Page 35 of The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook

Robyn’s eyes skimmed the last line, and her skin prickled.

The time capsule was buried in 1955 and, according to Isabel Valente, it was meant to be opened “when the time is right.”

She looked up at Tyler, excitement and nerves tangling together in her chest.

Tyler waited until Edith’s attention was called elsewhere, then leaned against the counter beside Robyn, close enough that his arm pressed warm against hers. “So,” he said, his voice dropping low. “I guess our plans for the back room will have to wait a little longer.”

“Another raincheck?” Robyn asked, hoping the heat she felt all over wasn’t climbing up her cheeks.

Tyler nodded. His eyes darkened, just for a second, and Robyn felt it everywhere.

“Alright, but just so you know, I’m going to be collecting soon.” She turned back to the page before she lost what was left of her composure.

They had a time capsule to find. A bookstore to save. And a secret Isabel had left behind decades ago.

Still, with Tyler next to her, Robyn had a feeling that the hardest part of the afternoon wouldn’t be finding the next clue.

It would be waiting until they were behind a locked door.

SIXTEEN

TYLER

Edith shood them out to go to the Cinnamon Spice Inn. “Go on,” she said, waving them out with one hand while the other adjusted the maple leaf garland draped along the front counter. “I’ll watch the bookstore. I already called my granddaughter and gave her the heads up that you’re on your way. She and Zach will meet you out front with shovels.”

“Thank you, Edith! We’ll come back with the clue as soon as we find it,” Robyn promised.

They stepped outside into the crisp autumn air. Robyn wrapped her arms around her waist and tipped her face up to the sun.

“I’ve never seen a town do fall like this,” she said, almost to herself. A chalkboard outside Anita’s Maple Leaf Café advertised a butternut squash soup and fresh bread lunch special, and Liam’s farm shop had crates of honey jars and beeswax candles stacked in the doorway alongside a new display of apple cider vinegar. “It’s like the whole place just… transforms.”

Tyler smiled. He remembered thinking the same thing when he moved to town. It never got old. “Wait until you try Cassidy’s fall truffles. Her spiced pumpkin one is my favorite.”

Robyn’s eyes lit up. “Emily told me about those. Salted caramel apple and maple pecan too, right? She said the pumpkin ones keep selling out.”

“Twice this week already.” Tyler nudged her shoulder with his. “We should go. Before she sells out again.”

Robyn glanced at him sideways, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “It’s a date.”

Tyler kept pace beside Robyn and tried not to sweep her off to the chocolate shop right then and there. The wind shifted, and he caught the faint scent of her shampoo when the breeze lifted her hair. He told himself not to read into that, not to let his brain start making a home out of moments that were still brand new, but his instincts were not cooperating, and neither was his body.

Madison was already waiting out front, a shovel propped beside her boot, her red hair bright against the green sweater that made her eyes look almost unnaturally emerald. Zach stood next to her with his own shovel and a flannel shirt rolled at the forearms, beard neatly trimmed.

“Okay,” Madison said, grinning. “Ready to do this?”

Robyn slowed, looking from them to the stretch of grass by the inn’s front walkway. “This tree doesn’t look that old…”

“It’s not,” Madison admitted. “The original maple was hit by lightning last fall. Zach and I replanted it. But according to the photo, it should be right here.”

“It should,” Zach agreed, already digging his shovel into the ground a few feet from the base of the new tree.

Tyler glanced at Robyn. She was in dress pants and ballet flats, her posture trying very hard to read composed while her eyes were bright with curiosity.

“You want the honors?” he asked quietly. “Feels right. It’s your great-grandmother who buried it.”

Robyn looked down at her shoes, then up at him with a helpless little laugh. “Maybe just the ceremonial first dig.”

Zach offered her the shovel handle. Robyn stepped forward, set the blade into the earth, and tried to press down.