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Then again, I could remember only ever doing this once before with my mom. We both decided we didn’t have the talent, so we never did it again. But we’d had fun, and that was something I never forgot.

I figured the same could apply here.

“Well, if you like it so much, maybe you want to keep it.”

“You don’t want it?”

I shrugged. “I think yours looks way better.”

Grinning, he slid his pumpkin toward me. “Then it’s yours.”

“Oh, I can’t take your pumpkin.”

“I insist. Plus, if you’re going to give me yours, it’s only fair.”

Warmth moved through me, even in the cool fall air. “Thanks for inviting me to do this today, Liam. I had a lot of fun with you.”

“Enough fun to want to hang out with me again sometime soon?”

Part of me didn’t want this to end as it was. I beamed at him. “Absolutely.”

A satisfied smile washed over his expression. “Good. We should probably get this mess cleaned up so I can treat you to a caramel apple before your mom gets back here to pick you up.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful. But you should let me treat, since you bought the pumpkins,” I reasoned.

He shook his head. “Not this time. I’ve been thinking about buying you a caramel apple since I woke up this morning.”

Why did I like hearing that he’d had me on his mind from the minute he opened his eyes?

“You sure do know how to make a girl feel special.”

Standing from the seat on the picnic bench, Liam looked down at me. “I’m trying.”

He was trying.

Liam wanted to make me feel special.

I was so giddy; it was a wonder I didn’t spring up from my seat just to jump for joy.

Instead, I bit the corner of my lip and focused my attention on the mess we had in front of us. Liam and I worked together to clean it up. Then he bought me the most delicious caramel apple with nuts I’d ever tasted.

TWO WEEKS LATER

I was busy studying for my upcoming math test when a knock came at my bedroom door. “Layla?”

“Yeah? Come in.”

My mom pushed open the door with the phone in her hand and said, “It’s for you.”

I was so engrossed in what I was doing, I hadn’t even heard it ring. “Oh. Thanks.”

With a bright smile on her face that said everything her voice didn’t, my mom walked over and handed me the phone. Unlike a lot of the kids that I was in school with, I didn’t have a cell phone. We couldn’t exactly afford it, but it wasn’t like it was necessary. I was usually only ever home or at school, and since I wasn’t driving myself around, it wasn’t as though I needed one in case of an emergency like that. “Take your time, but when you finish up, I want to talk to you.”

Before lifting the phone to my ear, I promised, “Okay. I’ll be down soon.”

After she walked out and closed the door behind her, I lifted the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Layla. It’s Liam.”