Page 66 of The Monster I Loved

A million thoughts swirled through my head. Was she actually scared?

“You okay?” I asked.

Summer nodded. “Just caught off guard. They finally put a bit of effort into the sound effects!”

A few of us chuckled.

The wagon kept moving, slow and steady. Wylie had taken refuge in Henry’s protective arms. We continued on for a while longer.

No surprise at all, Summer and I had similar thoughts. “Was it always like this? I remember having lots of fun. Now it just seems like we’re driving around in hay.”

Everyone laughed.

“Guess some things just seem better when you’re a kid,” I said.

We nodded and looked at Wylie with a smile plastered on his face.

In my prison cell, I’d pictured them here every year without me, enjoying a good time. Now it seemed this was one activity they’d skipped.

“Whose idea was this?” I asked.

Henry lifted his can. “It’s your first Halloween back. We have to do all the things.”

Summer’s eyes widened. She obviously didn’t know this outing was on my behalf.

Then, to my surprise, her eyelids fell slightly; she didn’t roll them or look annoyed. What was up with her? Maybe she was really sick. I also noticed she wasn’t drinking.

Although she had never been one for beer.

“Will they have hot cider and donuts at the end of the ride?” Daisy asked.

I shot her a look. “They’d better. Any fall activity that doesn’t have hot cider and those donuts will owe me a refund.”

Summer laughed...at something that came out ofmymouth. All of us stared at her.

“Uncle Thad, do you love donuts?”

Before I could answer Wylie, Summer spoke. “He’s obsessed! Nobody can get between him and those donuts.”

“She’s right,” Henry added.

As everyone laughed, I wondered if my relationship with Summer had made a turn for the better. We were in the same space and hadn’t exchanged one insult. At the office, we were also able to act like adults. Damn, my father was right! He wouldn’t hear that from me, but dropping the case and putting us in close proximity seemed to be the best idea.

The jerk of the wagon alerted me that the ride was over. When the smell of donuts hit my nostrils, my cheeks lifted. “Donuts are on me!”

No one protested.

I handed the donuts out to everyone, Summer included.

She looked into my eyes, and our fingers brushed against each other slightly. Again, the electricity charged through me. I was glued in my position, hand hovering in the air as I stared into her eyes. They looked a lighter brown than I remembered. The little details in her features grew bolder, held my attention prisoner as I couldn’t rip my eyes from her.

Summer didn’t pull away either. She lightly cupped the donut, mouth parted in a slight ‘O.’

What are we even doing?

I removed my fingers from her donut, and we continued staring at each other as if the world had crashed.

Something was off. I couldn’t place what it was, but there was a shift in the way Summer looked at me, interacted with me. The woman I knew would snatch the donut like it was her birthright. Suddenly, she was acting all shy?