Page 60 of Secrets That Bind Us

Dean

Devil’s Night

Present Day

Halloween in Adelaide is somehow bigger and better than Christmas.

Every shop is decorated from top to bottom, inside and out.

The spooky vibes aren’t lacking, and everyone has at least two costumes to wear.

One for daytime and the other for nighttime activities such as trick-or-treating, the festival, or house parties.

Over the last six years, it’s expanded to an all-day thing, ending with the festival on the outskirts of town– something I help organize every year– closing down at midnight.

I pick up Savannah and Noah from school after my shift, just a few short hours before it’s time to trick-or-treat.

Their secondary costumes are in my cruiser– which they love to ride in– and I feel like I’m really fucking killing it at this dad thing.

Just me, my kids, and getting ready to do Halloween the small-town way.

I want them to experience the small town things I can offer.

I really love being a dad. I may not have the full experience yet, and I’ll never fully catch up to Verity, but damn– this dad thing is awesome, and Verity and I have finally set a date for our wedding– Mid-March, so we can honeymoon while the kids are on Spring break.

Trick-or-treating starts in the town square where there are already folks that live a little too far out on the farms to participate, by having kids coming to them door-to-door.

They park with their trunks out, to hand out candy and treats.

Some already have warm apple cider and hot chocolate stations ready, some folks are grilling hot dogs, and some trick-out their trunks just for this.

I will say, I’ll miss it when we’re gone. But for now… well, for now I’ll simply soak in all the small town feels.

So that’s where we’re headed. The Ink Plot Bistro may not be entirely set up for the soft launch tomorrow, but its window display is ready, with little jack-o-lanterns and a little porcelain village of haunted houses, ‘cobwebs’ and lights.

It’s cute and I can’t wait to see how they react to this.

Mostly, I can’t wait to see Verity’s reaction to all the changes I’ve helped bring about.

The bell above the door to the bookshop rings and Verity comes from the back dressed in a tight little inmate costume, hair down and wavy, contacts instead of glasses, red lips, eyes winged to perfection, and I swear to God, my knees buckle a little.

I look down and notice she’s wearing little white sneakers instead of heels, and the bit of her that shows she’s a mom somehow makes it even hotter. God, I’m obsessed with Verity.

She hugs our kids and then reaches up, putting her arms around my neck and I lean down to kiss her while the kids go change into their costumes. “I’m pretty sure what you’re wearing is illegal.”

“Oh yeah? Are you gonna arrest me… Sheriff ?” she winks.

Chills roll down my spine and shoot straight to my dick. I grab her hands and put them behind her back. “Careful, pretty girl– I already have my handcuffs on me.”

She moans.

“Got anything to say for yourself?”

“Mmm… If I do, will you hold it against me?”

Well goddamn… I nip at her earlobe. “You smell so fucking good, baby. This tight little thing looks so fucking good on you. I can’t wait to tear this off of you and fuck the absolute life out of you.” I snarl in her ear.

She hums and lowers her voice. “When we get home later, I want you to fuck my face like you used to. I want you to take your handcuffs and use me . However you want to.”

She’s fucking dangerous.

“Mommy!”

“Hey there, Sheriff Huntington!” She slips so easily out of my grasp and turns to face Noah, bending down to fix his little Sheriff badge, and I have to think of everything but my bride-to-be and all the ways I’m gonna torture her for being a cocktease.

Nana, Nana, Nana. Yup. I’m good.

“No Mom, I’m Sheriff Carson. Remember?” He whips out his little fake pistol.

" You've gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?

' Well, do ya, punk?" He says in a thick, southern drawl, imitating Clint Eastwood– a movie we watched together just a few nights ago.

Verity and I chuckle, but my heart is swelling with pride that he wants to have my last name, and I will be rectifying that as soon as Verity and I are married.

Both of my children will carry my last name– just like their mother.

My heart swells with pride again at that thought.

Verity nods. “You’re right, Sheriff Carson, how could I forget? You look just like him.” She boops him on the nose, and it makes him giggle.

“Um, Mom?”

We both look up to see Savannah hanging back in her Maleficent costume, and Noah points his pistol at her. “Go ahead, make my day.”

I cover my mouth to not laugh, Verity pushing his little arm down. She looks at me over her shoulder. “Just how many Clint Eastwood movies did you have him watch with you?”

I put my hands up in surrender. “Just the two, I swear.” It was three.

Savvy, of course, ignores her little brother. “Mom, can you help me with my makeup?”

Verity stands to her full height, which isn’t very tall. I fucking love that. It makes it so much easier to pick her up and manhandle her the way I like. “Yeah, of course. We’ll be right back.” She agrees, and they disappear.

I look down at Noah, hand on his hip, mimicking me. I grin. “Well, Sheriff, wanna see if Iris has a sandwich we can eat?”

He smiles up at me, nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah!”

He and I find Iris, and she gives us each a half of a sandwich, a hot chocolate for him, and a coffee for me.

Noah tells me all about his day and the upcoming holiday program while we eat and wait.

I laugh at his witty jokes, his smile making me smile.

I’ve noticed over the last few weeks he’s grown and even though he has Verity’s eyes, he’s starting to look a bit like me.

Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my end.

We hear the bathroom door open and out come my girls– looking ready to cause mayhem in Adelaide.

Savvy eats quickly and soon we're out, hitting every trunk and every door, collecting gobs of candy (I'm sure we'll have to hide the whole year) before the sun starts to set behind the horizon.

When we're finished in town, we all get into Verity’s SUV, and I drive us down the two lane road, towards the outskirts where the festival is– Old Adelaide.

To the very place I first broke Verity’s heart.

The cars are lined in an old parking lot, and I can see Zoey’s teal Jeep from here– I know she’s already set up and probably painting little faces like she’s been doing every year.

“Dean?” Verity asks softly as she takes in the Ferris wheel, the games, the fun house, the carnival food, and last of all– the souped up cars and bikes that still use the old roads (now upgraded) to race legally .

It’s become a huge attraction over the last five years, growing even bigger each year.

“It took me years to get a lot of this organized and situated with Mayor Beaufort, Spyder, and a few other racers, but it's all legal, babe.”

Big brown eyes that stole my heart twenty-five years ago on an old playground with rusty swing sets just ten miles away look up at me. “You did this?”

I dip my chin once.

“Why?”

I shrug. “Make amends, I guess. Fix things in a way that would somehow make you proud.” I tip my head towards the blue tents where EMS is stationed. “We have medics on site, too.”

She grabs my hand. “Are you racing?”

I huff out a chuckle and give her hand a squeeze. “Nah baby. My racing days are over. C’mon. There’s something I’ve been dying to do since we were fourteen.”

She arches a dark brow quizzically. “Oh?”

We walk around the carnival, letting the kids get on rides, eat some funnel cake, and then find Zoey’s station where she is, in fact, painting faces. She greets us with a wide smile and the kids with hugs. “You mind watching them for a bit?”

She takes an excited Noah, asking her assistant for tiger face paint. “I can do that.”

Once again, heart slightly pounding, I grab Verity and we get in line for the Ferris Wheel.

I give the guy our tickets and we get into the baskets, Then– like I paid the guy to do-- we ever so slowly ascend up, up, up– looking over the grounds, high above Adelaide.

Feeling like I’m fifteen again, except this time, I’m with the right girl.

I turn to look at Verity, who looks back at me with a coy smile.

“Almost twenty years ago, I sat in one of these trying to break up with Tiffany. I looked across the bars and there you were. It felt like kismet to be above the city limits, and you were the only thing I could see. Hair down. Blue dress on. Sun going down on the Fourth of July. Everyone was so ready for the firework display, but my heart only saw you. I know I’m gonna sound cheesy, but even when it felt like I stayed still in this town waiting for you to come back to me, there were nights I dreamt it was me you’d kissed, and I had done everything right.

“That has always been my nightmare, Verity. Having to relive all the moments I did you right, wrong, and the moments I didn’t do anything at all.

And I know you already said yes to me, but there are so many moments in time I wish I could redo.

There are so many moments I want to replace him with me– if you’ll have me. ”

She squeezes my hand. “There’s nothing I want more than that, Dean.

I’m going to sound fucking terrible. Horrible.

A total bitch. But there were times I wished I was arguing with you, not about you.

I wished I was waking up to watch the sunrise or it set over a city with you, not alone.

Times when I wished I was looking at you across the table.

Sometimes, I pretended I was. So I will have you.

I will have you in every capacity you’ll give me. ”

And so I kiss her. I kiss her the way I should have kissed her almost two decades ago on a Ferris Wheel on the Fourth of July.

and when the fireworks and pyros go off, it almost makes up for it after all these years.

Even though nothing and I mean nothing , ever feels like the real thing.

Like this. Like now. Our kiss deepens with each slip of tongue, nip of a lip, and moan passed between us, because that’s how much deeper I’ve fallen for Verity.

I can feel her soul now, pressing into mine.

It's then she decides to slip her warm hand down and unzips my uniform slacks. “Oh, fuck, Verity- we- oh, fuck it.”

“Shhh… baby …” My girl leans over and gives me the best fucking head of my life, taking her time to slurp up her saliva around my dick, fisting me with the perfect amount of pressure.

“Oh, fuck. Keep doing that… don’t stop.” I’m not gonna last.

She giggles when I come in her wicked mouth.