Funk-N-Fiction

B A Tortuga has offered up the sweetest little Halloween Flash Fiction story! I hope you love all our stories this week, and be sure to check at the end of each one for the contests/giveaways!!

FIRST HALLOWEEN
B A TORTUGA

 “Daddy!” Nell’s squeal was about loud enough to buckle Ryder’s knees. “Daddy! Punkin’s!”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ryder pulled up to the Kiwanis Pumpkin Patch, shaking his head at the sheer numbers of little ones and booths and food trucks. “Look at this, y’all. It’s something else.”

He wouldn’t usually come on a Saturday morning, but Charlie wasn’t working until three, and his eighteen-year-old was only willing to hang out with the entire family so often. So Granny and Gram had helped him and Kase load up the Escalade with Elijah and the little girls, Charlie had gone to pick up her girlfriend and a couple of friends in her truck, and the entire Chiara family had headed out to pick out their pumpkins.

God help him.

“Be brave, love.” Kase grinned at him, his husband seeming about as happy as he’d ever seen him. Being a dad worked for Kase and him both, and they were heading into the slow season, which suited them both to the ground. “I’ll take Nell, you take Dani, and Lijah’s meeting a dozen of his buddies here. He’s heading to go over to Jason Manner’s house for the weekend, and they’re leaving from here.”

“Did you give him cash for the weekend?”

“Dad! I got fifty bucks, and I won’t leave for Jason’s until one of you talks to his mom. Swear.”

Someone was trying very hard to earn his way to a truck of his own on his birthday.

“Good deal. Grannies?”

“We’ll be fine. We’re going to stake out a Chiara picnic table. You all bring your pumpkins to us.” Granny Chiara handed Chapstick to Dani. “Do your lips, nieta.”

“Yes, Granny.” Dani applied the goo and smacked her lips. “Mmm…cherry.”

“Me! Me, Gram!” Nell’s eyes were huge, and their littlest girl was fixin’ to have a meltdown of epic proportions if she didn’t get to go tear around the pumpkins and choose one of her own. “Pwease!”

“Okay. Let’s do this.” Kase glanced over at Ryder, offering him a warm smile. “Halloween is important, you know.”

“Yes, sir.” This year especially. Their first Halloween as a family. Their first Halloween as lovers. Hell, their first wedding anniversary was Halloween day.

“Any regrets?” It was like Kase could read his mind.

“Only if we don’t get churros from the Garcias’ food truck.” He hopped out, unloading grannies and kids. By the time he had found a table to be their rendezvous point, Charlie’s bright green Chevy was pulling in, and all his family was accounted for.

“Come on, Daddy,” Dani took his head. “I want a fat, round pumpkin. Can we have ones for Mookie and the puppies? Oh, what about all the llamas? Do horsies need jack-o-punkins? Daddy, we have to remember all the horses.”

Lord help him, he hoped Charlie’s pick up was big enough to hold all those gourds.

“We’ll see, mi’ja. Let’s get one for you first, okay?”

“Can we plant pumpkins? Can we make pie? Can we make pepitas? Can we—”

Ryder glanced at Kase, who nodded and waved before giving chase to Nell.

Halloween had never been a big deal in his life or in the rodeo world. As Dani dragged him toward the biggest, roundest pumpkin he’d ever seen, though, Ryder could imagine it becoming one of his favorite days of the year.

Hey y’all!

This year’s Halloween short features characters from The Cowboy Contract: Foster Ranch Book 1, a series focusing on foster children and their families on a ranch in northern New Mexico. I’d love to offer a chance to win an ebook copy of The Cowboy Contract to one commenter.

Happy Halloween, y’all!
BA Tortuga

Contest starts today, and our winner will be chosen from all eligible commenters at the end of our event. Winner will be chosen, then announced in our wrap-up post on November 1st.

Good luck!!