Chapter 24

twenty-four

LUKE

Today’s morning sky is a bright explosion of vivid pinks and purples. The orange of the sun crawls up from the horizon, bleeding into the other colors like alcohol ink. There’s a chill to the air, a tease from Mother Nature that fall is here.

It’s the perfect festival weather, so I hope it sticks around. At some point, both farm and town events lined up to kick off on the same day, so it’s usually a chaotic but fulfilling day. People will celebrate most of the day here at the farm before heading back home to get ready for Midnight in the Hollow.

Tradition stands strong in our family. No matter where we are in our lives, we come together for a pre-season morning meeting. We all like to complain about it, loudly and with gusto, but secretly I know we all treasure those moments together. Having all of us together is more and more rare as we get older and our lives evolve.

Since there’s only four out of seven of us here all the time now, it’s nostalgic and reminds me of the days before adulthood claimed us all. Mom and Dad especially seem grateful, which is why no one argues when they pass out the farm shirts for the new season or when Dad asks us all to hold hands.

“Every year that we kick off another season, I think about how lucky we are. We’re all still here, still lucky enough to work this land and have roofs over our heads,” Dad replies. He stands tall as the head of our family, already wearing his dark orange ‘Ever After Farms’ shirt with his jeans and his lucky cowboy hat.

It’s a white straw Stetson that’s probably been around as long as Violet, but he swears by its charm. He squeezes Mom’s hand, who then squeezes mine, and we send a ripple of affection to each member of our family. It’s as natural to me as breathing.

“Our crops look amazing this year.” She grins at me.

Except for the weird pumpkins at the edges of the west patch.

“Annie, the updates you did to our website and with social media have been an absolute joy.”

I choose to stay silent about all the dances she made us learn, or the amount of times she chased me down in the fields to take photos of me. I’m not proud of it. But it helps my family, so I grit my teeth and bear it.

Mom continues through each of us as she does every year, consciously pointing out each of our strengths we bring to the farm. It can be a little embarrassing, but I appreciate the sentiment. It’s something I implement with Lucy. I firmly believe people should get credit for where they shine.

“Dean. You’ve overdone yourself with finding local talent for live music. And have y’all seen what he did with the hayride route?” She clasps her hands together excitedly. “Violet—the fall flower crops are beautiful, as always. I can’t wait to see all the fresh bouquets people pick! Roselyn—I’m so excited about the reading nooks and writing retreats. Gaby—you’ve really leveled up the story time activities! Sam—This season is going to be the best one yet. I can feel it.” She’s getting misty and emotional.

“Make the most of today. It’s a gift, so let’s make sure everyone leaves here with a little piece of Ever After in their hearts.” Dad gives a big grin and sends one more squeeze to wave through our joined hands.

We all break and go our separate ways to kick off the first Saturday of Autumn Enchantment. I left Lucy sleeping in the main farmhouse with a note that said to get dressed and I’d be back to make breakfast soon. Before I go check on her, I pull my phone out of my back pocket. With everything that happened yesterday, I forgot to follow up on our conversation about fairy tales.

“Is King Arthur a fairy tale?” I mumble as my fingers fly across the screen.

The results populate, and I scroll to find a definitive answer. It’ll give us something interesting to talk about later.

“Technically, it’s a legend.”

I startle, not expecting for Sebastian Gold to be the one to answer this question. Or to even be here at all.

“So Google says,” I respond slowly, trying to figure out why he’d be here.

Farms aren’t exactly his scene. These days I’m not sure what his scene even is. He helps oversee his family’s business: Gold Bank and Trust. It’s a job that doesn’t require him to be hands on, so it’s rare for him to be in town instead of his castle on a bluff overlooking the lake.

When we were younger, even before Ella left, his family was around more. Around town, around the farm, just… around. But then something happened. The only Gold we really see is his sister Sabrina—since she’s the town mayor—and she still keeps to herself as much as she can. They’re all pretty reclusive .

There have been rumors for years about their family, but no one is brave enough to ask Sebastian.

“Legends are based on real people. The story is usually exaggerated, but not really to the point you have to suspend belief.” He waves a hand as paces a few steps.

“Pulling a sword out of stone is believable? What about Merlin?”

He stops and eyes me, tilting his head slightly. “These are different versions of Arthur. There’s more than one legend about the man. Are you really so opposed to the idea of magic that you can’t bend your belief just a little?” He sniffs and resumes his pacing. “He’s a legend because there’s no way one man can be as heroic as the stories suggest. What harm comes from suggesting a sword deemed him worthy to be such a ruler?”

I really can’t argue, because I’m the one conversing with someone I’ve never met through enchanted mailboxes. He’s not wrong. If anything, it only enhances the story to make it sound cooler. I may or may not have taken turns with my brothers pulling giant sticks out of hay bales as a kid.

“Fair point,” I reply. “There are some fresh apple cider donuts if you want to head over to the Storybook.”

Sebastian gazes toward our farm café, then turns his eyes back to me.

“Eager to get rid of me?”

I sigh. “There’s just a lot to manage the first day open for the season. I’m happy to do—whatever this is—later. We should catch up. It’s been a while.”

He nods and for the briefest glimpse; I see the false bravado behind his too tall posture and purposeful movements. I pause for just a moment and then turn to walk away.

“Maybe your opposition to magic has something to do with that strange area of your patch. ”

There’s a whirlwind of thoughts that takes shape in my head all at once. Mostly questions and an unsettling feeling in my stomach that I’d really like to ignore. It feels like I’m in slow motion as I face him again.

“What?”

“I was just taking a stroll through your pumpkins—lovely varieties this year— except for this one section of your patch. It’s quite strange.”

There’s a bad feeling I can’t quite tamper down. Sebastian’s family is more than happy to give out loans from the bank to anyone who needs one. They’ve got more money than they’ll ever know what to do with. But there have always been rumors about them. More sinister ones that involve quiet deals in the dark.

I shake the thought away because no one in my family would ever be that desperate. We’ve seen plenty of hard times with the fickle Texas weather: storms, droughts, flooding rains. Even a random July freeze that can’t ever be explained. No matter what, though, we’ve always made it through.

Sebastian is just acting strange because he sort of is.

“Sometimes there’s just a bad group of seeds.” I shrug. “I’m keeping an eye on it.”

“Probably best. I’ve always heard that a little bit of love goes a long way. What’s the term for it—TLC?”

“It’s just a section.” I repeat. “And our soil gets plenty of love. I make sure of it.”

“Maybe that’s the problem, my friend.” He leans forward and claps a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you need to spread that love beyond the land.”

Before I can ask him what he means, he pulls his hand away and shoves both back into his pockets. Once again, I note how out of place he looks with his dark suit and deep plum button down. He’s all business in a place meant to make memories and get filthy. His suit probably costs as much as my truck.

“Something to think about, anyway.” And then he walks toward the café, like we didn’t just have the most strange, cryptic conversation ever.

But that’s Sebastian Gold for you.