‘Um, yeah, sure. Sounds good.’
‘Let’s say one o’clock?’
Juliet tried to drown out the noise as Susan started asking him about what sort of food Charlie liked. Ryan was keeping his voice polite, unteasing, not at all the way he’d spoken to her. She looked over at the children, now standing in a perfect line, all of them staring up with interest at Miss Mason as she described their plans for the day. Then each set of children were assigned to a parent or helper, sent off to the bathroom and then to the school bus. Within seconds Juliet was surrounded by Poppy and four of her school mates.
It was barely nine-thirty in the morning, yet it already seemed like it had been one hell of a long morning. God only knew how she was going to survive the rest of the day.
‘Climb on board, kids. Mind the step, now, you don’t wanna be falling off. We’ve got a hay ride to enjoy.’ The tractor driver helped the group of kids climb onto the trailer, watching as they clambered over the bales of hay laid out as seats on the flat bed. Silently Juliet counted them on, something she’d been doing all day. Though she was only in charge of five children, there was no way she was going to lose any of them. After her last encounter with Principal Davies, she wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance of being hauled in front of her again.
‘Mind if we tag along?’
She turned to see Ryan standing there, his own group of kids clinging onto his arms. She’d seen him earlier at the pumpkins – had watched with amusement as he’d managed to smash twelve of them while the kids had cheered him on. The farm was big enough that she’d only bumped into him once before now. He’d been the only helper – apart from Juliet herself – who’d joined in the fun on the climbing castle, clambering over bales and through holes in the wall, laughing along with the children as he swung on the rope swing.
‘I think there’s space.’ Juliet looked at the driver.
‘Yup, there sure is. Welcome aboard, kids.’ When all the children were safely on, Juliet turned to grab hold of the ladder. Ryan reached out for her hand, closing his own palm around it, helping her up onto the trailer.
There was a small space left at the back of the trailer, and Juliet crawled over to it, thankful she’d worn jeans today. She’d spent most of lunchtime picking hay out of her hair, and was certain that when she undressed that night she’d find more inside her shirt. Ryan sat down next to her, his warm body pressed against her side. She couldn’t have moved if she’d tried – the trailer was small, and the children took up the rest of the space. She was cornered.
‘Give them ten minutes, and they’ll be fast asleep,’ Ryan said, nodding his head at the kids in front of them. ‘It’s impressive what fresh air and activity can do.’
Juliet smiled. She was feeling sleepy herself. As the tractor began to pull away, the wheels rolling rhythmically on the grass, she could see exactly what Ryan meant.
‘I’d forgotten about places like this,’ Ryan told her. ‘I haven’t been to a Pumpkin Patch in years. It’s funny that the more I’m away from the States, the less I remember about the culture.’
‘I’d never heard of them before I moved over here,’ Juliet admitted. ‘We don’t have things like this in England.’
‘You don’t celebrate Halloween?’
‘We do, but nowhere near the way you do over here. A few kids might go trick or treating, but that’s about it. There’s not a whole industry built around it. And if you dress up in a costume over there it has to be scary. No Disney princesses or Nemos.’
‘How boring.’
She laughed. ‘We have other ways of celebrating. Like Guy Fawkes Night.’
‘Is that the one where you burn human-sized dolls in big bonfires?’
She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. ‘It might be. Do you have a problem with that?’ She was teasing. And she liked the way he grinned when he realised.
‘Just sayin’. You guys have some messed up traditions over there, London.’
Why was it, that every time he used that nickname on her, she felt her whole body light up?
‘At least we have some history. We don’t have to just invent stuff for the fun of it.’ She almost stuck her tongue out at him. Crazy how easy it was to tease him. Even crazier how it made her pulse speed up.
‘Do you miss it?’
She frowned. ‘Miss what?’
‘Living in England?’
The tractor hit a hole, jostling them around. The kids giggled as she was almost thrown into Ryan’s arms. He reached out, steadying her with his strong hands. Juliet’s breath caught in her throat.
When he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled up. For the first time she noticed the scar running through one of his eyebrows. She wanted to reach out, trace the white line. Wanted to ask where he’d gotten it from.
Damn it, no she didn’t. It was just those hormones sparking up again.
‘You okay?’ he asked softly.