Page 84 of The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook

THIRTY-EIGHT

TYLER

Tyler liked his Monday evenings quiet. They had a certain predictable rhythm about them. He’d make dinner while Emma worked on homework. After that, they’d video call his parents or maybe one of his brothers. Eventually, the evening would wind down with Emma getting cleaned up, then pajamas, and off to bed, where, Tyler was sad to say, his daughter often read chapter books to herself versus asking her dad to come in and read to her. It was funny how quickly that had happened.

But tonight was not quiet.

Tonight, they were downtown in Maple Falls, the air sharp with cold and woodsmoke, the streetlamps already glowing even though it wasn’t fully dark yet. Halloween was four days away, and the town was ready with plenty of pumpkins, corn stalks, and plastic skeletons dotting Oak Way. Kids ran past in costumes, streaming in and out of the community haunted house set up in the park. It wasn’t haunted so much as comical. The pop-up tent was divided into small rooms with black plastic tarps, volunteers in witch hats and vampire capes stirring cauldrons of dry ice, handing out candy to anyone brave enough to go through.

Emma had been through four times already.

Normally, Tyler would have drawn the line at two. Tonight, his mind was elsewhere. He checked his phone for the umpteenth time.

6:12 p.m.

Robyn’s Zoom call had started at five.

He told himself to stop being an idiot. Yale was not personally stealing her away like some academic villain in a cape. She wasn’t being deported to Connecticut against her will.

His stomach had been tight all afternoon anyway.

“Come on, bug, let’s head home,” he said, steering Emma away from the friends she’d accumulated over the last hour.

They were walking back toward the car, up along Oak Way, when the café door swung open ahead of them. A gust of warmth spilled out into the cold. It smelled of coffee, cinnamon, and something buttery that made Tyler’s mouth water despite the fact that he hadn’t been hungry all evening.

Robyn stepped outside with a to-go bag in one hand and her laptop bag slung over the other shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed from heat and excitement, hair twisted into a messy knot.

She spotted him and smiled, her whole expression brimming with joy.

“Tyler, I was just going to call you. I wanted to pick up dinner real quick first. I haven’t eaten all day. I was too nervous,” she said, breathless, stopping in front of him. “I have news.”

Emma’s head popped up immediately. “Is it Halloween news?”

Robyn laughed. “Not exactly.”

Tyler tried to keep his face neutral. Tried to keep his chest from tightening. “Good news or bad news?”

“Good.” Robyn’s eyes shone. “Like… really good.”

A rush of relief went through Tyler so strong it made him dizzy.

“They’re not firing me,” she blurted.

Tyler let out a laugh he hadn’t planned on. “Okay. Great. Good. That’s⁠—”

“And,” Robyn added quickly—because she always held her breath until she said the part that scared her—“they actually want me. Like… they want more of me.”

Tyler blinked. “More of you?”

Robyn nodded, already digging into her bag. She pulled out a folded piece of paper. There were bullet points on Yale letterhead.

“My department chair—Dr. Haskins—he said they’re launching a new program.” Her words came fast, hands moving the same. “A contemporary romance literature class paired with a creative writing seminar. It’ll be two parts: analysis and craft. They want it modern, and they want me to head it up. Not just teach it. Build it.”

Tyler watched her as she talked.

This wasn’t panic energy.

This was alive energy.