“Uh, okay,” I said slowly. “What about it?”
She arched an eyebrow at me and took a pointed look around. “I don’t see any decorations, that’s what. You shouldenjoy that coffee because, when it’s done, you and I are turning this place into a haunted house for the kids.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“You heard me.” She smiled. “We can’t have Brody spending even one of the maybe twelve proper Halloweens he’s going to have as a kid in a sad, undecorated house.”
I chuckled. “You chose the perfect time to swoop in, then, Craft Queen.”
She winked at me over the rim of her mug, her eyes sparkling with joy. “Why do you think I booked my flight when I did?”
Less than an hour later, she’d managed to turn my tidy little home into a work in progress. Tissue-paper cobwebs stretched across the railing of the porch stairs, a half-finished cardboard graveyard sat in the front yard, and a shopping bag spilling over with dollar-store cauldrons and glow sticks was lying on the floor.
During that same time, I’d strung up two bats I’d made in the doorway. Mom sighed when she saw them. “I love you, Mais, but that’s pathetic.”
I laughed. “It’s not my fault you didn’t pass along any of your creative genes to me. You didn’t need to give me all of them. Just a few would’ve been fine.”
“My bad,” she joked, inclining her chin as if in apology before she grinned. “Even so, those aren’t going to work.”
With only a few hours left before the trick-or-treaters descended, Mom was in full project-manager mode, muttering about black lights and hot glue guns, already envisioning everything she still wanted to get done. She helped me fix the bats I thought had been fine to begin with.
A little while later, the front door swung open and Callum and Brody strode in. Brody’s cheeks were flushed from the cold, but he launched straight into a play-by-play about how many golf balls he’d hit, his voice climbing higher with each detail.
Callum looked different too, relaxed in a way I wasn’t used to seeing on him. His hand was still on Brody’s shoulder like it belonged there, but those beautiful blue eyes were locked on mine. “Good morning. You two look like you’ve been busy.”
“You’re back just in time,” Mom announced while I tried not to swoon under his stare. She held up a bundle of fake spiderwebs. “You’re on ladder duty.”
“Uh, sure.” Callum arched an eyebrow at me, then glanced around at the chaos overtaking my living room. “What exactly did we walk into?”
“A haunted house,” Mom replied, matter of fact, thrusting the spiderwebs toward him. “Chop-chop. We don’t have much time.”
Brody spun toward Callum like he was our last hope. “You have to help. We need it super spooky, like, movie spooky.”
Callum shook his head, chuckling as he ruffled Brody’s hair. “Well, I guess you’d better consider me recruited, then.”
I knew he was supposed to go to this big, exclusive Halloween party his family’s company hosted every year. He’d told me he had to get suited up to schmooze with investors and board members alike, the whole nine yards, but he set his keys on the counter and rolled up his sleeves like there was no place else he’d rather be.
Mom put Brody to work with dozens of tiny, fake spiders.
“You can go if you need to,” I said quietly, stepping closer to Callum. “I know you have other commitments.”
That gaze swept across mine like he was mentally cataloging every last inch of my features, his handsome face not betraying a hint of hurry or remorse. “Nah, I’ll go later. If Brody wants this place movie scary, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Besides, the party is later tonight. I’ve got time.”
The faint scent of him enveloped me. Standing close enough that I could feel the heat he radiated after spending the morningon the golf course, I felt that thing again. The thing that only happened when I was with him and it was like we were in our own little bubble.
The corners of his mouth hooked into a slight grin before he nudged his elbow with mine, his voice soft and just a little bit husky. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
I jerked my head in a nod and returned his smile, butterflies in my tummy. I went back to the dining table where Mom had laid out the projects yet to be done. Watching Callum here with us, stepping into the mess without hesitation and letting my mom boss him around while Brody practically bounced with excitement, I felt something settle inside me.
Something dangerous and sweet all at once. All because this, us, was starting to look a heck of a lot like a family.
By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, the whole neighborhood had come alive. Porch lights glowed orange and kids darted from house to house like living embodiments of the words “sugar rush.” Candy clattered in plastic buckets, the air filled with the faint scent of pumpkin candles and damp earth.
Mom had the house fully decked out, fielding the first wave of tiny ghosts and princesses with a cackle that sent Brody into fits of giggles. She shooed us out the door. “Go, go. I’ll hold the fort here. You three go get us as much candy as you can.”
Brody charged ahead in his pirate costume, plastic sword bouncing at his side. Callum and I strolled behind, matching his pace just enough to make sure he didn’t disappear into the pack. It was easier than I might’ve thought it would be, doing family-type things with him, a lot more natural and fun in a way I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.
Until we hit a house where the guy at the door dropped a single, bite-sized chocolate into Brody’s bucket, muttering about “kids these days being greedy.”
