How Sweet It Is

by Dylan Newton

  “Niagara Falls? I’ve never been there,” Kate mused, picking bits of pumpkin from under her nails. “Is this really just to help me get that EVPLEX, or have you got an ulterior motive—like more research for me to help with? Tell me the truth.”

  “Honestly, it’s one of the curses of knowing a writer. Nothing is sacred, and all of my life usually ends up somewhere in my fiction.” Drake held her gaze. “But no. It’s not research. You don’t have to go, and I’ll still do whatever you need me to do for the launch.”

  Kate leveled him a look. “Can I think about it for a while?”

  “Of course. It’s not until Tuesday, so you have a few days.” Drake hid his disappointment and bobbed his head toward her pumpkin. “Better finish up your octopus. Looks like my mom is ready to call an end soon, and you’ll have to put your carving on display with everyone else’s.”

  “Octopus? It’s not an octopus.” Kate frowned, then tilted her head and groaned. “Oh, no. It does look like an octopus. It was supposed to be a princess tiara.”

  Ten minutes later, Drake was paraded down a line of pumpkins that had been haphazardly arranged on the edge of the stage. He paced in front of the pumpkins, pretending he was having a hard time deciding,

  In truth, he’d already picked the winner.

  He’d spotted a little girl, dressed in a Wonder Woman costume, placing her carved and glittery pumpkin on the stage, and when she’d turned to wave, her grin revealed two missing teeth. How could he resist? The girl’s pumpkin, which had a pretty standard carving, with triangle eyes and nose and a jagged-toothed mouth, was so glopped with glitter glue, most of it had transferred to the girl’s hands, her face, her costume, the stage, and the two pumpkins sitting next to it. It was adorable.

  But the real determining factor was when he saw Kate put her hands on her hips when she saw it and fake her outrage.

  “Hey, no fair! Why didn’t our table have any glitter? I could’ve used that for my pumpkin.”

  Drake placed the huge blue ribbon on the stage next to the gap-toothed girl’s pumpkin, fastidiously avoiding getting glitter on himself—he was sparkly enough already.

  His mom called the girl, whose name was Arianna, and her parents onstage to give them the big gift basket prize that went along with the blue ribbon. The crowd cheered, and his mom gave Drake the microphone for final words.

  “This pumpkin is fantastic, Arianna,” Drake said, handing her the ribbon to more clapping from the crowd. “Its triangle eyes look like it’s staring at me—at all of us. It’s perfect. And that glittery smile you carved—it’s cute and creepy all at the same time. I think those sharp, sparkly teeth might give me nightmares. You’re going to put me out of a job.”

  Arianna stepped forward with her parents, giggling along with the audience, to accept the award. Her dad grabbed the pumpkin and the three of them posed for a picture with Drake. Then everyone stepped back, allowing a reporter to snap a picture of the girl and her winning creation.

  “Hold your pumpkin, honey,” the dad told Arianna, and reluctantly the girl took it, looking sidelong at the glittery gourd, as if seeing it for the first time.

  Then, Drake watched in horror as the girl burst out into loud, wet sobs.

  “Ith lookin’ at me!” the girl lisped through her tears. “Punkin’ ith thcary!”

  Adults of every variety and size sprang into action.

  Drake backed away, wide-eyed, as the mom jumped back onto the stage.

  “I’m—I’m sorry,” he stammered to the woman, whose lips were pressed in a thin line as she comforted her daughter. “I—I was trying to be funny. I didn’t mean to make her afraid of the pumpkin.”

  “It’s fine, Mr. Matthews,” the mom assured him, snatching up the pumpkin from her daughter. “She’s just going through that night terror time. You know how it is.”

  The mom tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the orange monstrosity behind her back, retreating down the stairs off the stage as the girl pointed and shrieked.

  “Ith tharing at me, Momma! Ith teeth are gonna bite me, like Mithter Drake thaid!”

  The reporter snapped another few pictures, chuckling.

  Drake winced. He envisioned tomorrow’s headlines: “The Knight of Nightmares Lives Up to His Reputation.”

  Then Drake heard his mom’s voice and turned to see Patty snatch up the nearest box of cupcakes, flip open the lid, and offer the wailing child her choice of confections.

  “Oh, sweetie, don’t be scared. It’s okay. Have a cupcake. See that one right there? It’s chocolate and it’s got a special surprise inside.” Patty led the girl and her dad away from the mom, who surreptitiously pitched the sparkly, terrifying pumpkin into the nearest trash can.

  Like someone had come in with a giant firehose and doused the audience, everyone dispersed, most taking their pumpkins. Some were snickering, and some looked stern as they glanced at Drake and the tear-streaked child behind him, stuffing a cupcake into her mouth.

  All he wanted to do was disappear. But when dressed in a silvery metallic bodysuit with an upside-down funnel hat, disappearing in a crowd was hard. He was examining escape options when a hand slipped around his waist.

  “Over here, Tin Man,” Kate said, steering him off the stage and toward the far edge of Island Park, onto a grassy knoll overlooking the river where they finally stood alone.

  “You okay? You looked a little panicked.”

  Drake glared at the river, ripping the funnel hat off his head.

  “I can’t even have one day without creating a nightmare for someone. How did I get to this place, Kate? How did I become the guy whose pumpkin description makes a little girl cry?”

  Kate took his hand, turning him to face her. She gazed up at him, her expression serious.

  “You are kind and good. Kids are goofy, and in another few moments, she’ll have forgotten all about it.” Kate gestured behind her. “Look, already she’s grinning. Your mom’s box of cupcakes was the best prize she could’ve hoped for today. It was sweet of you to award her the ribbon. Why did you choose her, anyway? I thought you’d be looking for really good carvings, like Pumpkin Master–challenge ones.”

  “She had a superhero costume.” Drake shrugged. “She looked so badass with her cape and gauntlets, and glitter all over everything. Sort of reminded me of you.”

  Kate’s eyes crinkled, and her smile grew until the upside-down semicolon appeared.

  “Drake Matthews, I think I will accept your invitation to dinner in Niagara Falls.”

  Chapter 15

  Early Tuesday afternoon, Kate donned the only casual outfit she had with her—the same jeans, chunky boots, and chocolate-colored long-sleeved tee she’d worn a few days ago at the festival—and she packed her overnight essentials and the evening dress Drake had suggested for tonight’s dinner event, placing everything carefully in her small rolling suitcase. She met Carl in the hotel lobby, thanking him again for flying in from the city to help with the last-minute preparations. He’d be working with the local crew she’d hired to set up the maze the moment Kate got notification that the town council approved her permits.

  “It’ll be late tomorrow morning when we’ll get the green light and you guys can start,” Kate said, as Carl parked a block away from Drake’s house. She tugged her small suitcase out, rolling it behind her as they walked the length of Maple Avenue to where it intersected with Pearl Street. “The maze will begin here, and it’ll twist and turn through this section for Alien Abyss. Then they’ll go to this marker…” Kate pointed to a green stake in the ground by the sidewalk on the south side of Maple. “…where the guests will reach the scare team for Soul Salvation, followed by Creature Crypt…”

  Carl trailed her up the street, holding a copy of the spreadsheet, as they reviewed where all nine of Drake’s previous books were represented in the maze, ending in front of his house.

  “And here is where we’ll set up the white, bloodstained sheets arranged in a zigzag pattern like this.” Kate sho
wed Carl the picture she’d drawn of the Halloween Hacker sheet maze. “Only VIP guests will be allowed after this point and they will have to walk through those to get to the front door for their souvenir picture and inside tour.”

  Kate keyed in her code on the pad so cleverly hidden in the bushes next to the bat gates in front of Drake’s house. She pushed them open, allowing Carl to enter before locking up behind them.

  “Whoa,” he said, halfway up the brick-paved walk to the house. “This is where the Knight of Nightmares lives? It’s…spooky.”

  Kate paused in her recitation of the plan to look up at the cheery red Victorian with its wraparound porch and the stained glass surrounding the front door. She sighed, smiling.

  “I think it’s gorgeous.”

  Four hours later, after she’d finished the launch plan walk-through with Carl, including the inside and backyard of the Matthews mansion, Kate heard Drake’s truck pull into the carriage house–style garage. Her heart leaped in her chest. She hadn’t seen him since the festival three days ago, although he’d lived in her dreams every lonely night. In fact, she’d spent so much time thinking about him and that kiss that this morning she’d made a decision, which forced her to make a detour in her drive to work. Kate glanced at her overnight bag, sitting innocently in the corner, and her face flushed with the knowledge of the provisions she had stashed inside that suitcase next to her evening dress and shoes.

  Forcing those thoughts away, she scanned the rest of the spreadsheet.

  “That’s pretty much it, except for the spider attraction. We can’t put up the mechanism and test it until we get the go-ahead. I’d get that crew working first, and then supervise the people putting up the Master of Monsters Maze along Maple.”

  “That’s a lot of ‘M’s.” Carl chuckled, squinting at the spreadsheet. “Everything’s set up for the banquet already?”

  Kate nodded. “That’s Drake’s private property, so we didn’t need permits. The spider scaling the house is the exception because it falls twenty feet, so it technically qualifies as a carnival/amusement ride and is subject to different permitting and inspection rules.”

  Carl’s bushy eyebrows rose, and he switched the toothpick that was eternally in his mouth from one side to the other. “A carnival-grade spider attraction. That’s one we’ve never done before.”

  Kate checked behind her before lowering her voice. “About that. Can you avoid using the word ‘carnival’ or ‘circus’ around our client? He’s a bit…sensitive about the label.”

  Carl shrugged. “Sure. You’re the boss. By the way, where are you headed tonight?”

  “A business dinner,” Kate said, hearing the back door to the kitchen open, and Sasha barking, tags jingling. “It’s with Drake at a writers’ conference in Niagara Falls.”

  “Uh-huh,” Carl said, the toothpick flipping to the other side of his mouth as he grinned. Next to Imani, Carl was her most loyal friend, despite their two-decade age gap. They’d worked together for seven years now—first when she was an intern with Maya Evert, and then he’d come to work with her a year after she’d started her own business—so she knew from that expression she was about to be teased. “Writers’ conference. At the honeymoon capital of the world. Totally business. When are you coming back into town again?”

  Kate’s face flushed, and she gave him a sour look as she bustled over to her suitcase, tucking her spreadsheets inside. “Tomorrow. It’s not what you think.”

  “It’s not what who thinks?” Drake entered the front parlor, setting down Sasha, who sprinted over, jumping and greeting everyone with a bark.

  Kate bent down to pet the dog, averting her overheated face as she made up an answer. “The surprise awaiting your fans in the attic. It’s not what they’ll think—I was just explaining to Carl Wexler, my tech guru and handyman extraordinaire—that it’s just a normal attic. Nothing spooky and no scare teams up there.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Carl said, nodding his head at her lie, and extending his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Drake. Fine place you got here.”

  Drake shook Carl’s hand, scanning the parlor with a dubious expression.

  “Thanks, but right now it looks like it’s prepped for a bunch of painters to work.” He pointed to the crisp white sheets draped over the antique furniture in the front parlor. “What’s with the tarps? You’re…not painting the rooms, are you?”

  “Of course not,” Kate said, standing with Sasha in her arms. “We’re protecting the furniture that’s staying as the movers come through with items for the other rooms. We don’t want to damage any of your family’s antiques.”

  Drake appeared unconcerned. “If they survived my brothers and me, they can survive anything. Are you ready to go?”

  Kate nodded, setting Sasha down to glance at her watch.

  “When exactly is your dinner? You said to be here at four, and now it’s four ten. It’s going to take at least two hours to drive to Niagara Falls, then I’m guessing there is some sort of prep you’ll want to do before you speak. Like get changed.” Kate gave a pointed look to her jeans, and Drake’s casual outfit of jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt. “I mean, I don’t want you to be late.”

  Drake grinned. “Don’t worry. You’re getting the VIP experience tonight. Let me grab my suit and we’ll head out.”

  Drake took the stairs two at a time, and Carl waited until the floorboards creaked above them before whispering to Kate.

  “Did you hear that? You’re getting the VIP experience tonight.” He waggled his bushy eyebrows, and then dodged her hand when she swatted at him.

  “Knock it off. It’s just business,” Kate said, shaking her head. “Strictly professional.”

  But the whirling in her stomach said otherwise.

  Drake held the door open to his truck, and Kate climbed inside, breathing in the smell of Drake’s cologne combined with the warm black leather of the upholstery. Although it was rad and vintage on the outside, the inside had been completely redone with modern conveniences. Buckling in, Kate complimented him on the vehicle, and Drake grinned, patting the dash as he set Sasha down on the plaid blanket between them and started the truck and pulled out.

  “She’s a beauty. Ryker did this for me, as a ‘Welcome back to Wellsville’ gift when I returned from the West Coast. He does these incredible vintage restorations and remodels full-time now after he was medically discharged from the service.”

  “Ryker does great work,” Kate said, giggling as Sasha hopped from the blanket to her lap, tail wagging and her furry face seeming to grin. Kate scratched behind her little peanut head, cooing, “Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

  “Yes, sweetie, it is right, and I’ll let him know,” Drake replied. “Oh, wait. You were talking to the dog. My bad. Speaking of which, we’re heading over to drop Sasha off at my mom’s. She loves to babysit this furball. Says it’s the only grandchild she has, so she might as well spoil her. Plus, there’s someone there I’d like you to meet.”

  Kate looked at him quizzically, but he didn’t offer anything else. Surreptitiously, she checked her watch, doing the math. If it was a quick visit, they’d still have plenty of time to drive to Niagara Falls, barring any traffic. Mentally, she shrugged it off—she wasn’t going to worry about the time if he wasn’t. After all, she wasn’t in charge of this event. For once, she was a guest.

  Drake took several turns, and soon they were in a neighborhood full of houses built in the 1950s to the 1980s—sprawling, ranch-style homes next to tidy colonials and small bungalows. The yards were well used, with backyard grills, wooden playsets, and basketball hoops attached to the front of most garages. Bikes and skateboards were parked, helter-skelter, in driveways, and children dashed around in fall coats, playing some eternal game of tag, soaking up the late October sun.

  “Is this where you grew up?”

  “Yep. We moved to Wellsville when I was five.”

  Kate enjoyed the idea of a young, less serious Drake Matthews, sprinting from yard to y
ard, his coat unzipped and his jeans covered in dirt. Her heart pinged in envy at the well-used lawns, fields, mature trees, and park-like green spaces, with houses dotted all over in an obviously close-knit neighborhood. In contrast, her parents had moved several times, and while the houses she’d lived in at Lloyd Harbor were far grander, the well-manicured yards and impressive, circular, gated driveways in the Suffolk County of her childhood were never, ever the sight of impromptu bike ramps or grills set up next to a swing set with an obnoxiously yellow curvy slide. The homes they’d lived in were all beautiful. Stunning, in fact. But they lacked the natural wonder and the…family accessibility that Wellsville had in abundance.

  What must it be like to live in a place designed for neighbors and their kids to interact together, as opposed to the sheltered, schedule-a-playdate-at-the-country-club childhood she and Kiersten had been privileged to enjoy? If it hadn’t been for the fact she’d been best friends with Imani, and spent much of her time with Imani’s family at their well-loved house, she’d have never tasted life away from Lloyd Harbor’s sheltered existence.

  Kate thought about returning to this part of the state once this job was buttoned up. Maybe she’d purchase a vacation home here? Heck, maybe a real home—one she’d hang pictures in, buy some throw pillows for, and make it more than a place to wash her clothes and park her car. She’d moved away from Imani’s Queens apartment thinking it would be more convenient to be closer to her Gold Coast clients, but after living in Oyster Bay for the past couple of years, she’d discovered it hadn’t offered many benefits. She was lonely and had found herself mostly meeting with prospective clients via video conferencing anyway these days. Living in a place like this could still happen; she was a tiny, hour-long flight from any big-city client, vendor, or event.

  “This is Riverview Heights. My brothers and I took the bus to school from that corner,” Drake said, interrupting her thoughts to point out a nondescript grassy spot next to a stop sign. “And the third house on the left is where we grew up.”