Page 38 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice (Wayward Hollow #1)
Henry
“It’s time to celebrate!” Kieran shouts in the distance, holding up two bottles of what I assume is hard liquor. Laughing and stumbling in a way that makes me worry about the alcohol he's holding, he makes his way to our group.
The rest of the autumn fair had gone on without a hitch.
A few paparazzi attached themselves to Nic and me, photographing our every move, which lead to us leaving with Lauren shortly after the whole Marissa ordeal.
Kieran stayed behind and reported of some whispers, but overall, the fair apparently went back to business as usual quickly.
I have no doubts our faces will be plastered over gossip magazines for the next few days. But hey, it’s free advertisement for my vet clinic, at least, and I’m not going to complain about that.
Lauren and Nic quickly got the idea to get everyone together to celebrate our plan working, and now we’re here, sitting by the water.
The lake is calm and dark under the night sky, as we huddle around a campfire since the big one in town is likely still riddled with paparazzi.
Jensen is in Nic’s home, keeping an eye on the cats.
The mountains in the distance are only faint shapes now, their edges soft against the stars. Chaos’s last resting place is not too far off, which I find fitting, considering how Nic’s and my story began with her.
A s mall bonfire crackles gently between us, casting a warm glow over the circle, and for a moment, it’s just easy. Quiet. Comfortable.
“How are you feeling, superstar?” Kieran asks Nic, happily accepting one of the beers Caleb is handing him and cracking it open.
“Light as a feather,” Nic answers him with a wide grin. Nothing has been able to wipe it off her face since we arrived at her house and the realization that Jay and Marissa actually got arrested settled.
“I feel amazing.” She leans her head against my shoulder, and I put my arm around hers.
“You look like you do,” Kieran grins and sets down his beer. “Ooh, Caleb, you going all caveman here? That’s kind of hot.”
Caleb only grunts in response. He went over to Nic’s house to get more wood for our bonfire, carrying a bunch of it over his shoulder, subtly showing Kieran his middle finger.
Lauren chuckles, and reaches for one of the bottles Kieran brought, squinting her eyes as she’s trying to decipher the label in the flickering firelight.
“Do we already know how it played out?” Kieran wonders, glancing around our circle curiously.
“Couldn’t bring myself to Google my own name,” Nic explains and looks up at me, squeezing my knee. “So Henry checked.”
“Ooh, understandable,” Kieran and Lauren say in unison, and I shake my head at them with a chuckle.
“And I’m happy to report, it worked out exactly as we hoped,” I declare and cough when the fire suddenly goes out right as the soft wind changes and blows the smoke right in my face.
“All the headlines are along the lines of, ‘Jealous sister tries to humiliate superstar,’ or along those lines,” I explain with air quotations, making Nic and Lauren giggle.
Caleb is ignoring us, though I’m sure he’s listening in as he tries to relight the fire.
“There are even some videos, and the comments are tearing Marissa to pieces .”
“Hell yes,” Lauren punches her fist in the air, then gives in to Kieran’s high five. “Ah, I love winning.”
“And also, I now have a lot of cute pictures of Nic and me at the autumn fair.” I grin and press a kiss to the side of her head.
“So, who really won here?” I already know exactly where to hang one of them.
It was taken when I won the plush for her, right as I leveled the little plastic gun, with Nic and Jensen behind me.
But what makes me want to print a wall-sized version out and plaster it all over my home is not Jensen, or the fact that I’m really damn handsome when I’m trying to aim with a plastic gun. No, it’s the way she’s looking at me, with that smile in her eyes, a certain softness in her expression.
It’s already my phone background until I can shoot a better picture of her.
“Stop it, you two!” Lauren throws the cap of her beer toward us, and I grin before picking it up and putting it into my pocket.
“I’m not going to apologize for that,” I point out, laughing, and take a sip of my beer. “Also, my phone has been going off with people who want Nic’s new boyfriend to shove his arm up their cow’s ass. I’m taking today as a win.”
“Who would’ve thought the two of them would end up doing you a favor?” Kieran says with a chuckle, suddenly cheering when Caleb finally manages to relight the fire. “There you go, boss man! Great job!”
“We knew you could do it,” Lauren adds with a grin. “Never had a doubt.”
“Suuure,” Caleb mumbles and rolls his eyes, before he sits down next to her, and I could swear her cheeks turn a darker shade. Though it’s hard to say if it’s because of Caleb, or because the fire is so hot.
“ What’s going on with those two?” I whisper to Nic, and she shoots me an amused smile, leaning closer to whisper right into my ear.
“She has a crush on him. What about Caleb?”
I watch Caleb for a moment. He’s as quiet as always, but his face has gotten softer. I can’t see the usual crease between his eyebrows or that perpetual frown on his forehead. He seems almost content, and then I see his eyes darting over to Lauren.
It only lasts for the faintest moment, and immediately after, he resumes staring at the fire, a faraway expression on his face.
“I think he’s crushing too,” I whisper back, and gently nip her earlobe, making her giggle.
There have been enough pictures and camera flashes today, but I still can’t help myself and keep my phone ready—this mood, this carefree celebration, deserves to be remembered. And judging by how tipsy Lauren and Kieran are, I’m not so sure their brains will keep up.
“Get a room, you two!” Kieran shouts from the other side of the fire, and we bring a bit of space between us. It’s hard to keep my hands off her when I’m sober, but give me a few beers, and I’m probably never letting her go again.
“By the way, who’s going to clean up the autumn festival stuff?” he asks curiously. “Do other people volunteer afterward?”
To my surprise, Caleb jumps in to answer. “They hire people for that.”
“Really?” Lauren asks, eyebrows furrowed as she tilts her head in surprise. “They have the budget for that and new decorations? You townspeople put a lot of money into this.”
“Oh, that’s where the proceeds from it go,” I point out, making Lauren even more confused.
“Harry made it a nonnegotiable part of the budget,” Caleb explains gruffly. “In previous years the decorating volunteers had to spend half a week with detangling everything the clean- up-volunteers only threw in boxes. So now he hires a company to do it.”
“After the autumn fair, no one could be bothered to pack the decorations away properly,” I tell add.
“Though that might also have been because Harry insisted on taking down the decorations the next day already, when half of the town was still hungover. He tried waiting a few more weeks, but nobody would volunteer then. So, yeah, he hires a crew to put everything away neatly. Now we can get right to decorating without destroying half the garlands during the detangling process. It always lead to delays.”
“This town is so strange,” Nic says, kind of in awe. “But I enjoy this strange,” she quickly adds, and Lauren nods in agreement.
“It fits our strange,” she says, shooting a grin at Kieran in silent solidarity.
“Oh, absolutely,” he agrees and takes a sip of his beer. “I don’t think we could have picked a better place to move to.”
The night goes on, and we stay huddled around the campfire. Caleb somehow ends up as the self-appointed fire warden, fetching more wood whenever the flames slowly die down and making sure we have flames, not only a glow.
And when it hits two in the morning, and yawns start replacing real conversation, he’s the one who heads down to the lake for water, dousing the fire and covering the whole pit with sand. Just to make sure we’re not accidentally starting a forest fire.
“Look at you,” Lauren slurs, then breaks into a giggle-fit, clearly drunk. “Responsible!”
We made the bonfire between Nic’s and Lauren’s homes, and if it were still light out, we could also see Kieran’s further down the lake shore.
“ Damn, it’s dark,” Kieran also sounds less than sober. I think I hear him fall off the log he sat on, as my eyes get used to the dark.
I’ve got a good of a buzz going, but nothing compared to the three city folks in our group. Caleb watches them with quiet amusement, the same way a kindergarten teacher would watch their children badly explain their parent’s job.
Nic is curled up against my side, trying to stifle a yawn into my jacket. Meanwhile Lauren can’t be more than one blink away from also slipping off the log she’s perched on.
“Will you two be all right?” I ask as I stand up, pulling Nic with me, shaking my head when she whispers a complaint.
“Hey, sweetheart, open your eyes.”
She does, not willingly, but grinning lazily when she sees my face. “You’re so pretty,” she says and lifts her hand to poke my cheek. But her aim is terrible, and she almost pokes my eye, so I catch her hand and keep it in mine.
“We’re fine,” Lauren mumbles, and tries to get up, almost immediately losing her balance and stumbling right into Kieran’s arms.
“That’s okay. I got you,” he says lazily and bursts into a giggle. He then tries to get up, still holding onto Lauren, which is not working out too well.
“I’ll get the two of them home,” Caleb says, and I give him a worried glance.
“Are you sure? Let me get Nic inside, and I can help you.”
“I got this,” he assures me.
“Are you okay to drive?” I tilt my head and narrow my eyes at him until he nods.
“I had one beer, Henry. I’m good.”
“Really? Because Nic has a guest room,” I point out, but he shakes his head. “I knew you were scared of the ghost cat.” He answers by scratching his cheek with his middle finger, right before readjusting his cap. “Okay. If you end up needing a place to crash after all, you’ve got my number.”
I pull Nic flush against me, the same way we walk around town: With her arm around my waist and mine around her back. Taking a few cautious steps, I almost carry her along. It works though.
Meanwhile, Caleb’s eyes dart between Kieran and Lauren, both of whom are smiling lazily at him.
“How strong is your stomach?” he asks Lauren, and she quickly shakes her head, still grinning.
“Not strong at all. Why?”
“You?” he asks Kieran, ignoring her.
Kieran puffs his chest and quickly proclaims, “Stronger than steel,” and without any further ado, Caleb steps closer to him and leans down. Then he throws Kieran over his shoulder like he weighs nothing.
"Don't you dare throw up on me."
“Oh my God!” Kieran exclaims, arms flailing. “Why is the world upside down?”
“Damn, that’s sexy,” Lauren says, with wide eyes and mouth agape.
“Hold on to my arm,” Caleb demands roughly, and she skips over to his side with a wide grin, hugging his arm tightly to her chest.
“Take your phone flashlight and make some light,” he directs her, and she does as he says. Meanwhile, I’m wondering where he learned to manage drunk people this well.
“One day, you’re going to make an amazing dad,” I tell him with a grin, and he shoots me a glare.
“Goodnight, everyone,” I say and give them a wave, slowly maneuvering Nic up to her house.
“Night, night!” Lauren singsongs, while Kieran shoots us a grin and an upside-down wave.
I ’m not saying Wayward Hollow was boring before the three of them moved here, but it’s gotten one hell of a lot more entertaining since they did.