What is happening right now? “You’re not paying for our stuff, Cooper.”
“She’s Fern Berry, Ellis. I’m paying. And I already know what you want, so, Fern, what can I get for you?”
Fern looks at me. “I like him.”
I try not to roll my eyes while she gives Cooper her order; thenwe head to the other end of the counter to wait for our drinks.
“So, who is he? How do you know him?” she asks. “It seems I interrupted plans you two had today.”
I hadn’t thought of it before, but yeah, I guess she did. And now that I know Cooper recognizes her and is clearly impressed and maybe even a little smitten, it’s going to be a long day of trying to act like I’m not bothered.
“He’s just a family friend. And you didn’t interrupt anything,” I tell her. “We made the scavenger hunt, so we were just going to hang out and watch everyone try to figure out the riddles.”
“Sounds… fun,” she says. But her face says otherwise.
Cooper puts our drinks on the counter with a bonus lemon cookie. “Meet you at the gazebo?”
“Sounds good,” I say, patting an old gray cat on the head. Fern and I grab our order and give Cooper one last wave.
“So,” Fern says as soon as we’re outside, “are you guys hooking up, or…?”
“Who? Me and Cooper? No.” I shake my head emphatically. “Absolutely not.”
“Mm-hmm,” Fern hums, unconvinced.
“What? We’re not.”
“Your chemistry would say otherwise,” she says with a cheeky smile. “But okay.”
I take a sip of my latte, trying to hide the blush undoubtedly coloring my face.
Fern surveys the town, taking in the people walking around with their hot drinks and warm smiles, scavenger-hunt papers in hand; the small businesses with their items set up outside on theleaf-covered sidewalks; the town square draped in signs for the Harvest Hunt.
“I’ll give it to you that this place is, like, unreasonably charming,” she says. “But it’ssolittle. What do you even do here?”
I lead her across the street to the gazebo. “I’ve mostly been helping out with this festival my aunt runs. Otherwise, I’ve just been hanging out, I guess.”
“You?Hanging out?” She shoulders me playfully, and I roll my eyes.
“School hasn’t been that hard, so I haven’t had to study as much. And I’ve made some good friends who have been dragging me out of my comfort zone.” I smile at her. “They even convinced me to go to a football game.”
Her head swivels to me, her wild red hair blowing in the chilly breeze. “What?How on earth did that happen?”
“Everyone was going.” I shrug. “Plus, a friend of mine was playing, so I went to cheer him on.”
She shakes her head, bemused. “Man, Ellis Mitchell casually hanging out and going to football games. There must be something in the water here.”
We sit on the gazebo steps, and I break the lemon cookie in two, handing her half as I tell her about the Bramble Falls autumn events. She takes a bite and freezes, her eyes bulging as she grips my forearm.
“Are you okay?” I ask, worried she might be choking.
“No,” she says. But she begins chewing, her face a picture of pure bliss. She swallows and looks at me, holding up what’s left of her half of the cookie. “Holy shit, Ellis. This is unreal.”
I grin. “I know, right?”
“I legit might have to come back and review this place,” she says, shoving the rest of it into her mouth. When she finally swallows, she takes a sip of her drink and brushes the cookie crumbs off her shirt. Then she turns to me. “In all seriousness, I think I get it now. I thought I needed to mount a whole rescue operation, but you’re here having a grand old time.”
My instinct is to tell her she’s wrong. That I’m desperate to come home. But I’m not so sure that’s true anymore.
