Contradictions (Woodfalls Girls 3)

“I plead the Sixth,” I answered, cracking a smile. Who knew the pumpkins would blow up so spectacularly? I paid for it by scrubbing dried pumpkin guts off the front of the store for three days. The windows alone took two days to squeegee clean. It was tedious work and definitely taught me a lesson. If I was going to blow up pumpkins, it was wise to be away from the building, or at least make sure I was nowhere near the prying eyes of adults.

“I think you mean the Fifth,” Trent corrected me. Fran laughed while I glared at him.

“Whatever. I plead that.”

Fran looked at us appraisingly. “I didn’t know you two were hooking up.”

Trent turned away, but I laughed. Fran might be the only woman her age that used the term “hooking up.” If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn on a stack of Bibles that she was my biological mom. She had my foul mouth and sassy attitude. I’d gravitated toward her when I was much younger, sensing a kindred spirit. Mom tried to curb my fascination with Fran when I was eight because she thought my colorful language came from hanging around Fran’s store too much. It was no use, though. Fran and I were thick as thieves. Even when I was pranking her customers, she still kept me around.

“Trent is tutoring me,” I replied, winking at Fran.

She cackled at my words. “Is that the new word for it? In that case, I remember tutoring when I was younger. My lips saw more action than my schoolbooks.”

“Fran, you dirty dog. I knew you were a tramp.”

“Watch your mouth, missy, or I’ll be washing it out.”

I snorted. She was a fine one to talk. “I learned from the master,” I teased.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to. I’m nothing but a poor old lonely woman.” She looked at us innocently, but her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“My ass. What about Mr. James and his afternoon visits?” I said, looping my arm through hers.

“Bite your tongue. One thing you still need to learn, my dear, is that a lady never talks, especially when his kin is standing less than two feet away,” she said, laughing at Trent, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

“You were just trying to pry into my love life and now you want to hold back on your own dirty deets? How fair is that?”

“Honey, when you’re as old as I am, you don’t care about being fair.”

“Obviously not,” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Now, tell me everything that’s been going on. I feel like I’ve missed a whole season of my favorite show being away from here.”

Fran needed no further prompting as we walked toward the town square. She launched into a full-scale account of everything that had been going on in the last few months while I’d been away at school. Trent trailed behind us silently. By the time we got to the square in front of the small city hall building, I felt like I’d been caught up on all the melodramas.

“Who’s Mayor Fedderman dressed up like this year?” I asked, searching the crowd.

“Oh, I can’t say. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Just put it this way: You young people won’t be disappointed.”

Trent, who had been silent during the short walk, finally piped in. “It can’t be any better than last year when he dressed up like Cleopatra.”

“Oh, honey darlin’, it makes Cleopatra look tame.”

Trent and I exchanged a look. Mayor Fedderman’s costumes were legendary. Much to the dismay of his wife of twenty-five years, Edith, Mayor Fedderman chose to dress up like a famous woman every year. Besides Cleopatra, some of his other memorable years included Jackie Kennedy, Amelia Earhart, and Oprah Winfrey.

The town square was crowded with festival booths that ranged from food stands to arts and crafts for sale. The Woodfalls annual Halloween festival was legendary and drew crowds from several counties. Woodfalls used it as a way to fund school functions for the entire year. That’s why everyone in the community got behind it. During my senior year in high school, the festival raised enough money to send us to Washington, DC, for our senior trip.

Fran ditched us when she spotted Mr. James across the courtyard.

Her absence left an awkward gap between Trent and me for some reason. Maybe it was the knowing stares we were getting from the other residents. I knew I was going to have to eat crow when I showed up with Trent beside me. As much as I loved Woodfalls, 99.9 percent of the residents were total gossip whores. I felt a moment of panic. Was I really ready to admit to everyone I’d known all my life that I was dating the one guy I swore I’d never date? “You want to go say hi to your granddad?”

“I’ll see him around. Besides, him and Fran flirting is not something I need a front-row seat for,” he said, shuddering.

“Oh come on. It’s sweet. Besides, old people can get nasty too.”

“La-la-la-la. I’m not listening to you,” he chanted, covering his ears with his hands.

I could barely talk from laughing so hard. “I bet she knows just what he likes,” I said, yanking at his arms.

“Gah, stop it. That’s so not cool.”