Page 17 of The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook

Jackson laughed. “Well, that’s half the battle.”

Tyler shook his head, but he couldn’t stop smiling. He’d been smiling like an idiot since he’d kissed her.

Jackson’s grin turned wicked. “So how are you planning to win her over? With those ridiculous gourds of yours?”

Tyler took a sip of beer to buy himself dignity. “They are award-worthy,” he said firmly.

“You have serious big-gourd energy. You should see your face when you tell people how many pounds they are.”

“Shut up,” Tyler muttered, though he was laughing now, too, because it was true. He was proud. He’d nurtured those pumpkins all summer.

Jackson nudged his shoulder. “I’m telling you, man, show Robyn your massive gourd, and she’ll never leave.”

Tyler rolled his eyes.

“Keep this between us, okay? We’re not ready for the whole town to know yet. We’re taking it slow,” he said, quieter.

Jackson’s expression shifted—less teasing, more attentive. “Because of Emma?”

Tyler nodded. “Emma doesn’t remember what it was like to have a mom,” he said, and even now the words still caught a little. “Vivian left when she was so young.” He swallowed. “I don’t want her to know there’s something between me and Robyn yet, not until we’ve figured things out and taken our time to explore whatever this is. That’s why this can’t get back to Emma, so please keep it quiet, Jackson. I don’t bring people into our world unless I’m sure they’re not going to disappear.”

Jackson’s jaw tightened. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I would be too. She’s your top priority.”

“She is,” Tyler agreed, and the certainty of it steadied him. “Always. And Robyn gets that. We just don’t know how this could work between us, long-term. Her life’s in Connecticut. Yale.” He exhaled. “This is just her sabbatical. She’s going to leave when it ends.”

Jackson lifted his beer again, considering. “Sure. But her grandparents are here. Her sister’s here. She comes back. Maple Falls is in her orbit whether she admits it or not.”

Tyler gave him a look. “I’m not sure a couple visits a year counts as ‘in her orbit.’”

Jackson tipped his head. “Maybe not. But that was before she met you.”

Tyler stared at the bar for a moment, then finally said what had been pinballing around his skull since that kiss. “Honestly, I don’t know what will happen in December when she leaves,” he admitted. “All I know is I want to see where this goes. We’re done trying to fight it.” He glanced at Jackson. “But, we’re still taking it slow. We’ll see what the next couple months look like. That’s all you can do, right?”

Still, he knew it was going to be very hard to stick to the boundaries they’d set that night. Because, right now? He would give anything to be back in that bookstore with her, the world locked out, her hands fisted in his shirt.

NINE

ROBYN

“We actually don’t have to go far for this hike,” Zoe said, addressing the small handful of book club members who’d managed to slip away for the morning: Mrs. Bishop, Mrs. C., Mayor Bloomfield, and, of course, Tyler, with Emma in tow. The rest of the group would get the full report later.

It was one of those perfect Maple Falls autumn days. The sky was a bright, impossible blue that looked freshly painted, and the trees surrounding the water were on full display: fiery reds and burnished oranges, flashes of gold catching wherever the sun hit the leaves. The wind was minimal, just enough to stir the branches and send the occasional leaf skittering across the path. Somewhere nearby, smoke curled from a chimney, mixing the scent of woodsmoke and Honeycrisp apples into the perfect autumn perfume.

The mild weather made Robyn feel slightly tricked by the date on the calendar. How could Halloween be in twelve days?

It was cold enough for jeans and a sweater, warm enough to skip a coat if you stayed in the sun. The sort of day Robyn wished she could bottle up and keep on her desk at Yale for gray November afternoons when the campus looked like a damp postcard, and everyone forgot how to smile.

But not today. Today, Robyn had plenty of reasons to smile, sandwiched between Tyler and Emma. Tyler had dressed for the hike in a way that shouldn’t have been distracting, with a faded navy Henley pushed up to his elbows, khakis that had seen better days, a scarf he probably didn’t need but wore anyway, and yet… Robyn kept losing her train of thought every time the sunlight caught the stubble along his jaw.

Fortunately for her, Emma was a very forgiving conversation partner.

The eight-year-old with her cotton-candy colored hiking boots and jean overalls had offered to share her trail mix with Robyn twice, before proceeding to skip ahead to lead the tour with Zoe. Robyn watched her go with a smile, her heart tugging every time Emma looked back to make sure they were still following.

Zoe pointed toward the trail that curved around the lake, one hand resting instinctively on the small curve of her belly beneath her red puffer vest. “If this tree is the one I’m thinking of, we just need to walk around the water toward the residential side. There’s a little offshoot trail that runs along the bank. And if my memory isn’t totally betraying me, there’s a hollow oak up there.”

Mrs. Bishop immediately looked down the paved loop in both directions as if the answer might leap out at her. “Which way should we go around the lake?” she asked, then answered herself before anyone else could. “Because I was thinking left, but if you’re saying it’s the residential district, maybe we should go right. Unless it’s halfway in between, in which case left could still be more efficient⁠—”

“It’s about halfway,” Zoe said, smiling.