The instant message popped up on Bobby’s screen, and he glanced at Tara across the office and grinned. Somehwhere behind the skeleton head with the red flashing eyes, and the witch which cackled everytime anyone walked by, the tiny agent who’d captured his heart sat sending him messages.
“Hey, Bobby, what do you get when you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern by its diameter?”
She didn’t wait for him to reply, but send a second message. “Pumpkin Pi.”
He grinned at the woman he’d been seeing the last few weeks and typed back, “Cute. Don’t you have work to do though?”
“This is work. Team building.”
“Oh?”
“Here’s what I sent Sue. ‘How do you mend a broken Jack-O-Lantern?’”
“How?”
“With a pumpkin patch.” He laughed loudly and Myles shot him a glare, muttering something about getting their report finished on the Torbolini case before D came down on both of them.
Bobby ignored him. Holidays were sacred to Tara: Christmas, Valentines, St. Patrick’s Day, even April Fools Day. On Groundhogs day, she’d suggested they all take a field trip to see Punxutawney Phil in person.
But it was her love of Halloween that surprised him most. With a job often filled with real dead bodies, he never expected Tara to love tiny plastic coffins filled with candy bones, and he loved her for it—only he’d not said those exacty words yet.
“Plans tonight?” he typed in.
“Yes, but you can join me.”
“Now, there’s an offer I can’t refuse. Time?”
“Seven?” she responded.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good. Bring pizza.”
He glanced at her and caught her beaming. Another message came through. “Gotcha. BTW, Where did the goblin throw the football?”
“Where?”
“Over the ghoul line.”
~*~*~
Arms laden with pop, pizza, and Tara’s favorite, a tub of cookie dough, Bobby managed to turn the handle and let himself in. The sight before him made him come to a complete stop.
“Did a bloody pumpkin patch explode in here, luv?”
Tara sat entombed in pumpkins: large and small, plump and skinny, smooth and bumpy. In her hands, she held a medium one up and turned it in her hand. “Put the pizza on the table and come help me do these.”
He set the items on the table and carefully negotiated through her pumpkin patch. “What are all these for?”
“For the children’s shelter. They just dropped them off tonight.”
“We have to carve all of these tonight?” he sighed. So much for his plans. “Well, hand me a knife and I’ll get started.”
She gaped at him and she pressed the small pumpkin to her chest, covering it protectively. “Carve? Bobby Manning, you will not so much as put a pin prick on these precious pumpkins.”
“Tara, how are we going to get them pumpkin guts out if you don’t cut them?”
“Bobby! How could you...”
Then, he spotted the paints set neatly to her side and the brush lying on a paper plate. “You’re going to paint them.”
“Of course, I am. You didn’t think I could cut their little pumpkin scalps off?”
He chuckled. “What was I thinking? Why don’t I get the pizza?”
When he returned with two slices on napkins, he paused to watch her work. The tip of her tongue nestled between her lips as she carefully put the pupils on the silly googley eyes of the pumpkin she’d painted.
She set it on the coffee table and looked up at him, holding out the brush. “Ready to try your hand?”
He passed her a slice of pizza. “Tara, I’m not that artistic.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret. They don’t really care.”
“The children?”
“No, the pumpkins.” She took a bite of her pizza. “Go on and try. Unless you’re chicken.”
Bobby wolfed down his slice and accepted the challenge. After all, how hard could it be? The red lips he drew bulged in the center and the eyes were far from symmetrical. Still, Tara clapped and proclaimed it perfect. Together, they decorated the faces of half of them in less than an hour.
“Hey, Tara,” he called. He waited until she looked his way before holding two of the medium sized pumpkins up to his chest. “What do you say? Triple D?”
She laughed, and he leaned forward and kissed her. Sitting back, he studied her. When had he become content with spending a night painting pumpkins just to be close to someone? Not just anyone – her. His Tara. He needed to tell her.
His palms suddenly grew sweaty and he swiped them on his jeans. He needed to tell her. But now?
Tara disappeared into the kitchen and he guessed she’d gone for more pizza. Quickly, he sat down on the couch and took up the last pumpkin and splashed a wide grin across it’s face.
Tara returned with the tub of cookie dough.
“Where’s my spoon?” he asked her.
“No spoons.” She dipped her finger in the concoction and licked it off. “Mmmm. Delicious.”
The paint brush in his hand veered widely from it’s course.
“Bobby, I don’t think that Jack would appreciate those eye brows.”
“Jack?” he croaked.
“Jack-o-lantern.” She sat down beside him and held up a finger full of dough to his lips.
He licked the sweetness from it. “Wait right here. Close your eyes.”
In the kitchen, he found the surprise he’d brought. Slipping the monster mask over his face, he returned to the living room. “Okay, open them.”
He growled loudly and Tara jumped. Then, she laughed until her tears ran down her cheeks.
Bobby sat down beside her and filled his finger with a generous dollop. “I put this on for a reason.”
“Oh? Afraid I coudn’t resist the dimples?”
"Tara, who does a ghoul fall in love with?”
She blinked and her mouth dropped open.
He popped the dough in her mouth and grinned. “His ghoul friend.”
Word Count=989
Yes, I'm still bouncing . . . 
a very sweet perfect ending. 
Lorna....a last minute entry! How wonderful! 
