“Nope, nothing to do with that, babe. But you should, um, you should turn around and look at your house.” Her eyes gleam in delight.What the heck?
“You’re being weird. Don’t try to scare me out of my house. I’ll end up in your bed, and you know it’s true.” I glare at her, crossing my arms for emphasis.
“Shut up. The last place you’re ending up is sharing a bed with me. You kick and talk in your sleep. But I’m not saying you won’t end up in someone else’s bed.” She chuckles to herself before grabbing my arm to spin me around so I’m facing my cottage.
I can’t believe the sight of it. There are pumpkins of every color mounded on the porch, and mums in brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and purple cascading down the steps. The porch swing has a fresh coat of paint with a blanket thrown over the back and what appears to be pink and orange pillows situated in the corners. There are candles strategically placed all around, glowing with a perfect amber hue. It’s stunningly beautiful, more picturesque than even Pinterest could have imagined. My mouth is gaping as I take it in. “Ari, you shouldn’t have. This must have cost a fortune.” It’s everything I’ve ever wanted when it comes to fall decor. I’m overwhelmed with the kindness of it.
“I didn’t.” She hops up and down clapping her hands.
“Wait, what?” I whip my head around to look at her. “What do you mean you didn’t? Who did and how do you know about it?”
“I walked past here on my way to Black Kettle. A certain someone with big muscles and tattoos was hard at work, with the help of his dad I might add, which just . . . it was so cute.” She grasps at her heart like she’s holding it in from bursting. “He saw me and asked me to distract you for a bit while he finished up. I thankfully didn’t have to try very hard because you were already out like a light.” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the cottage for an up-close look. I’m speechless. No one has ever done anything even remotely close to this for me, and it means he listened when I told him I didn’t have time to decorate.
We take the stairs leading up to the porch one at a time, and the scene is even more magnificent up close. My head is spinning. I sit slowly on the swing after pressing my fingers to the paint and ensuring it was dry. I burrow into the pillows and grab the cream chenille blanket to wrap over my legs. As I do, myarm tingles—it’s not painful but definitely noticeable. I rub at it, a brief thought of the tattoo passing through my mind, but Ari captures my attention.
“You sit tight. I’m going to grab some wine inside.” She takes the keys out of my hand and spins toward the door. “Oh, and you better text him, like right now.” Ari winks as she unlocks the door, heads inside, and closes it tightly behind her.
I swipe my phone and open a new message, not even sure what to say. Tears fall down my face, happy ones. My heart bursts that someone, anyone, cares this much. I wouldn’t say I’m normally a happy crier, but with everything going on, the new job, the tattoo, it’s just nice to feel heard. Like for once, something I said mattered.
Instead of sending a simple thank-you, I pop open the camera app and take a selfie. I snap a few, one with my tongue out, one smiling, and one laughing at the over-the-topness of this whole thing. Sending them is way outside of my comfort zone, but he went the extra mile, and at this moment, it feels right. I hit send followed by a quick note.
You win! I’ll go to dinner if you have any money left.
Before I can even set my phone down beside me it dings with an alert.
Sam
Why are you crying? ??
They are happy tears . . . Did you not see the YOU WIN part?
Sam
I didn’t mean to make you cry, happy or not. But I did see it, and I might be doing a celebratory dance right now.
Please send proof or it didn’t happen.
A minute later, a video pops up of Sam dancing around his house shirtless in low-slung, gray sweatpants. My mouth goes dry, and my eyes practically pop out of my head. I knew the man affected me, but this is another level. I think I’m having a hot flash.
“Um, am I interrupting something?” Ari approaches with a shit-eating grin on her face.
“No, nope. It’s nothing.” I tuck my phone under my leg, hiding it from her view.
“Nope is right. We are not keeping whatever just made you lose your mind to ourselves. You are sharing whatever glorious thing just happened or I am going home and pretending that you don’t need saving from some crazy witch.” She raises an eyebrow in challenge.
“Fine, but you can’t tell anyone you saw this or I swear I will disown you. He sent it just for me,” I warn her as I pull up the video and hit play.
“Holy mother of pearl. You have no idea how much you could sell this for at the dollar auction. The ladies of Mage would line up to see this eye candy.” Ari fans herself, then hits play to watch it again.
“Alright, that’s enough mooning over my man.” I swat at her, taking the wine from her hand and gulping it straight from the bottle.
“Excuse me. Did you just refer to someone asyourman?” She swipes the wine back, taking a glug. I guess we aren’t using glasses tonight.
“I—you know what I meant. Don’t make this a thing,” I plead.
“Fine, but I could never forget a thing like this. I will remind you if and when it’s necessary. Now tell me what you found today before you took a little nappy poo.”
“Okay, but first, I need to go look at my arm. It’s burning.” I hop up and race inside to my room. When I strip out of my dress, sure enough, there are three small pumpkins surrounded by candles hanging off one of the vines.
