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“Feeling better?” Pops asks, back in his seat on the other side of the table.
“I was feeling fine at the start.” But I can’t deny that a full belly helps settle my frustrations.
The plumber is a friend of mine—or more of an acquaintance. I don’t really have many friends. By the end of the night, my hot water will be fixed, and everything will be fine.
Surely.
“Good,” Farrah says. “Because we really do have to talk about—”
I push up the sleeves of my flannel and check my watch. “I don’t have time for this. Email me if you ever decide to tell me what’s actually going on.”
“Sterling, I’m serious—”
I’m out of my chair before she can finish. “Have to get to work. Sorry.”
“But the house!”
The house.
I freeze.
Someone moved in. The house. But no, it can’t be that house. The old cottage has been abandoned for years now. It must be something else.
Whatever she has to tell me—probably renovations on Dad’s home, as she certainly doesn’t have a house of her own—can wait. I have things to do.
I work at the town hall as an outdoor education coordinator, and while that may seem like I do a lot of nothing, it keeps me busy. Today, my work is cut out for me. The harvest festival is right around the corner, and we still don’t have the vendor applications sorted out.
The harvest festival is the event of autumn. The local farmers and businesses come together to share their goods, and people come from all around Maine—and sometimes even farther—to join us in a magical night. We also raise money for charity.
It’s my job to make sure it all goes off without a hitch. We have one night to show people the best Starbrook has to offer.
No pressure.
Ten minutes and a drive across Starbrook later, I push into our tiny town hall. Four rooms: one for meetings, staff offices in the back, a bathroom, and a break room. Even though the desk in the right corner is supposed to be mine, someone is already perched in my seat.
“Got you some coffee,” Antoni, my assistant, says. He doesn’t move to get up from my spot.
“I told you, you don’t have to do that.” But I take the coffee anyway.
Antoni has only been in the position for a few months, and he’s good at the personal tasks, but not so much at everything else. I hoped to train him, but as time passes, I can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever be fast enough to do what I need of him.
I miss my old assistant. We were a well-oiled machine, but she moved away. Everything changes.
“Have you gotten started with the vendor applications?” I ask. “Three weeks until the festival.”
He grimaces. “Actually… I, uh, got locked out of the files.”
I blink. “You what?”
“I know, I know. It happened last night, and you were already gone, so… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I offer him a smile, but it’s tight. “I should be able to unlock it for you. No worries.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Sterling is fine.”
With a sigh, I take his place at the desk, unlock the device, and then the files. One hundred applications. How are we going to get through these?
