Just one lunch at Toddy’s Burgers was enough to turn my mom into a fan. She normally didn’t like burgers that much, but apparently, we’d found the exception to the rule, and the two of us stuffed our faces with so much food that we pretty much rolled our way back to her car.
She also loved the town of Weybridge. She kept gushing over how quaint it was and would let out an “ooh” or an “ahh” whenever we passed one of the cute little shops that lined the main street. It was probably a good thing she needed a shower, or I doubt I could have pulled her away.
When we arrived at Matthew’s home, her gushing came to a stop, and she went suspiciously quiet. Her eyes had slowly been growing wider as we’d driven up the long driveway that led to the house, and her lower lip dropped slightly as she parked in front of the mansion. I could tell she was truly surprised by the size of it. It was one thing to know Matthew had money but another thing to see the evidence of it in the flesh.
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” Mom said as she turned the car engine off.
“What do you mean?”
“I know Matthew insisted I stay here, but it feels weird,” she said. “Maybe I’d be better off in a motel tonight.”
I glanced up at the huge house towering over us. It was such a world away from our place back home. It felt like stepping into a whole different universe. From the way my mom was staring at the place, she felt exactly like I did when I first came here—like she didn’t belong and like she wasn’t good enough.
“Do you think I should text him and tell him I’ll stay somewhere else?” Mom asked. “He’s not here, so it’s not like he’s expecting us…”
My chest tightened as I glanced at the house once more. “Uh, I wouldn’t speak too soon,” I said, nodding toward the front door.
Mom looked over and gasped as she saw Matthew emerge from the building.
“He’s here?” she squeaked as she finally found her voice. “What is he doing here? He said he wasn’t going to be in town.”
“I don’t know.” He hadn’t said anything to me either. “He told me he couldn’t make it and we’d have the place to ourselves.”
Mom grabbed hold of my arm, jerking my attention back to her. “How do I look?”
I let out a soft laugh at the worry in her voice. “Mom, you look beautiful, just like always.”
“I haven’t showered this morning,” she said. “I haven’t even brushed my teeth! I knew I should have done it at the gas station on the way here.”
She was officially freaking out, and I lightly grasped her hand. “Mom, it’s okay. Like I said, you look beautiful. It’s just Matthew, there’s no need to freak out.”
She slowly nodded, but I could see my words weren’t exactly helping.
“Why are you so nervous?” I asked.
“Because I haven’t seen him in seventeen years…” She glanced out the car window again. “He’s still incredibly handsome, isn’t he?”
“Ew, Mom.”
She laughed, and the sound seemed to shake the fog of anxiety that had been covering her. “I guess we better go say hello.”
“Yeah, he’s going think something’s wrong if we stay in the car much longer.”
Mom pulled her keys from the ignition but hesitated before she opened the car door. “One more thing.” She turned to me. “Do I smell like a cheeseburger?”
I laughed and leaned over so I could give her a sniff. “No, you smell just like your perfume.” She’d been wearing the same one since I was a little girl and always smelled of roses with a hint of vanilla.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“Mom, stop worrying. It’s going to be fine.” I shook my head and opened the door. I had a feeling she’d keep stalling if I let her, and then Matthew really would think something was up.
Mom slowly exited the car after me. She was usually so confident, but right now she was a nervous wreck. I wasn’t sure why she was freaking out so much. She’d talked on the phone with Matthew several times over the last few weeks.
“Hey, Matthew,” I said as I approached my father. We still weren’t at the point where we hugged each other or gave each other kisses in greeting. Seeing as he was usually so formal, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to that point.
“Isobel, it’s lovely to see you,” he said. He was smiling, but I thought I could see the corners of his lips twitching slightly like he was nervous too. He turned to look at my mom.
“Candice,” he said.
“Matthew,” she replied.
The two of them stood there staring at each other for an inappropriately long amount of time. They almost seemed to be drinking each other in. Marking every line and scar that had marred their features in the time they’d been apart.
Matthew was the first to realize he’d been staring too long and jerked his gaze away from her. He gestured into the house. “Won’t you come inside?”
“I just have to grab my bags,” Mom said, glancing at the car.
Matthew shook his head. “I’ll have someone see to that. Please come in.”
“Oh, ah, okay,” Mom replied.
We followed him into the house, and Mom was still struggling with the surprise of seeing Matthew here. She didn’t even seem to notice how ridiculously opulent his home was. I doubted she noticed anything other than my father right now. Seeing him after all these years apart had to be weird for her.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to be here this weekend,” Mom said as we followed Matthew up the grand entrance staircase.
“I had a meeting cancel on me last minute,” he replied. “I didn’t intend to crash your girls’ weekend, but there were some maintenance issues I needed to oversee here at the house. I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible.”
I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from lifting. Matthew had Caldwell to deal with stuff like that. I doubted my father had ever overseen a maintenance issue in his life. I had a sneaking suspicion he was here because he wanted to see my mom.
“Don’t be silly. We don’t expect you to stay out of our way,” Mom said before slowly glancing at me. “Does that mean you’ll be joining us at the Halloween carnival tonight?”
I was surprised my mom had jumped at the opportunity to remind Matthew of our invite. I had asked him earlier in the week but hadn’t expected him to be here.
“If that’s still okay with you both,” Matthew replied, “I would love to.”
“Of course,” I said. “Though be warned, Mom takes Halloween very seriously. You’ll be lucky to escape without some kind of paint on you.”
Matthew laughed. The sound was easy and light and so unlike him. “I’m sure I can handle a little paint.”
Mom’s face lit up with a smile. “Well, it’s settled then. We’ll go together.”
Matthew nodded, returning my mom’s smile. He then gestured toward an open door we’d arrived at. “I’ve had this room prepared for your stay,” he said. “If it’s not to your liking, I can find you another…”
“I’m sure it’s perfect,” Mom said.
“It’s right next to yours, Isobel,” he added. “I’ve had your room made up so you can stay here tonight as well if you like.”
“Oh, that is a nice idea.” My mom clapped her hands together. “What do you think, Iz?”
“Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Matthew.” Neither of them seemed to be listening though. They were staring at each other again. This time, it was my mom who realized the silence had gone on a little too long, and she cleared her throat.
‘Yes, thank you so much, Matthew,” she said.
“Of course,” he replied, shifting slightly awkwardly as he broke eye contact with my mom. “Well, I will leave you to settle in. Caldwell is around, and I’ll be in my office if you need anything. I’m sure Isobel can show you the way.”
Mom shared a smile with him before he turned to leave. Once he was out of sight, she came to her senses enough to turn and focus on the bedroom.
“Isn’t this nice,” she said, walking into the room. “There’s a view of the gardens. Oh, and it even has its own bathroom.”
I gently bumped my shoulder against my mom’s. “What was that back there?”
“What was what?” She batted her eyelashes innocently.
“You acting all nervous around Matthew and then checking if he was coming to the carnival.”
“I was just being nice,” Mom said.
I felt like it had been more than that, and my suspicions must have shown in my eyes.
“What?” Mom asked. “He’s your father, and he’s being so hospitable to me. It would be rude not to invite him to go with us.”
“You couldn’t take your eyes off him.”
Mom tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Only because it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen him. You’re reading into things far too much.”
“Uh-huh.”
She waved me off. “I’m going to take a shower. Hopefully, when I’m done, you’ll be over all this silliness.”
“If it’s just silliness, then why are you blushing so much?”
“I’m not blushing,” she said, but she flicked her eyes to the mirror to double-check.
“Sure, you’re not.”
“I’m just warm. It’s a warm day.”
It wasn’t even close to being a warm day. It was the middle of autumn.
“Why don’t you focus less on feeding your imagination and more on thinking up fun activities for our afternoon,” Mom said. She disappeared into the bathroom before I had a chance to argue with her.
MATTHEW WAS true to his word and stayed out of our way for the rest of the day, but we spent most of the time in town rather than at the house. Mom loved little trinkets and knick-knacks, so we spent a while trawling through the eclectic antique store, and then we wandered through town taking in the gorgeous Halloween displays in the shop windows. We found a cute café that served incredible hot chocolates and amazing blueberry muffins, and I knew I was going to have to bring Cress and Anna back there soon.
Mostly, I just enjoyed hanging out with my mom. It had been far too long since the two of us had done anything together, and I hadn’t realized quite how much I missed it.
We returned to Matthew’s place late in the afternoon to start getting ready for the carnival. We dressed up in our bloodied and torn waitress uniforms and were about to start on our zombie makeup when I received a text from Cress.
“Cress is freaking out about her booth,” I said to Mom, looking up from my phone. “She needs my help. Do you mind if I meet you at the carnival?”
“Of course, that’s no problem,” Mom said. “Though you don’t look very scary without your makeup…”
I glanced in the mirror and shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to be a zombie waitress that only just died.”
“I suppose that works.” Mom laughed. “Do you need a ride?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. Cress says she’s already sent the cavalry to come pick me up. It’s probably Anna.”
Mom walked me down to the front entrance. When we stepped outside, I was surprised to find Anna hadn’t come to pick me up. Instead, Wes was pulling up the driveway in his Range Rover.
“Looks like you’ll get to meet Wes sooner than the carnival,” I said, and my mom smiled. My stomach swirled with nerves because I really wanted her to like him.
He parked the car and jumped out when he saw my mom at my side. He was already dressed in his Thor outfit, looking far too tempting to be meeting one of my parents.
“You’re the cavalry?” I asked as Wes came around the front of his car.
“Apparently.” He smiled brightly before walking straight over to my mom and holding out his hand. “Ms. Grace, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“You too, Wes,” she said as she took his hand.
“How was your trip?” he asked.
“Long, but it was worth it to be here.” She looked his costume up and down as he stepped back from her. “And what are you dressed as?”
“Thor.” He grinned. “Really, I just wanted an excuse to walk around with a big hammer.”
Mom laughed. “Well, it’s very convincing.”
“Thanks. I like your costume too, but Isobel mentioned you go all out with your makeup, so I’ll reserve judgment until I see you later.”
“Just you wait, I’m going to be terrifying,” Mom said, making Wes chuckle.
“Well, now I can’t wait to see it.”
They chatted so easily. I should have known my mom and Wes would get along right away. Wes was so sweet; he was impossible not to like.
“We should get going,” I said. “Cress sounded really stressed in her text.”
Wes nodded. “I’ll see you tonight, Ms. Grace. I’ll do my best not to scream when I see you.”
Mom beamed in response. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”
Wes grinned before he started over to his car while I turned to Mom.
“He seems sweet,” she said, lowering her voice so she wouldn’t be overheard. “And he’s very good-looking. I like him.”
“I do too,” I whispered with a grin. “Are you going to be okay here on your own?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Besides, I’m not on my own. Matthew is around. I’ll text you when we arrive at the carnival later.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “You don’t mind going to the carnival with Matthew?”
“You’re fussing like a momma duck.” She waved my concern away. “Stop your worrying and run along. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”
I got into Wes’s car, and he grinned as my mom waved us off. “I like your mom.”
“She seems to like you too.”
“I mean, I’m the god of thunder, how could she not?”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“By the way, you’re not a very scary zombie waitress,” he said as he looked me over.
“That’s near-dead zombie waitress to you, and I’m clearly terrifying.”
“Clearly.” He laughed.
“I didn’t have time to do my zombie makeup,” I explained. “You’re not very scary either, you know.”
“That’s because my hammer’s in the trunk.”
“Because a hammer will make all the difference.”
“It will!” he insisted.
If I were being honest, I wasn’t too concerned about how scary he looked. I was too distracted by how hot he looked wearing the molded silver armor that was strapped to his chest. Wes could have easily been mistaken for a long-lost Hemsworth brother, and the effect was a little overwhelming. He even had a wig to lengthen his hair, and it was impressively realistic.
“What did Sawyer think of your outfit? Is he still pissed you wouldn’t be Goose?”
“No, not so much. He came up with a whole other outfit.”
“And…”
Wes struggled to withhold a laugh. “Just wait and see. I couldn’t possibly ruin the surprise.”
“Okay…” I was officially intrigued. “So, any idea what’s got Cress so upset? She didn’t say much in her text to me.”
“I’m not sure. She called me and told me to come get you. She sounded stressed and hung up before I got a chance to ask her what was wrong.”
“I hope everything’s okay.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. You know Cress. She’s probably worried there aren’t enough fairy lights or something.”
“Yeah, probably,” I agreed.
We arrived at the farm that was hosting Halloween Fest, and my eyes widened as I got my first look at the event. It was insane. We passed a huge hedge maze and some kind of jack-o’-lantern village covered in glowing pumpkins. There was an ice rink splattered in fake blood and a whole field dedicated to zombie laser tag. There were carnival rides and games, but the best part was the huge spooky barn in the center of it all. Wes said that was where they were hosting the haunted house, and it definitely looked the part. It was completely covered in spiderwebs, and given how dilapidated it looked, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if there were rumors of real ghosts inside.
After we parked the car, we headed straight to where the dance team’s booth was being set up. Cress was pacing back and forth in front of it. She was already dressed up in her Black Widow costume, the fitted black one-piece suit hugging tightly to her body.
“Finally, you’re here,” she gasped when she saw us walking up. “It’s a disaster.”
“What is?”
Cress gestured toward her kiss or scare booth, and I could immediately see what she meant. Someone had sabotaged the booth by painting the word “French” in front of “kiss.”
“Oh no. Who would do that?”
“I don’t want to name names, but I’m guessing it was the cheerleaders,” Cress said. “I’ve heard a few of them complaining about all the fun changes we’ve made to the kissing booth this year and how boring their stand is going to be in comparison. Clearly, they’re jealous and want us to get shut down, because as soon as a teacher sees this, we’re done for. What am I going to do?”
I bit down on my lip as I considered the booth again. “Can’t you just paint over it?” I asked.
“Yeah, I was going to, but we’ve run out of the pink paint we used, and the hardware shop is closed already.”
“Well, I think it’s a great addition,” Anna said, coming out from behind the booth. She was dressed as Jessica Rabbit and wore a long red bustier dress with elbow-length purple gloves and a red wig. She looked incredible. “I reckon we’ll double the money we make from that one little addition alone.”
“Anna, I can’t ask anyone to French kiss strangers,” Cress scoffed. “And like I said, the school will lose their shit. This is supposed to be a family-friendly event.”
Anna sighed. “Spoilsports.”
“So, what should I do?” Cress asked, looking between us.
I had absolutely no clue. Thankfully, Wes seemed more optimistic.
“I have an idea,” he said, already backing away. “I just have to go find Sawyer.”
“And…” Cress prompted.
“And he should be around; he was helping set up the soccer booth. It shouldn’t take me more than five minutes to find him.” He turned and started jogging deeper into the fair.
“I meant what happens when you find him!” she called after Wes, but he waved a hand over his shoulder and continued on without a look back. “He couldn’t explain what he was thinking before he ran off?” Cress moaned as she watched him run, his red cape flying out behind him.
“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” I replied.
That didn’t seem to ease Cress’s worrying, and she spent every moment Wes was gone fretting. Luckily, he didn’t take too long, and five minutes later, he came hurrying back with a bag slung over his shoulder. He was closely followed by a huge man I didn’t recognize. As the two of them drew near, I realized the guy in question was Sawyer. I burst out laughing, and Sawyer grinned in response.
“See? That’s the kind of reaction I was after,” he said, nudging Wes as they came to stand before us. He was wearing checked pajama bottoms, a sweatshirt, bathrobe, and Crocs. He even had a fake belly peeking out of the gap under his shirt. With the long blond wig and scraggily beard, he looked like such a mess it had taken me a moment to realize what he was dressed as. It was the hammer that gave it away. Sawyer hadn’t been able to let go of the idea of having a costume that matched his brother’s.
“Sawyer, did you dress as fat Thor?” Anna asked, laughing as she finally figured it out.
“Oh my God, Anna. Are you body-shaming me?” Sawyer sounded shocked, but he had a wide grin on his face. “But, yes, I did. And, for your information, I prefer to be referred to as out-of-shape Thor. So, what do you guys think?”
“I’m just wondering why on earth you would dress like that?” Anna asked, still laughing.
“So Wes and I match. It’s always a great way to get the ladies.”
“You think a beer belly is going to entice the ladies?” Anna asked.
Sawyer looked slightly crestfallen at this. “I just wanted us to match,” he grumbled.
“And you didn’t think of perhaps dressing up like Loki?” Anna asked. “You would have matched, and you would have been the god of mischief.”
Sawyer looked like he wanted to throw his hammer across the field. “Damn, I should have thought of that! I was too busy trying to figure out how I could have a hammer too. That would have been brilliant though.”
“Yeah, no girl is going to buy a ticket to our kissing booth to kiss you when you’ve got a beer belly peeking out from under your shirt,” Cress agreed, shaking her head. “But, that’s the least of our worries right now. What have you got planned?” she said, turning to Wes.
Wes lowered the bag he was holding to the ground to reveal a variety of different colored spray cans. “I know you didn’t want to repaint the sign, but if you’re up for something different, I was thinking you could do a graffiti sign like the soccer team has done for their booth. Sawyer managed to make theirs look quite good, so I was thinking he could fix yours.”
Cress frowned at Sawyer. “You’re moonlighting as a graffiti artist now?”
“I did a street art course in London last year.”
“Really?” Cress asked. “How did I not know about this?”
“It was just a bit of fun.” He struggled to meet her gaze, and I got the feeling it had meant more than that to him. “And you know I take art.”
“We figured you either wanted an easy class or were trying to meet girls,” Anna said. “We didn’t realize you were actually into it.”
Cress waved her hands to silence everyone. “That doesn’t matter now. Can you fix the sign?”
Sawyer looked up at the booth and nodded. “Yeah, but I’ll have to redo the whole thing. You cool with that?”
“As long as it no longer says French kiss, I’m cool with anything.”
Sawyer nodded and grabbed the spray cans before he got to work. It was somewhat comical to watch Sawyer painting the sign while dressed in his costume. He looked like some kind of vagrant with his oily hair and baggy clothes. It was probably lucky we were all there watching, or I imagined someone would have tried to stop him and escorted him from the property.
Cress was tapping her hand against her arm, watching on nervously. I could see she was worried Sawyer was going to mess it up, but I had faith he’d do a good job. There was no way Wes would have suggested it otherwise. As he worked, she slowly started to relax, and I could see she was beginning to trust that he knew what he was doing.
In what felt like no time at all, Sawyer had completely transformed the hot pink sign with an edgy street art design.
“Uh, Sawyer, you’re like insanely good,” Anna said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “You’re going to need to show us pictures of the work you did on your course. This is amazing.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Cress said, pulling Sawyer into a hug.
He laughed and tried to shrug her off. “It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a huge deal,” Cress replied. “You saved the day.”
“I mean, I think it would have been fine to hand out French kisses,” Sawyer said. “But I’m happy I could help.”
“And just in the nick of time,” Wes said, glancing over his shoulder toward the entrance to the carnival. “It looks like we’re about to open.”
“Shoot, you’re right,” Cress said. “We better get ready.”
“And I better get to the haunted house.” Wes turned to me. “I’ll catch you later.” He planted a kiss against my cheek before running off. I smiled as I watched him go.
Sawyer threw an arm over my shoulder, watching Wes with me. “You’re one very lucky girl, sis. My brother’s no fat Thor, but he’s a total catch.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “He certainly is.”
He lowered his arm from over my shoulder as Wes disappeared from view. “He really likes you,” he said, turning to me. “Please don’t break his heart.”
It was the most serious I’d ever seen Sawyer, and I shook my head. “I don’t plan to.”
He stared into my eyes, weighing my response, before he finally nodded. “Good. After what happened with Sarah, I just want him to be happy. I’m just a bit worried because you were so into Noah. What if he decides he wants you back?”
“That’s never going to happen,” I said. “Noah and I are over for good, trust me. And I want Wes to be happy too. I never would have agreed to date him if I wasn’t serious about him.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Sawyer said. He let out a sigh as people started filtering into the carnival. “I better get back to the soccer booth. Wish me luck.”
“What am I wishing you luck for? What is the soccer booth?”
“You’ll have to come check it out for yourself,” he said with a grin.
As he walked away, I considered what he’d said about Wes. Sawyer was worried for no reason. I really liked Wes, and I couldn’t see anything changing that. He definitely didn’t need to be worrying about Noah. He would never change his mind about us. And, more importantly, I felt like I was finally done with him too.
