I waited eagerly for Rhett’s final goodbye as he waved over his shoulder and exited out onto the sidewalk. “What are you talking about?” I hissed, trying not to be too obvious as I watched him cross the road and into Marigold’s.
“Seriously?” Margot perched her chin on her hand and sighed. “Don’t lie to me, Georgette. Good grief, it was like watching you with your sixth grade crush all over again.”
“Rhett and I are friends, that’s all,” I asserted with a long sip of my mocha. “He’s saving my skin with Marigold’s, after all. How could we not be?”
That was it—friends. That was all it could be.
“I mean, have you really dated since—”
“Harrison? No,” I interrupted quickly. It had been difficult to focus on anything after my grandmother’s passing, let alone a relationship. “The past four years have been busy,” I lied.
“Okay, well, what about now?” Margot tapped her fingertip on the lid of her empty cup. “You’re single, he’s… single?”
My heart lodged in my throat. The thought had never even occurred to me—someone was probably waiting for him backhome. Someone with a shiny career and even shinier hair. Meanwhile, I was pathetically unraveling any time he smiled at me, or rolled up his sleeves, or—
Oh, never mind.
“I actually don’t know if he’s single,” I responded, attempting to appear aloof, but sounding like I was choking on a bagel again. “And that doesn’t matter, anyway. He’s leaving after the festival. All we can be is friends.” Had I convinced myself yet?
Margot swallowed and adjusted her parka like it was a designer fur coat. “Speaking of that, Georgie, I—”
The bell chimed.
In tumbled Janice, leopard print umbrella in tow, uncharacteristically devoid of her husband’s presence. She wrapped her dark brown jacket closer to her dainty frame, a mist of raindrops across her hair making the silver shine.
“Oh, Georgie! I’m so glad you’re here,” Janice started, shuffling toward us. “Why haven’t you been picking up your phone?”
I slipped my phone from my back pocket as she pulled up a chair. Four missed calls.
“I’m sorry, I must not have felt it vibrate. Are you okay? Where’s Frank?”
Janice swiped the air with her hand. “You know Frank. Always puttering from one project to the next. When I told him we needed to find you, he said he neededten more minutesunder the hood of his truck. Well, here I am.” She paused and pointed to my cup. “Is there anything left in there?”
I bit back the smile and slid it over. “You can have it.”
Letting out a long breath, she took a sip and sent me a grateful wink. “Anyway, as I was saying—it turns out some of the vendors still havemeas their contact for the festival.” She stopped, seemingly realized Margot was there, and reached overto pat her hand. “Good to see you, darling. It’s about time you visited your poor mother.”
Margot sent her a tight-lipped smile.
“You really didn’t need to come all the way down here for that—”
“I wasn’t done, dear!” Janice cut me off. “Have you looked at the weather forecast?”
My stomach clenched. “No…”
“It’s just terrible—another storm’s due to hit in fourteen days. The exact night of Summer’s End.” She clucked her tongue, eyes softening. “I’m so sorry, Georgie. The carnival rental company says it nullifies their contract.”
I pressed my palms to my temples, groaning.
Margot leaned forward. “Their equipment can’t handle a little water?”
“They said something about lightning and metal structures,” Janice responded with an eye roll.
They fell into an outraged conversation over the audacity of the weather, and safety regulations, and everything in between, while I turned to the window. As the day stretched on, the sky had grown increasingly dark, signaling another night of heavy rain.
I swallowed, staring past my own reflection in the rain-streaked window. Without the Ferris wheel, Summer’s End would lose what made it magical. People came for the food, the games, the booths, sure—but they stayed for that wheel lighting up the night sky. Whole families planned their trips around it. And without that, without the carnival company…
Bluebell Cove would lose more than money. We’d lose what made us,us.
