Page 45 of The Sasquatch and the Hairdresser

He’s so natural and suave about it that I have to fight back a dreamy sigh of happiness. How is he so effortlessly cool? If we were in high school, I’d be writing his name all over my notebook, surrounded by hearts.

My chest swells with a euphoric lightness that almost makes me giddy.

Don’t you dare start giggling!

I clear my throat and try to act my age. “That sounds wonderful. What would you like to do?”

Skylar sips his coffee and hums in contemplation. “I’ve heard good things about Akram’s Oasis, but I haven’t been down there yet.”

“It’s a wonderful place to spend an evening. The ambience is lovely in there. Sometimes they have live music, and there’s a karaoke night once a week.”

Skylar grimaces. “I’ll pass on the karaoke. I don’t know what’s worse, hearing people enthusiastically sing very badly or forcing my own bad singing on everyone else.”

Although I’d happily listen to Skylar sing to me anytime. He’s the maestro of my heart with everything he does.

I laugh. “No problem. We could head over there after the Community Gathering at Town Hall tonight.”

Skylar’s eyes go wide. “I kinda spaced on that after”—his cheeks turn pink—“everything that happened last night.”

I look at him shyly. “It was a memorable night. One I’ll never forget.”

Skylar’s lips twitch. “Hopefully because of more than just those stoned gnomes.”

“You made me block all that out with your romantic gestures,” I tease. “Talk about impressive.”

He flushes a darker shade of red and clears his throat. “How do you think the meeting will go?”

That brings me down a notch, and I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. “That’s hard to predict. Everyone here depends on the town’s magic to keep us safe. Learning that it’s going a bit haywire is understandably going to concern some folks. We just need to make sure we quell potential panic. We’ve got to stick together through this.”

Skylar nods his head slowly. “You’re right. No matter what happens, I’ll back you up at the meeting.”

I’m trying to play it cool, but I’m pretty sure I have hearts in my eyes when I grin at him. “We’ll support each other. Because that’s what boyfriends do.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re fucking adorable?” Skylar says, a lopsided grin on his face.

My cheeks are so warm I want to fan myself. Instead, I stare dreamily at him like a besotted fool.

“So… uh… what are you up to today?” Skylar finally asks, breaking the awkward silence.

“I’ve got some fall maintenance to do on the house to get ready for winter. It’ll be here before we know it.”

“Can I help? I’m waiting on a last delivery at the salon and don’t need to be in there until tomorrow.”

I beam at him. “I’d love that.”

We spend the morning taking care of my list of tasks. I already had someone come in to service my furnace for the season last week, so we focus on small chores indoors. Checking on the seals for all the windows and doors, swapping out summer linens for warmer, winter-ready items, making sure all the outdoor water faucets are turned off, and raking leaves in the yard. It’s not exciting work by any stretch of the imagination, but we work together in a companionable harmony that has me dreaming of more times like this spent together.

After lunch, we decide to tackle clearing the gutters, which is a rather large undertaking. I usually hire someone to do it because there aren’t many ladders designed to handle the size and weight of someone like me, but Skylar generously offers to climb the ladder I dig out of the shed. I’m tall enough to help clear the gutter on the lowest roof, but the rest requires Skylar to climb up and fish out debris while I wait below to bag it all after he chucks it down for me.

Thankfully, we’ve had some rain recently, so most of what’s in the gutters has turned into tossable clumps, but it’s time-consuming and tedious. After about two hours, we’ve finally managed to clear all the gutters.

“Man, my arms are on fire,” Skylar says with a groan as he starts to reverse back down the ladder while I hold it steady.

He seems a bit shaky, and I grip the ladder tighter.

“Be caref⁠—”

Skylar’s foot misses the next step, and my heart stutters in my chest when I see him lose his grip and start falling.