“What’s that?” she asked as she glanced at the entrance of the haunted maze.
“That’s the corn maze. And over there’s the line for the pumpkin carving contest. And the rides are just past that.” It was a big fall festival. In small towns, there wasn’t much to do except go to festivals and parties with your friends and neighbors.
I saw another set of appreciative eyes glancing at Lizzie and her sweater, so I clutched her tighter to me and glared in the encroacher’s direction.
We needed a neon sign over her head that said, ‘Spoken for.’
But one look at me, and the man whose eyes had followed her around darted off in another direction.
Lizzie again, was oblivious.
“What’s that stage?” she asked.
“That’s the king and queen of the Harvest Festival. Our very own Thatcher and Shelby.”
A wide smile popped out on her cherry-red lips. “Really? Can we go see them?”
“Yup. But I don’t think we’ll be able to get too close unless you want to spend half the night in line.”
We wandered in that direction to the long, winding line of people waiting to get blessed by the Autumn Royals.
“Shelby looks so beautiful.”
“Yup.”
But my eyes weren’t on Shelby. They were on Elizabeth.
My brother and his new wife had changed out of their wedding clothes. And now they were wearing costumes made of silk fall leaves from the craft store. They were both wearing leafy crowns, and they had wooden wands in their hands that they were using to grant blessings to all their well-wishers.
I saw my other brother, Buck, off in the distance, standing by himself. He’d been moody ever since he’d moved back home. We’d started calling him the Grump of Red Oak Mountain. And not even watching Thatcher get married had lifted his mood.
Normally I’d go over and jawjack with him. But I couldn’t worry about Buck tonight. Not with Elizabeth on my arm. I’d call tomorrow to check in on him.
Shelby glanced over and spotted us. “You look gorgeous, Lizzie!”
“So do you!” she called back.
“Do you want to wait in line to talk to them?” I asked.
She thought about it for a moment. “No. We’d only get a few seconds with them, anyway. I can’t believe I missed my chance to hang out with her.”
Lizzie looked downright stricken by that.
I kept my mouth shut. I knew there was a solution, but it wasn’t one that she wanted to hear. Her life was somewhere else, and that would never change.
All I’d get is this one magical night with her.
“Is that fiddle music?” she asked.
“Around here we call it folk music. It’s coming from the Autumn Harvest Dance Hall, otherwise known as the town center dressed up with hay bales. You want to go dancing with me, Lizzie?”
She grinned up at me, her entire face alive with excitement. “Yeah. That sounds like so much fun.”
Lacing my fingers through hers, I led her inside.
But just as we hit the dance floor, the song changed. It looked like we’d be having a slow dance together.
I took the opportunity to pull her into my arms. The subtle scent of her perfume lingered in my nose, and I breathed her in deep as we relaxed into each other’s embrace.
