She looks so beautiful in her turtleneck and leather jacket, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of warm browns, light oranges, and bright yellows coming from the gourds all around us. The occasional chilly wind gust pulls at her hair, making her look like a movie star.
My breath literally hitches in my throat.
“Fine,” Vinny grumbles, jumping onto the back of the truck. “Let’s go,” he tells me.
This is my shot to have some time with her without her brother, maybe ask for her number. “Uh, I’m gonna stay too. I don’t want to get motion sickness or anything, you know?” I lie.
Good job, Matt. You sound super convincing.
I expect Vinny to say something, but he’s too preoccupied with wanting to hop on the ride.
“Let’s get some doughnuts first, yeah?” I ask Leo as the hayride pulls away with a suspecting Vinny and a green Clara. “And…” I turn nervously to Liza. “Can I, uh, buy you a glass of cider, too?”
Liza looks up at me, eyes wide, lips parted, while Leo pulls on her hand. “Yeah.” She smiles. “I’d like that.”
Yes!
We make our way to the stand by a huge pile of pumpkins in every size and color and order enough doughnuts to feed an army and a cider for each of us. Suddenly, we hear a very loud and distinct, “WOOOOO!!” coming from the hayride. We turn to see Vinny from afar with one hand around Clara and another in the air.
We burst out laughing, and I shake my head, running my fingers through my hair.
“I swear, I think his favorite part of being a parent is that he gets to play like a kid again,” she says, laughing.
“I’ve never heard a more accurate statement in my life,” I say, paying for our ciders and baked goods. I hand her a glass of cider and a doughnut before crouching in front of Leo. I hold out the doughnut in front of him. “This has a lot of sugar in it. Are you allowed to have this?”
He nods excitedly, salivating over the doughnut like a dog with its treat. “Yes!”
“Not really,” Liza whispers to me and smirks.
I shrug and laugh. “A little sugar rush won’t hurt him. Go crazy, kid.” I hand him the doughnut, and he stuffs it in his mouth as far as it can go. He manages to stuff it halfway through, and I gotta say, I admire the effort.
“Thanks for this.” She smiles, eyes shining through her long lashes.
“Anytime you need doughnuts or cider, I’m your guy.” I throw a thumb in my direction.
WHAT. WAS. THAT?
She laughs once. “What?”
I groan and run a hand down my face. “I have no idea why I just said that.” I used to be so smooth. What the hell has happened to me?
I open my eyes to look at her and assess the damage that I’ve caused, expecting her to look at me in confusion or disgust. Instead, I’m met with a sort of bemused expression. She smiles and is about to say something when we hear Vinny’s voice from far away.
“Red alert. We got another regurgitation situation! Coming through! Coming through!”
People start to stare in the direction of her brother as he jogs toward us with Clara in his arms—who now happens to have her lunch all over her coat.
Poor kid.
“Oh no,” Liza says with a grimace.
“We gottago, guys!” Vinny stops in front of us, almost slipping on a puddle of mud. “Clara just threw up again. They made us get off the hayride! Danielle is gonna kill me.”
I truly feel bad for Clara, but I’m really disappointed that we have to go back now. I was looking forward to getting to know Liza better without her brother hovering around. I need to think of a plan B.
“But Daddy, pumpkin!” Leo says.
He makes an absolutely fantastic point—this kid is a genius. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a kid as much as I love Vinny’s son.
