Page 106 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

The town square was packed, the air thick with cinnamon, roasted nuts, and woodsmoke. Overhead, dark clouds gathered at the edges of the horizon, a low rumble of thunder barely audible over the festival noise.

Nothing urgent yet, but a storm was brewing.

Tables were set up under a giant banner proclaiming the “Harvest and Hearth Festival Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest." Kids and adults hunched over pumpkins, knives in hand, tongues sticking out in concentration.

I cracked my knuckles and sized up the competition. Kai had that locked-in, I’m-gonna-win-this look. Samuel was stretching like he was about to run a marathon.

And Sadie was eyeing her pumpkin like it had personally insulted her.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” she teased. “I don’t want to embarrass you guys in front of the whole town.”

I scoffed. “You sound pretty cocky for someone who probably hasn’t carved a pumpkin since middle school.”

“Confidence is key,” she shot back, grabbing a knife. “Let’s do this.”

Marlene, my mother and one of the judges, gave me a pointed look. “Now, Adam, I don’t want to hear any whining if Sadie beats you.”

“Wow. No faith in your own son?”

She patted my cheek. “Oh, honey. None at all.”

From the next table over, Lila Harper called out, “We’re betting on Sadie!” Colt grinned, holding up a twenty. “Don’t let us down, sweetheart.”

Sadie winked at them. “I won’t.”

I shook my head. Traitors.

The timer started. Game on.

I thought of going classic at first —a simple jack-o’-lantern. Then I glanced over. Sadie was carving something detailed.

My competitive streak roared to life.

“What is that supposed to be?” Samuel asked, peeking over.

She smirked. “It’s a cat.”

Kai snorted. “That looks like a gremlin.”

Sadie gasped. “Rude! You just don’t appreciate modern art.”

“I appreciate things that don’t look cursed.”

Samuel was going way too ambitious, a haunted house scene, but miscalculated and knocked out an entire window—then part of the roof.

He groaned. “No one look at mine.”

Naturally, we all looked.

Kai choked back a laugh. “Dude, that pumpkin has been condemned.”

“Shut up, Kai.”

Kai’s pumpkin was a perfectly symmetrical, ridiculously detailed wolf howling at the moon. Show-off.

I glanced at mine.

Not good enough.

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