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Dean probably would have continued pining over Cas until the end of farmers’ market season. Fondly thinking of him when he made apple pie or poured honey and apple butter over homemade biscuits. The problem, however, was Cas wasn’t at the farmers’ market the next weekend. Or any of the other ones that followed. By the end of September, he rescinded himself to the memory of Cas: dorky, cute, but nonetheless, a once chance meeting does not make a relationship. A cusp of autumn crush then.
-o-O-o-
He chewed on the end of his pen, a pause, as he edited his grocery list. The remains of his coffee cooled next to him and crumbs from his slice of pie lingered on the plate. Charlie was supposed to show up fifteen minutes ago, but the extra time meant he could plan the menu for Thanksgiving. Was planning a month before overkill? Not really, as there would be a lot people coming over with several different diet restrictions. But he loved the challenge and the others would bring their own small contributions to help ease the stress. Plus, he’d do anything so his friends and family could have a good time. The murmur and chatter of the other coffee house patrons kept him company as well as the familiar beat of Fleetwood Mac.
“Sorry I’m late. Got caught up in a conversation and I completely forgot to text you when I was headed over.” Charlie sat down in front of him. Her hair was piled on top of her head, exposing the multiple piercings down her ears and the edges of her back tattoo. “Whatcha writing?”
He pushed his glasses back up and pulled his ear buds out. “Thanksgiving list. How does oven roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, cranberries, and walnuts sound?”
“Yummy. Also good that no one has a nut allergy.”
“Does anyone? I might double check. It’s a bit hard to keep track of with all of the new faces this year, but I think I have all of them. Vegan, diabetes, gluten allergy, dairy sensitivities, citrus allergy. There’s not a whole lot I can make to avoid all of them in one dish, but I’m hoping to have enough different options to appease the masses. And signs. Plus what everyone else brings it should be a good haul.” He scratched a check next to acorn squash and looked back up. “Dorothy will be coming this year, right?”
“Hell yeah. We’re both excited for your homemade stuffing. I told her about it and she’s excited.”
“I’m really excited you’re bringing her. You’ve been holding out on bringing her around the group. Are you afraid we’re going to embarrass you? Cause I’ll stop that shit the moment it starts if you’re uncomfortable.”
She laughed and tugged on the sleeves of her cardigan. “No, not that. You know I can hold my own in the group. I just didn’t want to overwhelm Dory.”
“You’re going to by throwing her into Thanksgiving.”
“Eh, Dory’s made of tough stuff too. I figured if she can handle Thanksgiving she can handle anything.” She perked up and waved her hand. “We’re over here.”
“Huh?” He turned around and there he was: Cas.
He carried a tray with two mugs and two plates with cake. His lavender hair was ruffled, a bit longer than it had been back in August, and there was a sunflower tucked behind his ear. He wore a chunky oversized sweater and khakis with the hem rolled up. He sat the tray down on the table and squeezed into the third chair between Dean and Charlie. “Ah, hello Dean.”
Dean pinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey Cas.”
Charlie blinked. “Oh, I forgot to tell you Cas came with me. He’s who I was with when I remembered I needed to meet with you. Do you mind?”
Did he mind that his autumn crush came back when he thought he’d never see him again? “No, not at all. Long time, no see. How’ve you been doing?”
“Well. Charlie’s been doing an excellent job at the farmers’ market booth, but I think I’d rather stay at the orchard. I could use a bit more peace and calm in my life.” He handed Charlie her mug and cake before picking up his fork. “Charlie has been telling me amazing things about your D and D group and something called LARPing?”
“Yeah, it’s lots of fun. That’s why we’re meeting up. We throw a huge Thanksgiving feast together for our little group every year. I’ve got to get it all squared away before October ends.”
“It’s only the first week.”
“Early bird gets the worm.” He winked. Up close, he noticed gold eyeliner and light mascara around Cas’s blue eyes, a dusting of blush on his cheeks, and maybe tinted chapstick on his lips. Cute.
“I commend your planning skills. It sounds like fun.”
“It is,” Charlie said through her cake. “Dean is an amazing cook and baker. I swear I gain five pounds after I leave.”
“Don’t listen to her, she’s exaggerating.”
Cas smiled. “Take it as a compliment. At least you don’t have a brother who eats a whole loaf of bread you made only to complain that his stomach hurts all night.”
“A whole loaf?”
“Yes. Apparently my mistake was leaving it out in the open to cool. He’s since learned his lesson.”
“I’ve had your bread and I can totally see Gabe doing that. Dean, it’s sooo good. Especially with Cain’s honey. Absolutely amazing.” Charlie wrapped her arm around Cas’s shoulders. “You two should get together sometime and swap recipes. I bet you guys could make something amazing.” She shrugged out of her cardigan revealing her other tattoos: the Rebel Alliance symbol in the middle of peony blooms on one forearm and a d20 in black line work on the other. “Maybe we should get everyone from work to have a dinner hangout. Cain would totally be behind it and I bet he would let us meet at his house.”
Cas nodded. “Cain’s always happy to have company. I’m sure he would love to have everyone for an end of harvest feast.”
“Oooh, that sounds great. I’ll text him tonight, see what he says.” She turned towards Dean. “I’m sure we could sneak you in so we can pit you against Cas for best baked goods. We’ll have a built in panel of willing judges.”
“I’ve got a recipe for honey cookies I make with Cain’s honey. They’re pretty good,” said Dean.
“I have a family recipe for apple cake that could give it a run for you money.” Cas smiled and picked up his mug. “I’d look forward to a friendly competition.”
Charlie squealed. “Yes, food competitions are the best. It’s gonna taste so good.”
“We’ll just have to see.” Dean tugged on his ear. “Give me the date and time and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She stood up. “If you can excuse me for a second. I’ll be right back.” She hurried off towards the bathrooms, leaving Dean alone with Cas.
He fiddled with his the acrylic plug. “I, uh, like your eyeliner. Really brings out your eyes.”
Cas beamed. “Thank you. I haven’t had it for long, so I wasn’t sure if it worked. Gabe and Charlie both told me it did, but I wasn’t sure.”
“No, they’re right. It, ah, looks good.” God, was he absolutely useless. “Your sunflower’s cute too.”
“Oh.” Cas cupped it with his hands and softly smiled. “There are a few plants that grow around the fence at the entrance of Cain’s orchard. I take walks there on my break.”
“Cool, cool. I, uh, missed you when you didn’t show up again at the farmers’ market.”
Cas flushed pink. “Uh, I wanted to get in contact with you, but I wasn’t sure about it. Charlie gave me your number and said I should text you. It’s just we didn’t spend much time together, so I didn’t know if you would remember me.”
“Oh, I did. I don’t think I could forget you.”
Cas, somehow, managed to turn redder. “That’s very kind.”
“And it’s okay you didn’t text me. I probably would have felt uncomfortable in your shoes too.”
“It wasn’t so much uncomfortable as I hoped by some miracle you would text me first. Which is ridiculous as you don’t even have my number, so there’s no way you could text me first. But I’m glad Charlie brought me with her today. I almost didn’t come because she said she was meeting with a friend, but she said they wouldn’t mind. I’m glad you didn’t. Mind, that is.”
“Charlie’s right. I always love to meet new people and if she’s trying to rope you into our extracurriculars it means she thinks you’re good people. You are okay with her doing it, right? I know you said you weren’t really comfortable at the farmers’ market, so is this going to be the same situation?”
He tugged on the ends of his sweater. “I don’t think so. Others haven’t always been so receptive of the way I choose to appear, but Charlie is okay with it and I can’t imagine she would be friends with anyone who would have a problem with it.”
Dean scooted a bit closer to him. “That sucks. I can promise you if anyone in our group was like that Charlie would kick them out in a heartbeat. And, uh, I like the way you dress. I think it suits you.” He knew at this point his face must be pretty red because he felt his face warm. He could be smooth and suave with girls. Why couldn’t he with Cas?
“Thank you. Charlie and YouTube have been helpful for makeup tips. And thrift stores have been helpful to pad out my closet without costing me so much. Plus the bonus of keeping clothes out of landfills makes it a win-win.”
Charlie plopped down and wrapped her arm around Dean. “So, did I miss anything good?”
He glanced over and smiled at Cas. “We were just talking. I hear you’ve been trying to get us to meet up.”
“Cas said you guys really hit it off at the farmers’ market, but I couldn’t get him to come back with me. Cain sent Jack in instead, and I love the kid, but he can be even more awkward than Cas around others. No offense Cas, but sometimes you look like you don’t want to be there.”
“That’s because for the most part I don’t want to. I’ve gotten better. You saw me guide the school group through the orchard.”
“I did and I was super proud of you. Maybe you just interact better with kids. Customer service can suck.”
“It can, but Cain’s customers are good people. It’s the crowds.” Cas stared down at his plate and pushed the cake crumbs around with his fork. “Cain has been endlessly patient with me.”
“That’s because you’re a great worker. He really appreciates your help. If he didn’t think you were cut out for it, he would have let you go already.”
Dean fidgeted in his seat. He didn’t want to leave, but he felt he’d stumbled into a private conversation.
Cas glanced over, his fingers flexed. “Charlie, as much as I appreciate the confidence boost, perhaps it would be best to do when we’re not intruding on someone else’s time.”
“Oh shit. Sorry, Dean. Sometimes I forget who knows what since so many of my friendships and work relationships melt together. And sorry Cas I brought up your private issues. I’ll work on it.”
“It’s okay, Char. No major harm was done, I think?” He glanced between Cas and Charlie to see if there was any tension.
Cas nodded. “No, no damage. Maybe my pride, but that would be it. Perhaps an explanation for another time.”
He perked up at that. Another time meant Cas wanted to at least see him again.
Cas glanced down at his watch and stood up. “I’m so sorry. I need to get going if I’m going to make it to my meeting with Cain on time.” He picked up his dishes and pushed in his chair. “It was nice to catch up with you Charlie. And, Dean. It was nice to meet you again.” He left the table and sat his dishes on the counter before leaving the coffeehouse.
Charlie turned towards him and leaned in. “So, you and Cas hit it off?”
“Something like that, I think. It’s only the second time I’ve met him.”
She nodded and crossed her arms. “But you’re interested?”
“If he’s only interested in being my friend, I’d love that.”
“And something more?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I’d be down if he wanted something more.”
She beamed. “I knew you two would be good for each other. It can take a bit to get him out of his shell, but Cas is a great person.”
His phone pinged and he frowned. Charlie was in front of him, Sam was at work, and regardless he thought he put his phone on silent before he came inside. He slid out his phone to see a new text.
Unknown : This is Cas. If you’re interested, I’d like to take you out on a date. I know we don’t know much about each other, but I’d like to get to know you more.
He sent off a quick text and looked up to see Charlie beaming across the table. Maybe she had been right.
Me : Sure! Just tell me the time and place and I’ll be there.