“I can call a few other places,” I said slowly, pulling my hands down my face. My voice came out muffled. “Maybe someone can deliver on short notice?”
Janice clucked again. “I thought of that already, dear. But they’re all booked. You’d have better luck finding a chain restaurant on Main Street.”
“Let’s not addthatto our list of problems,” Margot muttered, glaring at the storm outside.
I sat back in my chair, thoughts careening into each other at a breakneck pace. The signs, the booths, the vendors—years of repetition to make everything seamless. And now, one measly lightning storm could undo it all.
“Hey.” Margot leaned across the table and nudged my wrist. “Don’t spiral. We’ll figure this out. If it comes down to it, we can set up the booths inside the gymnasium. It won’t be the same, but… it’ll work.”
“Inside?” I repeated weakly.
She lifted a brow. “Better than getting struck by lightning.” She tilted her head mischievously and whispered, “Hey, maybeRhettcan help us…”
“Margot!” I hissed, cheeks flaring.
Janice blinked innocently. “Everett, huh?”
“I’m going home,” I announced, standing so quickly my chair legs squealed against the floor.
“Sit down,” Margot ordered, tugging my sleeve until I collapsed again. “We’re not done strategizing.”
Janice hid her smirk behind my cup. “Oh, don’t mind me. Frank and I always thought Rhett was a sweet boy. He’s been such a help already. And it’s nice to see that beautiful smile of yours more often, Georgie.”
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to examinethattoo closely.
By the time Janice bustled out with promises to “talk sense into the carnival company one last time,” Margot and I had scribbled a handful of half-baked backup plans on napkins. My stomach growled as I stuffed them into my jacket pocket.
“You’re quiet,” Margot observed as we stepped into the drizzle.
“I’m thinking.”
“You’re brooding,” she corrected with an astute arch of her brow. “And not just about the weather.”
Huffing, I ignored her and slipped my hood up. I hoped she didn’t notice the dumb smile threatening to spread across my mouth.
We cut across the road toward Marigold’s. The brown paper still covered the windows, but light spilled around the edges of the door. The low rumble of machinery hummed inside. I pressed my hand to the glass, shook my head and pulled it back.
Margot followed my gaze, then gave me a shove. “Go on, knock.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, turning and quickening my pace.
Her laugh trailed after me. “I swear, Georgette, I’m going to lock you in there with him until you either kiss or kill each other.”
“Don’t you dare.” But my pulse jumped at the thought, and I had to focus hard on the puddles at my feet.
???
That night, after Margot left, I curled on my couch with a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate. The rain battered the windows, relentless. Napkins peeked out of my jacket hanging by the door like ghosts of problems unsolved.
I tried reading, then sketching in my pottery notebook, but every few minutes my eyes flicked to my phone on the coffee table. Ridiculous, really—he had no reason to text me. Maybe he needed to discuss something about the shop. After all, that’s theonly thing we’d ever texted about. Just because he’d asked didn’t mean—
It buzzed and lit up. I nearly spilled my hot cocoa lunging for it.
Rhett Briggs: Thanks for the sign-making crash course yesterday. Still finding yellow paint under my fingernails.
A laugh burst out of me, startling in the quiet room. Easton jumped and cocked his head at me. I swiftly typed back before I could talk myself out of it.
Me: Occupational hazard. At least you didn’t cause a near-fatal fall.
