🎃 A LOUISIANA HALLOWEEN COMES TO ECHO RIDGE! 🎃

Jefferson Howard grew up in Louisiana, where Halloween meant apples, nuts, a little fortune-telling, and enough mischief to keep the neighbors talking.

So naturally, he decides Echo Ridge, Colorado Territory, could use a proper Louisiana-style Halloween.

There'll be apples to bob for, apple peels to toss over shoulders, and nuts roasting by the fire to see what fate has to say about matters of the heart.

The children are fascinated by the idea that a bit of apple peel might reveal the initials of a future sweetheart. Tommy is already looking for ways to improve the proceedings. Susan thinks it's romantic. Ben is reserving judgment until he understands the rules. And Pip? Well, Pip is perfectly happy as long as somebody remembers to feed him.

Constance has survived confidence games, bounty hunters, and a lifetime of learning not to trust too easily. But she's beginning to suspect that a Louisiana Halloween, four children, and one very serious marshal might be more trouble than she's prepared for.

And if a certain game of romantic fortune-telling happens to put Jeff and Constance on the spot?

Well, that's between them, the apple peel, and whatever fate has in mind.