Accepting the envelope from his hands, she felt her heart flutter. There were only two people she could think of who would send her a package with a fairy-tale reference. One was Frankie and the other was Tim.
As she turned the envelope over, her hands trembled, and she pulled out an orange pumpkin-shaped card.
Dear Gemma-rella,
At the Halloween Festival, you mentioned it was your first time experiencing an American Halloween. While you were given a small sampling of things, like wearing a costume, going on a haunted hayride, and playing games for candy, there is one major part of the holiday I know you missed out on. When you open the box, make sure you have plenty of room and a friend to do the activity with. Let’s talk after five tonight.
Best,
Tim
Kneeling, Gemma placed the card to the side and peeked inside the box. She removed a layer of purple tissue paper adorned with ghosts, pumpkins, and bats, packing peanuts, and bubble wrap. A minute later, she felt something round, cool, and smooth.
Removing the protective wrappings from around it, she was shocked to discover there were in fact two medium-sized pumpkins, a carving kit, a pack of permanent markers, tealight candles, a pack of pumpkin-flavored cookies, candy corn, a bag of kettle corn, and gummy bugs.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me, Tim,” she whispered.
“Whoever sent you all this is a keeper, Gem. Is that the guy you met when you were visiting Frankie?”
“It is.” She continued to stare at the pumpkin. How had Tim had time to go shopping for all these things? How had he known where to send them? She pictured him walking through a pumpkin patch, looking for just the right size and shape pumpkin to send her.
“There are two pumpkins. Does that mean I can carve one too? I haven’t done it in years. If you let me, I’ll promise I’ll do all the cleanup.”
Her thoughts broken, she glanced at Fernando, “Oh, um?.?.?. sure. He told me to open the box with a friend. Do we have time before the next show tonight?”
“Sí. We have four hours.”
She furrowed her brow. “Does pumpkin carving make that much of a mess?”
Fernando snorted and gave her a knowing look.
“Oh.”
He glanced around her dressing room. “I’ll ask the backstage crew if we can have a couple of rubbish-bin bags. We’ll spread them out across the floor and use those as our work surface. Pumpkins have a lot of guts we’ll have to remove. In the meantime, your job is to start figuring out what you want to carve on your pumpkin.
She frowned. “Can’t I just make a face?”
“That’s up to you, but the guy who sent this to you took a lot of time and thought to put this together. If I were you, I’d return the favor.”
Fernando stepped out of the room.
Gemma sighed. He was right. She owed it to Tim to put in some effort carving the pumpkin, not blindly carving the first thing that came to mind. She started to scroll through Pinterest for some inspiration, amazed and in awe at how people could turn the orange member of the squash family into works of art.
Chapter 9
“A little higher, Gem.” Fernando signaled for her to hold the pumpkin at chest height. “That’s perfecto. Uno, dos, tres.” He snapped a few photos, then returned her mobile to her. “How did I do?”
Gemma skimmed the burst of images. “Brilliant. Do you want one too?”
He waved her off. “No, gracias. I’ll take picturesofit, but not mewithit. I’m not as artistic as you.” He laughed.
Gemma studied the blob he’d claimed was a ghost. “Er?.?.?. it’s spirited. Your pumpkin just has its own personality.”
Fernando laughed again. “You’re being too nice. Let’s face it, I screwed up and it looks like a blob.”
She held up her hands. “You said it. Not me.”
“Oh well, the important thing is I had fun carving it. Nobody except for you and me is ever going to see this.” He compiled all their rubbish in a bin bag, securely knotting the top. “I’m gonna run and shower before the nightcap show. We have about an hour and a half. Do you need anything else before I leave?”
