Page 53 of Flirty Fall Fling

The carnival in the middle of town square opens this weekend, and the traffic returning to Pine Haven is bumper to bumper. Now that fall has officially kicked off, the leaf peepers are out and about.

After an hour of traveling, Josie finally pulls in front of the shop to drop me off.

“Do you like apple pie?” Josie asks.

“I just love pie in general,” I tell her. “Apple, pumpkin, peach, chocolate. I’m like a raccoon, and I’ll eat it all.”

“Great! I think I’m going to bake one,” she tells me as I get out of the car.

“Can’t wait to try it.”

She leans over before I shut the door. “Are you going to reach out to Jamie?”

I ignore the question.

“Anyway, thanks for inviting me. Today was so much fun,” I say, giving her a wave.

“You are so stubborn! Jump that man’s bones before someone else does.”

I move into the shop and spend the afternoon counting inventory and prepping for the weekend rush. I keep my hands busy, bundling rosemary and cedar until the back room smells like a forest. I restock the tea wall, trying to stop thinking about the woman in the white puffer vest. I don’t know if he gave her his number, and truthfully, it doesn’t matter.

Winter watches me work between customers, but she doesn’t say much because we get slammed the last three hours of the shift.

“My back hurts. I’m getting old,” Winter says, leaning over the counter.

When we lock up at six, we’re both exhausted. Winter and I stroll down the sidewalk, and I tell her about the orchard, conveniently leaving out all mentions of Jamie.

The manor smells like cinnamon and joy. I follow Winter down the hallway, only to find flour on the counter, on my cousin’s cheek, and somehow on Charlie, who sits at a safe distance, watching what might be a disaster. Josie looks happy, so maybe not.

“It smells amazing!” Winter says, dipping her finger into the large bowl of apple filling sitting on the counter.

“Hopefully, it turns out okay! I’ve watched ten different YouTube videos and read a few articles.”

As soon as she finishes her sentence, the oven beeps. Josie grabs a thick oven mitt and pulls out a pie. It’s crooked, bubbled over on one side, but it looks like it was made with love.

“I hope it tastes better than it looks,” she mutters.

“Who cares? It all comes out the same,” Winter tells her with a pat on the back.

Josie grabs three forks and hands one to each of us. We each dig a bite out, and it’s steaming. I blow on it, then test it with my tongue before eating it.

“Wow!” I say, with my mouth open because it’s still hot as fuck. “This is so good.”

“Josie, you should learn how to make it look better, then submit a pie for the contest at the carnival. I think it happens the second weekend of October,” Winter suggests.

“Yes! You absolutely should.”

Josie beams. “You’re just saying that.”

“I don’t give pity compliments,” I remind her. “If it sucked, I’d be like, Oh, hmm, maybe try again. But this? Wow. It’s not pretty, but it tastes beautiful.”

She wipes her cheek with the back of her hand and laughs. “I adjusted the recipes to make it not quite as sweet, and I added vanilla.”

“The vanilla was the right call,” Winter says, already scooping out a second bite with a big, chunky apple.

Charlie reaches his claws out and scratches my legs.

“Buddy, you can’t have any of this. I’m sorry!”