Page 41 of Trust Me
“Ready to go, finally?” he asks as I hop into the front seat.
“I’m weady!” Brooklyn exclaims from the back seat, excitement evident at the thought of picking out her pumpkin. “I’m getting the biggestpunkin dey got!” Will laughs as he pulls out of the drive and heads toward The Pumpkin Patch.
When we pull in, the place is packed with cars; parents carrying pumpkins and chasing screaming kids everywhere. Well, it is the Saturday before Halloween so what did I expect? Fortunately, as we approach the entrance there’s a wagon sitting at the gate to the patch. Will throws Brooklyn into the wagon and takes off, scouting out the perfect pumpkin.
When we get in the center of the patch, Will stops and helps Brooklyn out of the wagon. “All right, let’s find our pumpkins,” he tells her, taking her hand. She pulls him forward, weaving past all the people wandering around the patch. She’s looking left and right, searching through the sea of orange pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.
“Dis one!” She stops and points down to a medium-sized pumpkin. “Dis one’s Mommy’s punkin!”
“That’s a perfect pumpkin for me,” I say as Will picks it up and deposits it in the wagon. We continue to wander through the patch, Brooklyn eagerly pulling Will along.
“So, how have you been lately?” he asks.
“Good. You? Any dates lately?” I ask witha mischievous grin. The last date Will went on was several months back and it did not go well. Apparently, she kept talking about her ex-husband the entire time and was in tears by the end of dinner. Will’s too nice of a guy to politely excuse himself from the date from hell, so he sat there miserable the entire time. The woman actually had the nerve to ask Will to call her again.
“No way. I’m happy without a woman. Besides, I’ve been busy with work. No time for dating.” I watch his face as he says the words, but I’m not sure I believe him. Well, I believe him that he’s not dating. I just don’t think I believe he’s happy not doing it.
“I think you should find time. You need to get out more, Will. Go out and have fun.”
“Really? And what about you? Who are you dating?” Even though he’s just casually asking in response to my inquiry, my cheeks heat up with a blush.
“No one. I don’t have the time. I have a three-year-old to raise.”
“So, excuses are okay for you to use, but not me?” He offers me a little grin, but I can see the seriousness in his eyes. So, I decide to level with him as much as I can without giving too much away.
“I’ve had a few dates.”
“Huh. Anyone I know?” And there it is. The loaded question. How the heck do I answer this?
At that moment, as if I had summoned her up with my mind, Brooklyn starts yelling that she’s found her pumpkin. When Will and I look at which pumpkin she’s pointing at, she’s fingered a smaller-sized pumpkin.
“That’s the one you want? It’s not very big.”
“It’s the one I want! It’s wittle wike me!”
Will chuckles and puts the pumpkin in the wagon next to mine. We start to head toward the shed where you pay when Brooklyn points to a third pumpkin. “Wait! I need dat one too!” This one is the big pumpkin I expected her to pick the first time around.
“You need two pumpkins, Bean?” Will bends to pick up the much larger pumpkin while I rearrange the wagon to accommodate it.
“It’s not for me, it’s Maddox’s punkin!”
I freeze. Bloody hell, I could have died at that exact moment, and I can’t find my voice to even respond. My brain literally has shut down, malfunctioning between brain and mouth andwon’t even process a response to her.
“Maddox’s pumpkin? Why does Maddox need a pumpkin?” Will asks Brooklyn.
“Because he comes to duh house and bwings me chocowate ice cweam!”
Seriously, I might as well drop dead right here, right now. My eyes must be as big as saucers as I stare at my daughter, too afraid to make eye contact with my brother.
“He does? Well, that’s nice of him. When did he do that?”
“When I was sick. And guess what, Uncle Will. Maddox was in his underwear.” She giggles. I feel the world tilt on its axis. I stand here waiting and praying for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. Will looks up at me with a combination of question and fury all over his face. I have yet to say a word. I stare back at my brother, whose mind is processing the information his niece just spilled at his feet.
“Brooklyn, let’s get these pumpkins and head over to the corn maze,” I suggest as I turn on shaky legs to walk toward the little shed to pay.
We walk quietly along the path for a few minutes before Will finally speaks in a low growl. “Maddox? What the hell is Maddox doing at yourhouse in his underwear, Avery?”
And in that moment, I can’t lie to him nor do I really want to. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks,” I mumble in a low voice so only he can hear.
