Kira gives me an appreciative smile and stands. “Thanks so much for having us. It was really nice to meet everyone, and I liked hearing all about Gram.”
Faith hugs her, and I shake hands with Albert.
We head outside.
“Thank you, Nate.”
Jesus, fuck, could she be any more adorable? “I can’t wait to get out of this,” I say, tugging on the cheese so I can fit behind the wheel. I start the vehicle, and Kira chuckles. I glare at her over the dashboard light. “Not funny.”
“A little funny?”
“No.”
The house is quiet when we arrive home. Even Bridgette has called it a night.
Inside the warm kitchen, I turn to Kira. “Need me to check your mousetrap?”
She gives me a knowing grin. “Yes, please.”
We remove our coats and head to her room. I shut and lock the door behind us as she flicks on the propane fireplace. I sit on her bed as she warms her hands.
“Now, what was that you agreed to earlier?” I ask.
“You mean about you removing this?” She runs her hands over her costume.
“Exactly. Now get over here.”
“Bossy-pants,” she says playfully as she falls into my arms.
Chapter Thirteen
Kira
“Are we really doing this?” I ask, watching the gigantic pumpkins, some elaborately decorated and painted, as people roll them into the water. This has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.
Nate hands me a paddle. “Only if you want to.”
I shake my head. “A regatta like this would never fly out west.”
“But would it float?”
“Ha. Ha.” Leaning on the paddle, I take in the hundreds of spectators and the news crew interviewing people. Hot dogs and hamburgers sizzle on the barbecue, compliments of the local grocery store sponsoring the event.
“I don’t really like being on the water, much less in an unstable pumpkin.”
Nate turns to me, his eyes serious as his hands go to my shoulders. “If you’re afraid, you don’t have to. But just know pumpkins float, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m pretty good in a boat, and I think you’d have a lot of fun if you gave it a try. But no pressure.”
My heart misses a beat at his understanding. I scan the calm water, find the firefighter in boats—real ones—ready to jump in and help if anyone is about to drown. My fears are irrational, it’s not like I’m in the open sea during a storm, and maybe Nate is right. Maybe I would have fun. I guess I’ve been doing lots of things outside my comfort zone. What’s one more thing, and hey, how many people get to say they raced in a giant pumpkin, right?
“Okay,” I say. “I want to beat Sam.”
Nate laughs. “Why?”
“I’m competitive.”
“Same,” Nate says, but I sensed that about him long ago.
“And it’s time we took such an ungracious winner down, don’t you think?” I say. His reaction when he won the card game was wildly funny, but a whole lot of cocky.
“Hey Sam,” I call out, and he turns my way. I poke my thumb into my chest. “I’m about to show you that I have no equal. You’re going down,” I say and expect him to salute me with his middle finger. Instead he runs my way, tugs my hat off, and scrapes his knuckles over my hair.
“You’re the one going down, little girl,” he says, and I’m laughing hard when I pinch his side to get him to stop.
“Are you two kids done?” Izzy asks as she comes up to us.
Sam lets me go and puts my hat back on my head. “S’up, Izzy?” he says to her, and I look out over the crowd to see Cody talking to some pretty brunette beneath a tree.
I glance back at Izzy in time to see her roll her eyes at me. “I hope you do beat him. I’m pretty sure he cheats when we play cards.”
“Do not. I’m just awesome, and you, little Izzy, are jealous.”
“Kira, this is Heather. Heather, Kira.”
“Nice to meet you, Heather,” I say to the gorgeous woman and shake her hand. Heather is close to my height, around the same age, and has the prettiest dyed silver hair that brings out the blue in her eyes.
“Same. I love your hat,” she says. “And I don’t care who wins today, as long as it’s not this asshole.” She jerks her thumb toward Sam.
“Heather, come on, you know you love me,” Sam says, and she shakes her head. He tries to hug her, and she pushes him away.
“He’s the most annoying man in the world.”
Just then, a whistle blows. “Try not to get caught in my wake,” Sam says, and when Izzy makes a move to clock him, he bolts.
I take in his long legs as he runs. “He’s kind of crazy, but I can see why Gram liked him so much.” I glance at Nate, and his eyes are narrowed, his lips slightly downturned. “What?” I ask.
“You like him, huh?” He looks past me, and before I can answer, he says, “We better get going.”
I have no idea what was going through his head, but I follow him to our pumpkin. I wave to Faith and Albert, who are a few pumpkins down, and on the other side of us, Sam and Jason are goading each other. I grin. I love that Gram’s “family” are all here. I’m sure she’s cheering us all on from heaven.
“I’ll hold it while you slide in,” Nate says, as he balances the big gourd.
“That’s what she said,” Sam yells out, and he and Jason laugh hysterically. Nate might be shaking his head, but his lips are quirking.
“Ready?” he asks me.
Here goes nothing.
He holds the massive pumpkin, and I balance myself by gripping his shoulders. Once inside the huge gourd, I settle my rear on the bottom.
“Good?” he asks.
“As good as I can be for a girl about to ride a pumpkin across the lake.”
His playful grin is back when he says, “This is going to be fun.”
The pumpkin wobbles as he climbs in, and two guys give us a push to set us into motion. We all enter the water, and cheers erupt behind us. Nate slides his paddle into the water and gets us going. I follow suit, but all I manage to do is spin us in a circle.
“Help,” I yell to Nate.
He uses his paddle to stop the spinning. “On the count of three, we do it together.” He counts down, and on three, I paddle, but he’s so much bigger and stronger, we end up going in a circle again.