I whipped my head around to see where the arson comment had come from—an elderly woman who was standing atop a chair and waving her fork in the air.
“There’s no need for violence, Mrs. Hansen,” Selena’s mom pulled down the window shades. “We just have to keep fighting and hoping for the best.”
There was a collective mumble of “Yeah,” “I guess,” and “She’s right.”
I took several deep breaths and shut my eyes.
I silently repeated the speech I prepared yesterday and promised myself I would speak it aloud by the end of the night: “Selena, I know we haven’t known each other that long and that you have no obligation to stay with me after I tell you this but…I really like you—a lot, and I want to continue dating you, despite the fact that…I’m the CEO of Autumn Wonder. I came to town to stake out the competition and figure out ways to put local competitors out of business. I know it sounds cruel, maybe even cold-hearted, but it’s the truth…I honestly had no idea that you and your mom were connected to Sweet Seasons…If I could take back everything I did—shipping all of your pies to Boston to get the exact ingredients and deliberately underselling your shop’s prices, I would…Please forgive me…I really don’t want to lose—”
“Are you coming Ethan?” Selena shook my shoulder. “Or did you want to continue staring into space?”
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked her up and down—smiling at her sexy Tinker-bell costume.
She could make a potato sack look good…
“I’m coming,” I moved off the stool and followed her out of the store. “We’re going trick or treating in town?”
“No,” she laughed. “I’m going to drive us to my mom’s house. We’re going to trick or treat where people actually live.”
She unlocked the doors to her mother’s white SUV and waited for me to climb inside.
“Before we go I need to tell you something Selena,” I placed my hand over the gears.
“What is it? Are you scared of trick or treating?”
“What? No…Actually, I’ve never been trick or treating so—”
She gasped. “How is that possible? Weren’t you a child once?”
“I’m sure everyone was at some point,” I laughed, “but that’s not what I was going to tell you.”
She revved the car up and smiled. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. I think getting your first trick or treating experience out of the way is far more important right now.”
I wish I could agree with that…
We pulled up to her mother’s place and she jumped out of the car. She ran over to my side and flung my door open.
“We’re already late. Come on,” she reached for my hand and practically dragged me inside the house.
There were Halloween decorations everywhere: Large cobwebs with plastic spiders hung from the ceiling, dimly lit Jack o’ lanterns sat every few feet, and skeletons dressed in different costumes—Jack Sparrow, Cinderella, Peter Pan—were standing near different doorways.
In the kitchen, a group of twenty kids was sitting quietly on the floor. They were listening to “Pocahontas” read a scary story and eating black and orange pumpkin cookies.
“Is everybody ready?” Selena screamed.
“Yeah! Yes! Selena’s back! Awesome!” the kids screamed back.
“Alright, get your treat bags ready and meet me on the porch! You’ve got two minutes!”
The kids jumped up and down and ran in different directions, screaming with enthusiasm.
This better not be what I think this is…
“Are you ready?” she looked at me with her ‘please don’t be mad at me’ face. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention that this wouldn’t be a one on one date…”
“I don’t think you know the definition of the word ‘date’…Is this a family tradition?”
“Yeah…I took all the neighborhood kids trick or treating every year, ever since I was ten. My mom and I would host a party for them and I would take them door to door. It used to really help the neighbors out. I feel so bad about not being there for them over the past four years…The ones who remember me probably thought that I—”
“They still love you,” I gave her a quick kiss. “What do you want me to do?”
She handed me a treat bag. “Enjoy your first time.”
We walked out onto the porch and the kids were still jumping up and down in anticipation. Selena assigned me a group of ten kids to keep up with, and my group followed her group.
She led us down the road to a dilapidated house that didn’t have any of its lights on. It had no glass over any of its windows and all of its cinder-colored shutters were in horrible condition.
“Who wants to ring the doorbell? Who wants to start the fun tonight?” she beamed.
This is considered “fun”? Ringing the doorbells to empty houses?
My group of kids grabbed onto my legs and hid behind me.
“No takers?” she teased.
None of the kids said a word, but a young Batman stepped forward and timidly raised his hand.
“Okay,” Selena whispered. “Go up there and ring the doorbell.”
Batman took three steps forward and looked back. He took four more steps forward then ran back towards the group, hiding behind me.