Page 32 of A Cup of Autumn
Keaton’s smile slid into a smirk. “I know what you’re thinking.”
It was her turn to grin. “Does thetrollkorgive you telepathic abilities?”
“No, your face does.”
She touched between her eyebrows but felt no lines. “What do you see this time?”
Robin’s gaze bounced between Keaton and Raine. She sipped her coffee.
Keaton’s glasses only magnified his clear and warm green eyes. Not that she was paying close attention to his eyes. Or to him. Not that close anyway.
“Curiosity,” he said finally.
Okay, Raine was curious. “You’re good at this.”
“Fifty-five percent of communication is nonverbal.” His professor tone annoyed her less today. “Understanding my students’ body language and deciphering their tones helps me to teach better.”
She lifted her chin. “What did my body language tell you?”
He rubbed his chin. “You want to know how I’ll help with a Halloween community event?”
Her mouth dropped open. “I do.”
His gaze pierced through her as if her secrets were on full display to him. She shifted her weight between her feet, wishing she hadn’t set down the bin.
He kept staring at her. Her temperature shot up twenty degrees. She wanted to fan herself.
“It’s a valid question,” he admitted. “Do you know the answer?”
Robin’s arm shot into the air as if she were a student. “I know the answer.”
“Go ahead.” Raine wanted to take back some control.
“Keaton teaches folklore, legends, and mythology,” Robin said.
He gave a thumbs-up to Robin who beamed. “That makes me a font of holiday trivia and knowledge.”
Holidays encompassed a lot. Raine had to ask. “Including Halloween?”
He bowed. “But of course.”
“Halloween comes from a mix of traditions and tales. Kids love that stuff. At least mine do,” Robin said. “This parent would appreciate the Boo Bash being less about trick-or-treating at First Avenue Businesses and more about the holiday itself. They get enough candy when they go door-to-door in the neighborhood on the thirty-first.”
Splat.
That was the sound of Raine’s hopes and dreams for an easy event hitting the cement floor beneath her feet.
“Don’t worry. Raine and I will come up with something unique and…fun.” The way Keaton said the last word sounded almost foreign to him.
Uh-oh.Was having a worthless helper better than no help at all? If he turned into another Heather…
Not wanting to think about a worst-case scenario, Raine grabbed the file off the top of the bin and patted the plastic lid with her free hand.
“This is what the First Avenue Business Association gave me. Everything I…we…need to plan the Boo Bash is inside.”
“I’ll check it out.”
That would be his first test. Raine hoped he passed it. “If trolls are inside, I’m sure your keychain will make them spontaneously combust.”
