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I felt my face go red as I ate the crepe from her fork, enjoying the tart burst of the lemon.
“Oh, that is good. Do they sell jars of the curd?” Alivia nodded.
“Yeah, they’re by the counter.”
“Nice.” I was going to get a jar for myself, and another one for Martha. She was always looking for good recipes, and I bet if she wanted to, she could reverse engineer this one and use it at the bakery.
Alivia finished her food and then we had a fight about who was going to pay.
“I said I was treating you for coming with me,” she said, her voice stern. For some reason, that commanding voice turned my insides to complete goo, and I relented. Hell, if she asked me to jump up on the table and do a dance in that voice, I probably would have done it. She could get away with murder with that voice.
I did get to pay for my own lemon curd, so that was something.
* * *
“There’s a lot of stuff in here,” I said as we wandered through the first antique store. It was located in an old barn that smelled just faintly of rotting wood overlaid with waxy furniture polish. There was so much stuff crammed into a small space that you could barely move without knocking into something.
“I’ve found some really good stuff here, trust me,” she said.
“Alivia?” A voice said and Alivia smiled.
“Hi Fran,” she said to the older woman who came over.
“And who is this?” The woman named Fran asked as she looked at me through her reading glasses.
“I’m Charli,” I said. “I’m just along for the ride.”
That made Fran laugh.
“Well, if you see anything you like, just let me know. We’re having a special sale.”
Alivia rolled her eyes. “You’re always having a special sale.”
Fran smiled. “That’s right. Special sales for special customers.”
She went off to help someone else with what looked like a cursed doll, and I looked at Alivia.
“I come here a lot,” she said, by way of explanation.
“Looks like you do have friends outside of Castleton.” I’d always seen her as such a loner, it was nice to see.
“I don’t know about that. I’ve given her a lot of money,” Alivia said with a laugh.
“So, what are you looking for?” I asked.
“I’m not exactly sure,” she said. “Think of anything that might make a room feel cozier. You’ve seen the inn, so you know the colors and the vibe.”
“Right, okay, so not this antique rake, then?” I asked, pointing to a rusty rake leaning up against the wall.
“No, not today,” she said, but she was smiling.
I followed Alivia’s lead around the place. I was quickly overwhelmed by how many things were crammed together.
“What about these?” I asked about a tea set on an old desk. The china was white and painted in blue with garden scenes.
“Perfect,” Alivia said. She looked around and found Fran and told her to box up the tea set. I felt pretty happy with myself for spotting it.
As we made our way through the endless rooms, we found a few other treasures: a small silver tray for rings or other jewelry, a few cut-glass vases, and a chair that she was going to get refinished and re-caned.
