martha a kiss on the cheek, wished her a good night, and told the kids to be good. They all laughed, but there was no time as Betty was pulled onto his bike, and in a blink of an eye, they were at the clubhouse, with no way to turn around. The clubhouse was decorated for Halloween. There were glowing pumpkins on the outside of the gate. Two of the members were dressed as ghouls and were on the main gate.

She climbed off Grim’s bike, and the nerves might have been getting to her, as she nearly stumbled onto the ground, and if it wasn’t for Grim grabbing hold of her, she would have fallen. He wrapped his arm around her, and she saw fake spiderwebs on the outside of the building, as well as RIP signs, graveyards, and there were strings of orange and purple fairy lights. It looked amazing.

It was also freezing cold.