Page 26 of Once Upon a Fall

Still, I did cringe when the Edna with the dyed dark hair yelled, “Tucker Wells, how did you miss that catch? I could have caught it myself, and I’ve got two bad knees!”

Tucker just smiled and nodded as if he agreed, which was a lot better than most kids would have handled it.

Even Ari Langford—someone I used to cheer with in high school who just took a job teaching there—had to deal with their antics. The dark-haired Edna was trying to set her up with a new dentist moving into town before I could drag her away.

My dad and Emma showed up a little into the first quarter and sat with us for most of it, and Dominic made an appearance at halftime. I smiled, thinking of how our mom would have loved this: having us all together at the first game of the season. At the same time, it was a stark reminder of who was missing, and more than once I had to blink back tears.

Grief is strange. It’s been ten years, and most days I feel okay. But then sometimes, out of the blue, I’m not.

But a football game with two old biddies heckling the players is a weird place to feel it.

“Thank you for the escort,” Edna with the dark hair says when I pull up in front of her house after the game. At least, I think it’s her house.

“You’re so welcome,” I say. “I’m glad we won.”

“Those Golden Eagles did us proud tonight,” Edna with the whitish-yellow hair says.

“They did. It was a great game,” I say. I should have been home finishing the last of the molding in the Cinderella room, but I have to admit the break was much needed.

Now I need to go back and do some late-night work, and also eat something because I’m starving and the small bag of popcorn I ate at the game wasn’t enough. There’s a pot pie in my freezer with my name on it.

“How’s the festival planning going, dear?” Yellow Edna asks.

“Oh, you know . . .” I trail off because so far I haven’t done all that much, and it’s a painful reminder of what I have ahead of me and how little time I have to do it.

My hungry stomach sinks.

“Pam knew who would handle it best,” Dark Edna says, giving me a little pat on the wrist.

“Make sure there’re enough pies for the pie-eating contest,” the other one says.

Right, I think that’s on one of my lists. Hopefully.

“Now, you tell us about that man staying at your place,” Dark Edna says.

My eyes go wide.

“Don’t give me that look. We know he’s there. Heard he’s a good-looking fella, too.”

“Who told you?” It’s a dumb question. It’s not like Dean’s been holed up at the inn. He’s been going to the restaurants in town and visiting his property. Not to mention the run he went on this morning.

Would it be weird if I asked him to lie low and wear a disguise from now on? Probably.

It’s not that it matters if the Ednas know. It’s that they will tell everyone. Stories about how I’m harboring a handsome man at my inn will spread like wildfire. Just like the gossip about why I came back made its way around town. It’s kind of hard to get over a failed relationship and job when everyone keeps asking you about it.

“We have our ways,” says the yellow one.

I let out a breath. “He’s just a guy renting a room at the inn. That’s all. And he’s only here until Tuesday.” That’s when his week is up. Maybe if they think he’s leaving, they won’t care.

“He’s an Alden,” says the yellow one.

I blink at them. I found that out from him just yesterday, but of course the Ednas already know.

“Vivian and Robert’s grandson. They had the orchard out past the covered bridge,” she says. “Vivian ran the pie booth for sixteen years.”

“Seventeen,” corrects the dark one.

“Is he single?” the yellow one asks.