Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
My stomach rumbled when he handed me the hot paper cup and the warm doughnuts. I brought the cup close to my face to breathe in the sweet steam.
“I know we’re going to the bonfire soon, and they will probably have way more food than any of us could eat, but I figured this would fortify us until then,” he said.
I nodded. “It is fall, you know. We need to be storing up for winter.”
Jason laughed, and I melted a little. I wondered if there was ever going to be a time when I got tired of my husband’s laugh or seeing him smile. I didn’t think that was possible. And I hoped it wasn’t.
“Absolutely. For all that hibernating we’re going to be doing,” he said with a grin.
I bit into the doughnut and let out a little groan. It was so delicious. I’d never had an apple cider doughnut before we were planning the pumpkin patch, and Jason suggested I get some from a family up the road who made them and sold them at the farmer’s market throughout the season. As soon as I had my first bite, I knew I had to have them at the farm. Now they brought batches of uncooked doughnuts to the pumpkin patch early every morning so they could be fried fresh throughout the day.
They were especially delicious now, and that first bite only seemed to make me hungrier. I probably could have eaten my way through everything that was left. It was good Jason told Sandra to take them away.
The last family walked out of the pumpkin patch laden down with their picks, and the driver tipped his hat at us before starting up. We waved at him and the customers as they headed down the well-worn dirt road that led to the front of the farm.
“At least six more people asked me today if we were ever planning on doing a haunted hayride or a corn maze,” Jason said as he took my hand, intertwining our fingers as he led me to the nearby trash can to dispose of our cups.
He looked into the booth and thanked Sandra for her work that day. She was cleaning up and would load the trash onto the cart she used to travel from the parking lot to the pumpkin patch so she could toss it on her way home. Sometimes it still amazed me that we had employees. That sounded so ridiculous when I actually let myself think about it, but I couldn’t help it. The farm had only been back up and running for less than a year, and I was still getting used to the idea that this was my reality, not a fantasy I’d dreamed up to get me through the hard work we did to reopen.
“Really?” I asked as he came back to my side. “There have been a lot of those since we opened for the season.”
“There have,” he said. “Which means I definitely think we should consider it. It sounds like fun. We already have that massive barn we aren’t using for anything. We could easily add temporary walls and dividers to that to turn it into a haunted house. And there are enough trails through the woods to make even a couple of different haunts through there. Maybe a hayride and a walking version.”
I shuddered a little. “You think people would like that kind of thing? Like enough people to make it worth it?”
Jason looked at me in disbelief. “Hell yeah, they would.”
I laughed. “I love your enthusiasm.”
“If you think it’s a good idea, though, we can try to figure it out.”
“I think it would be great. We could hire people from the community theater and have kids from the high school drama department be the scare actors. I can help design the sets. We’d make sure the farm was empty of all little ones and people who didn’t want to be scared before any of it happened,” he said.
“That sounds good. But before we can really get into any of that, we have Christmas tree season ahead of us,” I said.
He drew in a deep breath, almost like he could smell the trees where they were growing in the fields deeper out on the farm. He smiled.
“I know. I can’t wait.”
“Really?” I asked.
“What do you mean? Of course. I love Christmas tree season. I have some ideas I want to get rolling on right after we close after Halloween. It’s going to be an even better season than last year.”
He sounded so excited and full of optimism, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with love for him. We were walking through the land we’d worked so hard together to save, surrounded by the pumpkins and Christmas trees that represented my family’s legacy and our future. I knew I couldn’t wait anymore. I was planning on surprising him during the bonfire, but now I knew this was the right moment.