The Problem with Pumpkins

By Linda V. Palmer

Though Maggie Redmond expects to get a wannabe jack o' lantern when she drives her twin brothers to The Pumpkin Patch, she actually winds up with more. Brendon Fletcher, handsome grandson of the owner, can't take his eyes off her. Naturally she's thrilled when he calls her later, asking if he can tag along while she takes the boys trick or treating. Can this be true love? Maybe...but only if they survive the plans a nefarious black cat has for them. This title is published by Uncial Press and is distributed worldwide by Untreed Reads.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Untreed Reads
• Release date: Oct 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781601741233

Book preview

The Problem With Pumpkins

A Halloween Novel Byte

By

Linda V. Palmer

Uncial Press       Aloha, Oregon

2011

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events described herein are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 13: 978-1-60174-123-3

ISBN 10: 1-60174-123-5

The Problem with Pumpkins

Copyright © 2011 by Linda Varner Palmer

Cover design

Copyright © 2011 by Judith B. Glad

All rights reserved. Except for use in review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the author or publisher.

Published by Uncial Press,

an imprint of GCT, Inc.

Visit us at http://www.uncialpress.com

The Problem with Pumpkins

Another Halloween. Oh joy.

And on a Saturday night, which meant I got stuck yet again with taking my little brothers trick or treating. My mom, an ER doc, worked weekends at Johnsonville General, and my dad, the sheriff, would definitely be out and about, scouting the neighborhoods for tricksters.

So why did I hate Halloween? Because I adored my brothers and taking candy from strangers didn't make sense. So what if we knew everyone by name? Even the neighbors we trusted could have deep dark secrets. Does the name Jeffrey Dahmer rattle your chain? I'd much rather buy each of them ten dollars worth of candy at Wal-Mart. At least I'd be sure they wouldn't bite down on razorblades or be drugged senseless as they gobbled it down.

This year, Corey and Caden, both aged six, intended to dress up as miniature Jack Sparrows. That meant I had to cart twin pirates all over the neighborhood. Why oh why couldn't they be something more age appropriate like Spongebob or Jimmy Neutron or even Alvin? But no. They had to impersonate a drunken sea captain.

And as usual the guys wanted a jack o'lantern. So Halloween morning I loaded them into my Beetle and drove us to the Pumpkin Patch. An enterprising farmer in the next county had opened it many years ago,