Temporary Occupancy

Maisie Jansma has sold fourteen hundred tickets to a Halloween haunt inside the one building she cannot legally open. Threshers' Hall needs $42,000 by November first, and the county inspector who red-tagged it has the only signature that can save it. Conrad Brinkman believes every door, stair and wire should be checked twice. Maisie believes a good idea can make a whole town show up. Their work puts them side by side through long evenings, stubborn props, and a hall full of hazards that refuse to stay fixed. He sees every weak point; she sees what the place could become. Between them, the route gets safer, the town gets louder, and a kiss in the dark makes it harder to pretend this is only about occupancy limits. As Halloween approaches and the whole county gathers to see what they have made, Maisie and Conrad must decide if a temporary arrangement can hold something permanent.