After Ruth and Raffo's brief make-out session, she forced herself to climb off of his lap to wash her cup out in the sink while Raffo made them a quick breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy, just some eggs, toast, and bacon, but it was enough to taste delicious and settle the angry growls in the pit of her stomach.

She deflated after finishing the last piece of her bacon at the table and dejectedly looked over to Raffo who had one crispy piece left. Was she really that hungry or was it just because it was bacon? There was honestly no answer to that, and even if there was, it didn't matter either way. Because Raffo glanced up at her pout, rolled his eyes, and sourly passed her his last piece of bacon. Brightening instantly, she happily plucked it from his fingers and began chewing on the greasy goodness.

"So, did you still want to go back to Jana's?" he asked, standing up with their dishes in hand. She joined him at the sink and resorted to doing the drying while he did the washing.

Ruth shook her head. "Not really . . . but if you're busy, I totally don't mind going back either."

"I'm not busy," he reassured her. "We can go find something to do around town or whatever. We don't have to stay cooped up in here all day."

Ruth happily agreed and finished drying up the small pile of dishes. A sudden thought occurred to her at the mention of Jana, and she didn't have it in her to avoid the question. "Speaking of Jana—and er, Terry, did they know the truth about what happened between you and Emily?" she asked, hesitantly. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced down at her.

"Yeah," he admitted. "They found out maybe two weeks before I saw you at the garage. They weren't happy to hear I was going to the bachelor party, so I told Johnny and Eddie that they can tell them before they beat my ass."

She frowned. "Why didn't they say anything?"

He bit his lip. "They wanted to," he admitted. "But everyone agreed it wasn't their place to get involved. I wanted to tell you the truth when I knew you were ready to talk to me about it. But if you never spoke to me again, and you were happier with Emily, I didn't know if I could interfere with that. I guess I just didn't want to put you through anymore pain again, and I'd never want to do to you what Emily did. It was probably both a selfish and selfless thing to do, and I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Though Ruth probably had every right to be upset with her cousins for not saying anything, she was too emotionally spent to place any blame on them for it. It was Emily's actions that brought them all in an impossible predicament, and she didn't have it in her to be upset with any of the others. She needed to be ready for the truth, and she wasn't until that passed weekend.

"Okay," she simply replied, nodding.

Raffo furrowed his eyebrows. "You're not angry?"

"Believe it or not, it's hard to be angry with you for very long," she admitted. "But no, I'm not angry."

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"But, to make-up for your foolery, I demand you take me to a pumpkin patch."

"My what? And isn't Halloween in a few days? There's gonna be no good pumpkins left—"

"Pumpkin patch or I'm going back to Jana's," she sung.

"Fine."

Ruth smiled brightly and followed him back into his room to gather her clothes. Unzipping the duffel bag, she pulled out some undergarments, a pair of leggings, and her typical long sleeve, mud-brown shirt. It didn't take long to get ready in Raffo's bathroom after they brushed their teeth, leaving him in his room as she moistened the dry curls on her head. Much to her relief, they were growing out again and was in a length limbo between her shoulder blades and the middle of her back. Not quite reaching the middle, but longer than her shoulder blades, and she was happy with the progress either way. She loved having the short curly hair for a while, but she missed her old length.

Time to change again, she supposed.

When she finally left his bathroom, she caught the relatively pleasing sight of Raffo in his fall attire. Plain black jeans paired with a burnt orange shirt that was tight on his chest with its long sleeves scrunched up on his forearms. He shoved his feet into a pair of black Timberland boots and flickered his hair out of his face before grabbing a beaded fedora that glistened with their tribes colors beautifully. Lingering at the center of his chest was his grandmother's handmade medallion.

A Fall, Indigenous pumpkin king. And yes, he looked delicious enough to eat.

"Wow," Ruth drawled, smirking at the dark blush rolling into the apples of his cheeks as he looked up at her.

"Wow yourself," he murmured, standing up from the bed to wrap his arms around her waist. He goes to kiss her, but she holds up a hand. He stared at her, confused.

"Whoa whoa, none of that. We got a pumpkin patch to get to," she intercepted. If they stayed a minute longer with her looking at him how she was, they weren't going anywhere.

He huffed loudly. "You're annoying," he lied, allowing her to grab her purse as he grabbed his car keys. She ignored him, gripped his hand, and shoved him out the door. He pressed the garage level in the elevator and together they rode the quick trip down.

Ruth whistled lowly at the sight of Raffo's new car. No longer did he have the older truck she fondly had many memories in from years before. In its place was an all black 2020 Lexus NX 3000. It didn't matter that it was a few years old. It was still a gorgeous car, and she still sat snuggly in the comfortable leather seats that Raffo took good care of.

The man couldn't get any sexier.

*****

"RAFF LOOK!" Ruth gasped, tugging his hand harshly in the opposite direction he was looking at.

Much to their surprise, there was a decent amount of pumpkins left despite the closeness of the holiday. Families were still out climbing hay stacks, taking photos with scarecrows, and picking out the perfect pumpkins to carve up. It warmed Ruth's chest to see such a sight, as she couldn't remember the last time she'd ever been to a pumpkin patch.

The Autumn setting was immaculate. Leaves of pretty browns, reds, and yellows signaled the change of Oklahoma's season as they lined the sides of Briar Patch. The air was crispier, their noses tinged with pink, and that nostalgic holiday feeling one can't explain settled deep within everyone's chests. There was something so lively about a simple Fall activity, and it grounded her in the present. Here, Ruth was enjoying the changes of life with Raffo standing beside her, enjoying it just the same with his warm hand clasped against hers. He probably would have never dreamed about going to a pumpkin patch unless it was with Phoenix, and yet there he was, humoring her wants and taking part in whatever she wanted to do.

Life was full of changes. And some of them . . . some of them really were for the best.

"Isn't this one perfect?" Ruth cooed, crouching down to get level with the orange pumpkin. It wasn't a super big pumpkin, but it wasn't small either. "It's Cinderella's carriage!"

Raffo laughed, crouching down beside her. "You want this one?" he asked, brushing his fingers over a small indent.

She nodded eagerly. She went to scoop the pumpkin in her hands, but Raffo grabbed it for her, considering the decent size of it. It couldn't have been bigger than a watermelon, but she was still grateful he swooped in to save the day.

"I got it, baby," he murmured, straightening back up.

Ruth pressed a warm kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Raff."

Raffo's answering smile was soft and genuine. They made their way to the front to pay for their pumpkin and took it to the car so they wouldn't have to carry it around. There was a little apple cider stand off to the side of checkout, and Raffo bought them both a cup as they wandered over to the sunflower field. Unable to help herself, Ruth pulled out her phone to take a quick selfie with Raff, which he stifled a groan about, and both of them smiled for the picture.

Cute, she thought, saving it as a secret lock-screen picture.

Raffo wrapped his free arm around Ruth's shoulder while hers came around his waist, absorbing as much of his warmth as possible.

"This was such a cute date idea," Ruth sighed, happily.

"Is that what this is?" he teased, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you thought this was a hangout. I'll literally steal your apple cider and the car right now if you did."

"First of all, you have your own apple cider so stay away from mine," he warned. "Second—my car? How could you stoop so low? And third . . . Yeah, I knew it was a date."

He laughed cheekily when she pinched his side and he pressed his lips to her temple, curling her in further. She practically purred under his touch as they sifted through the sunflowers, soaking in each other the way the flowers did for the sun.

The sunflowers were prospering, the pumpkins growing, and the leaves changing. There was so much change happening all around them and you had no choice but to embrace it. Maybe it meant it was time for Ruth to change too. And for the first time in a long time, she knew she could live with that change.

*****