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“Do you think Corbin residents don’t need to shop every now and then?” she asked.
She was looking over at him, a big smile on her face. She quickly averted her gaze back to the road ahead, though, as she took a sharp left and pulled into the parking area by the front row of shops. She cut the ignition, unbuckled, hopped out without a word, and was on her way toward the building before he’d even gotten out of the car.
She seemed to be moving fast today. He wasn’t sure if that was the norm or if she was in a hurry to get this errand over with. He hoped it wasn’t the latter. Still, his long strides caught up with her without him even having to rush. She suddenly stopped and turned, pressing a button on her key fob. Behind him, her car beeped.
That brief slowdown let him narrow the distance between them even more. She looked at him like she’d just realized he was back there and fell into step next to him.
“She couldn’t get us a thousand Christmas cards exactly,” she said.
“I don’t really think it has to be exactly a thousand,” Landon said. “Just enough to make it look over the top on camera.”
“You know, to save money, they should just fill one side of the barn with cards, then move the same cards to the other side and shoot that side.”
That was a pretty good suggestion, but the time it would take to dismantle everything and shoot each section of the barn separately wouldn’t be worth it. That was his assessment, anyway.
“I’m sure they can find some online, maybe at a discount,” Landon said.
He saw they were approaching a storefront. It wasn’t a card shop, though. It was a used bookstore.
Since Audrie kept walking in that direction, Landon assumed that was where they were going and stepped forward. He grabbed the handle and pulled, holding the door for her.
“Thank you,” she said, entering the shop.
Once inside, she came to a stop. He had to squeeze around her as the door slid to a close behind him.
There was nobody in sight. Just tables stacked with books. It looked like a big sale was going on. Or maybe this was how things always were.
One thing was jarring, though. The lack of Christmas. He didn’t realize until he was standing there, not hearing festive music or seeing strings of lights, that it wasn’t December. He’d definitely spent too much time on set.
“Hello?” Audrie called out. “Carol?”
Carol, he assumed, was the name of the employee who was helping her out, but there was no response. Audrie’s voice seemed to just bounce around the small space.
“Maybe you should call her,” he suggested.
He looked over at her, but Audrie was already one step ahead of him. She had her phone in hand and was looking down at the screen.
“May I help you?”
He heard the voice before he saw the woman who’d asked the question. Not a surprise, considering how messy this place was. It was a youngish woman coming from the left.
Oh, good. That must be Carol. They’d just grab their cards and be on their way back to the set. Shopping wasn’t really his thing.
“Is Carol around?” Audrie asked.
Landon looked from Audrie to the woman who was walking toward them, a paper towel in hand. She was still chewing, so he assumed they’d interrupted her eating.
“She works days,” the woman said.
Landon glanced back at the window behind him. Sunlight was pouring in from the parking lot. It was four forty-five. Still part of the day, as far as he was concerned. He’d just had his afternoon cup of coffee before leaving.
“Oh.” Audrie looked over at Landon.
He returned her stare, not sure what to do in this instance. She pulled her gaze away and looked back at the woman.
“Carol said she was leaving a box of Christmas cards for us,” Audrie said.
The woman’s face lit up. “Oh, yes, you’re the Christmas card woman. Come with me.”
