It had been a long month and Doug was exhausted. He took two of the book-filled boxes from the pile in the corner of his living room and moved them to the corridor outside his door. He wasn’t worried about them going missing: first, they were his old medical school textbooks and two, it was Hopewell. They were pretty much useless to anybody but him. They were, however, just the right height to hold the plastic jack-o’-lantern he’d purchased for Halloween. Once the holiday was over, he’d be moving them to the new bookshelves in his new office.
The hospital administrator had promised to have them in place for the first of November.
Jackie’s revelation that she wanted to keep seeing him even once he’d moved had hit him hard. He too had been looking at having a long-distance relationship with her. But the more he thought about the sacrifices involved…the more he realized how unnecessary they were.
He’d screamed to the heavens about how unhappy he was in Hopewell. But the truth was, he really wasn’t. He had Jackie, his friends, a career he loved. He would have been a fool to throw it away because he’d convinced himself he wanted something else.
He was no saint, though. He convinced Victor he was doing the man and the hospital a great favour by condescending to stay for the remaining two years of his term. He took the office upgrades, the assistant. And the parking spot.
He also got Kashvi the one next to his. Because Victor deserved it.
Doug angled the plastic decoration so its creepy smile would face Jackie full on when she knocked on his door. He needed the setting to be perfect.
She was going trick or treating tonight, whether she wanted to or not.
And he planned to trick her either way.
He checked the clock and decided he didn’t have time to pack another box before she was due to arrive. He was grateful for the rest. He had to be out of the apartment the following Wednesday. Thankfully, after a week of late nights, he was almost completely repacked. He couldn’t believe he’d acquired so much stuff in the eight months he’d been in Hopewell.
The move was just in time; his little apartment was ready to split at the seams. He’d purposely rented a smaller apartment than his Winnipeg one when he’d signed the lease; he was hoping to use the money he’d save on rent to pay down his student loans. Then he’d been stuck with the place and too lazy to move since he hadn’t intended to stay long. The moving van couldn’t come soon enough.
A knock sounded on his door, and a sweet, familiar voice called out “Trick or treat!”
Doug grabbed two stuffed envelopes from the kitchen counter. He answered the door, one in each hand. “Yes, it is.” He stepped back, drawing Jackie into the room. “Pick one,” he said, holding out the envelopes.
Tentatively, she reached for the one marked “Treat.” He pulled it slightly out of reach. “Are you sure?”
She moved her hand, aiming for “Trick” then hopped forward and snatched “Treat” from his hand. “Yes, I’m sure. Can I open it now?”
“Of course.” She wasn’t nearly as anxious to open it as he was for her to open it.
Jackie tore the envelope open and pulled a small plush pumpkin with arms and legs and a tiny top hat from the puffy package. She shook the little orange stuffed toy and giggled when it jingled. “It’s adorable. I love my treat.”
Doug grinned. “It’s not a treat. I lied to you. They are both tricks.” His poor Jackie had no idea what was coming.
“Oh?” She stuck her hand deep into the envelope and pulled out a small card. She opened it and read, “Take me to your LEADER.”
He bit the inside of his cheek. He hoped this worked. The elaborate scheme had taken two weeks to set everything up. He’d started the day after Thanksgiving and had received nothing but encouragement. His only condition was that no word was to get back to Jackie. Considering the stakes, he’d sworn his co-conspirators to double top secret. He didn’t want Jackie discovering this secret the same way she’d learned about his last one.
“Leader is all in capital letters. Did you trick me into a scavenger hunt? I want the other envelope!” she ordered with a laugh.
He handed it over and laughed harder when she pulled out a stuffed black kitten and a note that said, “You should have asked for the other one.”
“I guess we’re going to the Leader.” The town on-line news and website office were located in the commercial district. In Hopewell, that meant the four-unit strip mall at the end of Main Street beside City Hall. Conveniently for the editor, reporter, and web mistress it was right beside her other job. Mayor Miranda Wisher had Jackie’s next clue sitting on the desk closest to the door, with a big sign saying, “Jackie, look here!”
She did. She picked up the tightly wrapped bundle next to the eye-catching clue. “Hi, Miranda. Do you know what this is?”
The mayor-slash-editor looked up from her desk. “Oh my, where did that come from? I’ve certainly never seen it before in my entire life,” she said in a deadpan. “Of course, I know nothing about it. But since it has your name on it, you should probably open it.”
Doug watched Jackie pull on the bow, and unroll the apron, with its “There’s nothin’ like a muffin” stencilled across the top. She pulled the strap over her head. “Now what?”
He whistled tunelessly and stuck his hands in his jean pockets.
“Ah, the old pocket trick.”
Miranda was laughing along with them now. “How’s it going, Doctor Doug?”
“So far, so good, Mayor Miranda.”
She and her husband were two of the few Hopewell citizens completely in on his plan. Most of the others knew bits and pieces.
Jackie pulled another card from the apron pocket. “You should put this treat where you’ll use it most,” she read. “Come on, you Halloween Grinch. See you later, Miranda. I need to go to Ruth’s Place to get my next treat.”
She waved good-bye and took his hand, tugging him down the street. He liked it. Jackie hadn’t pulled back on her public displays of affection as they neared the end of his countdown. She’d even asked if he minded. He had the feeling she was stockpiling the memories for when he was gone, which made him feel slightly guilty, but he’d make it up to her.
Scarlett had her piece ready and waiting: a ball of yarn that was some wool acrylics mix he didn’t understand, but which was supposed to be good for slippers. They were skewered with knitting needles and a third card. “To be used at 134 Maple Street.”
“Should I be tracking my steps for this? Grab a snack while we’re here to keep up my energy?” Jackie asked.
“Well, you can’t have a muffin no matter what your apron says. We sold out again. See you in the morning for a double batch,” Scarlett said.
Jackie bounced in pleasure as they headed to their third and, Doug knew, final destination. “You look pretty pleased with yourself,” he noted.
“Ruth’s Place loves my food. I’m getting more bookings for Dunn Home Cooking as a result. I may not have my own restaurant, but this is almost as good.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Speaking of, I need a taste tester for a new recipe I’m trying out. I’m sending a batch of cranberry orange oatmeal muffins to Winnipeg with you when you go. I expect detailed notes on them, especially on how many breakfasts it takes for them to go stale.”
“Like that will be a hardship.” He ducked the swipe she took at his arm. “I’m at your service.” They needed to walk faster. It took everything he had not to blurt out how his reports were going to be delivered.
Freddy had done his part. The sign in the front yard of 134 Maple Street was down.
“I don’t know who lives here,” Jackie said. “It’s been empty for a while.”
She was right. The sprawling bungalow had been unoccupied since the previous summer, the former owners heading to greener pastures in a seniors’ life lease in Brandon after doing a full renovation on it. Despite the huge lot it, it had sat on the market without a single nibble. Until recently.
Doug didn’t hesitate. He walked right up to the unlocked front door and ushered her through it.
“What are you doing? We can’t just walk into somebody’s house!”
He looked around and was pleased to see how the sunlight streaming through the uncovered windows filled the room. “Look at these hardwood floors, would you? They’d be cold on bare feet in the winter unless a fellow had some nice, warm slippers on his feet.”
Jackie froze. “Do you have hardwood floors at your new place? Have you picked somewhere? Where is it? What’s it like?” When he saw her small, brave smile, he couldn’t keep up the charade anymore.
“Pretty much exactly like this. Want to see?” He took her hand and pulled her gently through the living room, bypassing the office on the other side of the entrance, into the dining room. From there they had an unobstructed view of the kitchen, fully modified with a large, quartz-topped island. He cut through the kitchen to loop back to the living room, then led her down the hall past the three standard-size bedrooms and shared bathroom. “This next part is pretty spectacular,” he said as he opened to door to the master suite.
The suite was part of the add-on to the house, not that it made a difference to the massive backyard. It had huge, twin walk-in closets and a master bathroom that seemed bigger than Jackie’s living room. It was fantastic, but much too much for one person.
Jackie didn’t respond the way he expected. “Why are you showing me this?” she asked.
“I thought you’d be interested in the house I just bought.”
“Why did you buy a house in Hopewell?”
“Because I’m going to be living here,” he said. He spoke slowing, letting his shocking news sink in word by word. “I’m not moving to Winnipeg. I’m moving from my apartment to here.”
She looked stunned. He’d been hoping for ecstatic; he would have settled for happy. “Why?”
“Because my life is here, Jackie Dunn. With you.”
Doug took a deep breath, and pulled a small, velvet box from his pocket. “Jackie, out of everything that has happened to me in the last year, you have been the very best thing. I’ve had time to think and plan what I want to do with my future, and the one thing that kept cropping up was the certainty that I’m happier when I’m with you. You were right when you said I was living with the ghosts of the past. Now I’m smart enough to ask you stay with me forever.”
He slipped the gold ring with its three embedded diamonds out of the box and onto her finger. “I am completely in love with you, Jackie. Will you marry me?”
“Yes. Oh, yes.” Her voice was so quiet he barely heard it. He looked up from her hand and saw Jackie was staring at him intently, her expression screaming the things she wasn’t saying. “I love you too, Doug.”
The worried knot in his chest eased. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“You’d better!”
Her cheeks were flushed, but still cool after walking around town and through the chilly house. Doug placed his hands on either side of her face and tilted her lips up to meet his.
“Wow,” Jackie breathed when they were done. “Fiancé kisses are even better than plain doctor kisses.”
She was so right.
“Show me your new house again so I can actually appreciate it and not walk around in confusion.”
He did, starting at the front door, and walking through each room, discussing what they could do with it. He took off his coat while she examined every drawer, cupboard, and appliance in the kitchen. “Do you have any idea of the meals you will be eating once I set up your kitchen?” she asked.
“Our kitchen, and I can’t wait.” When they’d talked about what they wanted out of their future houses, Doug had no idea the perfect combination had been sitting on the market just blocks from his apartment. The house had the kitchen Jackie wanted. That reminded him of the next thing he had to show her. “We have to go into the backyard.”
He was no expert, but the garden looked impressive. From her gasp, he figured Jackie agreed. “Look how big it is. There must be more than enough grass for you to cut. And there are raised garden beds with rabbit-proof fencing. It’s fantastic!”
When he pointed to the corner, she squeezed his hand. “Two apple trees!”
“I take it you approve of the house?”
“I’d approve of a shack as long as you were staying in Hopewell. But are you sure?”
That was a big question with a bigger answer, and as beautiful as it was outside, it was too cool to answer that question without getting chilled. They returned to the house and perched on two of the stools left with the island.
“You are a big part of my decision to stay, but even if you’d said no, I’d still finish my contract in Hopewell,” he said. She didn’t need to hear all the reasons, but he had to convince her that he wasn’t going to regret his choices in a couple months. “You were right when you said I hadn’t given the town a real chance. I’ve been making some comparisons to my life in Winnipeg and what I’ve been doing here for the last half year.”
He’d secretly been making biweekly trips to the city for the last month to see if he was right, and each one revealed a new truth. “I was truly surprised to realize that while I keep talking about all the conveniences of the city, I never used most of them. The only thing I’d truly miss is all the restaurant choices, and it just so happens that my brand new, brilliant, gorgeous fiancée is a chef. And when she doesn’t feel like cooking, we’re an hour away from all kinds of restaurants in Brandon. We can drive into Winnipeg for anything else. It a three-hour trip, not three days.”
“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re staying,” Jackie said. Then she surprised him by hopping off the stool and kissing him again. “Was the whole town in on your engagement ring scavenger hunt?”
He shook his head. “Miranda, Desmond, Freddy, and Scarlett knew about the house. Victor Lang and Kashvi knew about the job, and I told Victor I’d change my mind if he so much as thought about it loudly. You and I are the only ones who know about the ring.”
“I think we should start telling people. Don’t you?”
He took her face in his hands again. “Jackie, I’m telling absolutely everybody that you said yes.” And then he kissed his bride-to-be again.
THE END