Stir Me Up Halloween Bonus Scene + Giveaway

HALLOWEEN BONUS SCENE

 

There aren’t that many houses on our street, so we only get a few trick-or-treaters for Halloween. The youngest and cutest are always first to arrive, and Estella and I keep taking turns peeking out the windows as we wait for them.

“Oh no!” she suddenly cries. “I forgot to light the Jack-O-Lanterns!”

Julian shakes his head and digs into his second bowl of chili. “Two nutjobs.”

“I heard that,” I tell him, because there’s nothing nuts about me being dressed up tonight. I’m a witch this year, with the dress and hat. “Careful, or I’ll turn you into a toad.”

“Shouldn’t you be a crazed chef?”

“Nah, that’s for every other day of the year.” I study him curiously for a moment. “What did you go as when you were little?”

“A stick-in-the-mud,” he says, ripping at his corn bread.

“Well, that costume must have been easy for you.”

He hides a smirk. “What were you? A princess?”

“Sometimes. Once I was Zorro.”

He grins. “That’s cool. I was all sorts of guys -- Storm Troopers, every superhero.”

“Favorite superhero?”

“Spidey. For sure. When I was little I used to do the hand motion to make the web all the time.”

“Let’s see,” I say.

“No way.”

“Come on. Please?”

He rolls his eyes, and zings me with his index and pinkie finger.

“Our first trick-or-treater’s here!” Estella suddenly exclaims, rushing back inside. “A little pirate!”

“Wait!” I cry. I go rushing past Julian to get the bowl of candy to take out to our guest. He’s maybe three years old. Both his parents are with him.

“What do you say?” his mother coaches.

“Twick-ow-Tweet,” he whispers.  

Awww….

“Julian, you can’t just sit there. You have to help us next time,” I tell him once I’m back in the kitchen.

He studies me for a moment. “You need a wig.”

“And a broom. I had one once but…” The doorbell rings. “Hold on!”

The kids are so cute. Once they’re gone, I turn and see Julian lingering behind us in the doorway. “You don’t buy the little candy bars?”

“No, are you kidding? The big ones rock. They’re like the super-bonus.”

He smiles. “True. Can I steal a Hershey Almond?”

“Not a Snickers bar?”

“They’re good also. Neither are as good as a Butterfinger, but...”

The doorbell rings again. “You do this one,” I urge. “Help Estella.”

“No,” he says.

“Come on.” I hand the bowl to him. “There. No give backs.”

He wheels reluctantly over to the doorway with it.

“So, Marine, how did it go?” I ask once the door closes.
 

He hands the treat bowl back to me. “I survived.”

Later, once it’s safe to flip the lights off, Estella and I both head to the sun room to watch Julian’s movie with him. “What did he get again?” I ask her.

“Not sure. Some zombie thing.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Oh.” Sounds promising.

I go in kind of cautiously, because I seriously am a wimp when it comes to scary movies. Julian’s in Dad’s chair, so Estella and I take opposite ends of the sofa. I’m nearest the door. Which is good in case I need to make a quick getaway.

“You guys ready?” he asks. He switches from his TV show to the movie.

“This isn’t so bad, actually,” I comment after awhile. Because at first it’s normal teenagers who suspect something’s up with the graveyard. They dare each other to go there.

Of course then the zombies crawl out. To my surprise, the girl kills the first one.

Of course it’s the boy who gets to hack at them with an axe.

“Don’t see why the girl can’t get something cooler than a chef’s knife.”

Julian raises an eyebrow at me. “A girl with a chef’s knife can be pretty dangerous.”

Ha ha. I’ve taken off my witch costume and am kind of shivering there in my tank top and yoga pants. He takes the blanket off his lap and tosses it over to me.

A half hour later, all the main couple’s friends have their brains eaten out, zombie parts are lying everywhere, Estella’s escaped off to bed, and I’m hiding under the blanket in fear.

Suddenly, the volume is lowered. I peek my head out and catch Julian watching me intently. “Better?” he asks.

“Yeah, thanks. I…” I look away from him, heat rising to my cheeks.

“Want me to shut it off?”

“You’d miss the ending.”

“We could say they all lived happily ever after.”

I snort. “Except for the undead. And the dead-dead.”

He smiles and shifts so he’s slightly turned to me. “Yeah, except for them.”

There, unfortunately, is a massive coffee table between us. And it’s not just that. Recently, we’ve been avoiding being alone together. But looking at him like this, I can’t think of why. I just know I wish he was closer to me. “You can finish it.”

“You’ll hide?”

“No, I’ll watch.” I make a little peephole in the quilt. Neither one of us seems able to focus on the TV. And neither of us speaks much when the movie is finally over. I want to go over to him, at least hand him the blanket or touch his shoulder or something. But I don’t. Instead, I chicken out, say goodnight and head upstairs. Which is probably for the best. But still, thoughts of him linger in my mind so much, it’s difficult for me to fall asleep.

 

HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

 

Here just for fun is a special Halloween giveaway for you: 10 treat bags filled with cool candy, dorky bracelets, a little wire whisk, the recipe for Cami’s apple crisp (a great autumn treat and my favorite dessert of all time), and a free Kindle copy of Stir Me Up for you or a friend. There’s also a Stir Me Up charm bracelet grand prize.

 

 

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