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“I’d love that.” The thought of seeing her more frequently had my heart beating with elation.

“Do you think your father will be in town for Halloween?” Mom asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “He’s been stuck in New York the last few weeks. He was supposed to come this weekend, but something came up, and he had to cancel. He didn’t say when he’d be back.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” She responded so fast I felt like there definitely was a reason.

“Do you want to see him?” I prompted.

“I mean, it would be nice to catch up with him again after all this time,” she said. “But I’m sure we’ll cross paths at some stage.”

“I could invite him to the carnival if you like?”

“No, you don’t have to do that.” Her reply came quickly again.

“I was thinking of mentioning it to him anyway...” I hadn’t been, but it sounded like my mom wanted to see Matthew. It was understandable given they had a child together and he’d done so much for me lately.

“Oh, well, I’m sure he’d appreciate the invite.”

“Yeah, he sounds super busy at the moment though, so I doubt he’ll be able to come,” I added. I didn’t want Mom to get her hopes up.

“I’m sure he’ll do his best.” She sounded a little relieved, and I didn’t know what to make of her reaction. It seemed like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see him again or not.

We spoke about her trip for a few more minutes before she said she had to go deal with something at the café. When I returned to the shed, I had the biggest smile on my face.

“Why do you look like you just won the lottery?” Anna asked as she handed over the slice of pizza she’d saved me.

“Because my mom is coming to visit at Halloween.”

“That’s so great,” Cress said as she joined us. “How long is she coming for?”

“Just the one night. So, we’ll have to show her a good time at the carnival.”

“I think we can do that.” Anna grinned.

“Do you think she’d like to volunteer to be on our kissing booth?” Cress asked.

I spluttered out a laugh. “What?”

“Well, there will be lots of adults at the carnival, so it might appeal to the older demographic.”

I was beginning to think she was actually serious. “I mean, I could ask her, but I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“Why not?” Cress replied. “I’ve seen pictures of your mom. She’s a total babe.”

“Yeah, but can you imagine if we have to watch her kiss a teacher or something?” The thought made me want to throw up, and Anna and Cress shuddered.

“You’re right, that’s a terrible idea,” Cress said.

“I bet Coach August would totally line up to kiss her too,” Anna added, pretending to gag. “Yuck.”

“Okay. Not my best idea,” Cress admitted.

“Not even close,” I said before taking a bite of my pizza. It was dripping with grease and so cheesy you could barely taste the other toppings, but it was so, so good.