“How’s uh, how’s wedding planning going?” I ask quietly.
My sister shrugs. “Oh, you know. His mother has her ideas of how she envisions things.”
I keep my expression as neutral as possible and nod. “And you’re sure you’re okay not getting married here?”
She shrugs again, nodding slowly. “Yeah, it means a lot to Constance for us to get married at the same church she and Connor’s dad got married in.”
I wrinkle my nose at that. “Wait, it’s at a church? That’s… so not like you and Connor…”
“It’s okay, really,” she insists, letting the camera rest on its strap around her neck. “Constance gets to make all the decisions, and Mom doesn’t have to stress about affording a wedding of this caliber. It’s not… it’s not exactly what I would choose, butat the end of the day, I get to marry Connor. And that’s what’s important, right? Marrying your best friend?”
I can’t keep my expression neutral this time, my face scrunching up as I look at my sister. I inhale deeply and release it slowly, then whisper, “Is he, though…?”
Sienna rolls her eyes and backs away a step. “Not this again, please.”
I drop my shoulders in defeat. “I’m sorry. I just… I want you to be happy.”
“Iamhappy, Lou.”
“Okay,” I murmur gently. But I know she knows that I don’t believe her.
“I am.” She glares at me, and I laugh, holding up my hands.
“Okay, Sienna. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Her eyes narrow on me in suspicion, her entire body going still. “Why do you say it like that?”
I pop my eyes wide. “What? No reason.”
She continues to stare at me for several seconds before turning away. “I’m going to go get some shots of the cars decorated this year and get it posted to the social media pages before we get started.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” I agree, following her out and down the pathway to the waiting vehicles.
One is decorated like a mummy, wrapped in toilet paper and giant eyeballs made out of paper plates. Another has the words ‘I Smell Children’ strung up across the open trunk, and the three women—from the local library—are dressed as the Sanderson sisters. One is decorated to look like Cookie Monster’s head. A mini van has a blue tarp laid on the ground and a one-foot wide wood board on the tarp extending to the back of the trunk, with shark fins propped up around it, and a sign that reads, ‘Walk The Plank’. The trunk is decorated like a pirate ship, with a skeleton holding a giant bucket of candy. Another has a Twister game padstrung up and the spin-wheel on a small folding table next to it. Each Twister color circle has a piece of candy taped to it, and when you spin the spinner, you get whatever candy the arrow lands on.
One of the local tattoo shops set up their usual display, offering temporary tattoos or airbrushing. Vanna White and Pat Sajak are set up in front of a Wheel of Fortune themed car. But my favorite is one that is decorated like a giant gumball machine, complete with colorful balloons, that when you turn the crank, you get a balloon to pop, and your treat is hidden inside the balloon.
This is easily our biggest turnout yet, with over sixty different vehicles to visit and collect a treat from.
The expansive parking lot has been divided into two sections, the back half for Trunk-or-Treat guests to park and leave their vehicles, the front half roped off with cornstalks creating pillars every ten feet to keep the Trunk-or-Treat area for foot traffic only.
As the first guest cars start pulling into the parking lot at ten to three, excitement buzzes through me. I’m thrilled I get to get away from behind the bar today, and I get to do what I do best; mingle and interact with the guests and kiddos.
Nerves take over me entirely when I spot Zach’s big navy blue truck with the tell-tale firefighter light bar on the top of the cab pull into the parking lot.
This is it.
Shit. We never really discussed this part. Do I introduce him as my boyfriend? We haven’t talked about what this is—
Too late, as soon as the truck comes to a stop in a parking spot the back doors fly open and I watch as a dalmatian Beanie Baby, a colorful pinata, and my favorite bunny cop rush out, racing across the mostly empty parking lot toward me.
Bailey reaches me first, followed swiftly by Chloe, both barreling into my legs, nearly toppling me over. The crinoline crunches as they attempt to hug me through the many layers of skirts.
“Ohmygawwdd your dress is so pretty,” Chloe shouts, her little pink painted bunny nose the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.
I laugh out loud as Abigail reaches us at a slower pace. Zach, still crossing the parking lot, just shakes his head, hands shoved into the pockets of his vest.
“Dad was supposed to dress up as Mario, but he didn’t,” Chloe tells me, pointing back toward her dad where he’s just crossing into the roped off part of the parking lot. He’s walking toward us slowly, his blue eyes tracking over every inch of me in the over-the-top pink gown. “We told him he should dress up as Mario so you could match!”
