31stOctober
Outside Sam’s cottage was not one but three carved pumpkins all flickering away merrily. He’d carved two of them as simple ghosts and the one in front of those was Pac-Man. Blythe couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Was Mr Ashton finally warming up to Holly Cross? Eden ran ahead and knocked. A smiling Sam opened the door and held out a large bowl as if fending off an anticipated attack.
‘Trick or treat?!’ shouted Eden, who already had her face in the bowl hunting for her next sugar hit.
‘Hi, Eden,’ said Sam. Blythe was impressed that he’d remembered the little girl’s name. He leaned closer to Eden. ‘The good stuff is at the bottom.’
She rooted further down and pulled out a big bag of chocolate buttons. ‘Thank you. Happy Halloween!’ She quickly departed with her loot, with Vicky in hot pursuit.
‘I’ll see you two at the pub,’ called Blythe. She turned back to Sam, who was grinning broadly. It made something pleasant squirm in her gut but also made her wary. It had been a while since he’d smiled like that in her presence. Not since his moving-in day.
He beckoned her with his hand. ‘Out with it then?’
‘What?’
‘I’m sure you’ve got something to say?’ He pointed at his three pumpkins before leaning back.
Was he actually puffing his chest out? Blythe stopped herself from laughing. ‘Nice job on the carving. Retro is always acceptable.’
‘Not always appreciated though,’ said Sam. ‘Some little kid pointed at Pac-Man and said, “Is that meant to be an eye?”’
‘Kids are rude and unappreciative of great art like yours,’ said Blythe.
‘Actually, they’ve been really well-mannered tonight. I have to admit I’ve enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But given I thought it would be on par with a prostate examination I have to say it’s exceeded my expectations.’ Sam went to put the bowl down.
‘Hang on. I’m trick-or-treating too.’
He looked her up and down. ‘I don’t see any red basque and hot pants so I don’t think you qualify.’
‘Hey!’ she protested. ‘I’ll stamp on your pumpkins.’
‘Harsh.’ He gave a look of mock horror. ‘You’d best have some chocolate. But for that outfit just the stuff on the top,’ he added, as he offered her the bowl.
She took a chocolate bar and popped it in her pocket. ‘That’ll do for pudding. That’s assuming I’ve got any room after the buffet.’
‘Ah, yeah.’ He scratched his head. ‘I think I’ll give it a miss.’
‘Why?’
‘I’ve got stuff I should be doing.’ He waved the Halloween sweets up the hall.
‘We’ve all got stuff we should be doing. Come on. It’s great and I wasn’t wrong about pumpkin day now, was I?’
‘I guess. It’s just after the Christmas jumper woman accosted me—’
‘Christmas Carol,’ chipped in Blythe.
‘Yeah, her. I really don’t want to get interrogated again.’
‘I’ll be your wingman. I’ll fend off the locals with a pitchfork,’ she said, and for some unknown reason accompanied her words with a stabbing motion.
He chuckled. ‘Isn’t it meant to be the locals who have the pitchforks?’
‘Yep, standard issue. You’ll be getting yours soon.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘If we want one of Jassi’s legendary samosas we’ll have to hurry.’ She could see he was wavering. ‘And you still have a point to prove.’
He pulled his eyebrows together. ‘How so?’
‘You said you were fun.’
