“All points check in,” I said into my walkie.
“Zone one, broken barrel and trash everywhere. Broken porch on Knit On’s building.”
“Zone two, broken door on building four, internet box damaged. We’ll need servicing on that.”
I shut my eyes. Fuck, we’d be fixing up this whole place for a week.
A week without sales for us and the retailers that had paid for their spaces.
Fuck me.
More reports came in, all of them mostly surface, but it was more than enough to cause a lot of repairs.
The hum of the golf cart trundling up the side of the building broke into my thoughts. I waved over Bill who had hismatchstick in his mouth as he steered around clusters of fans who were rubbernecking again.
“When I get Amber and James out, I need you to get them out of here as fast as possible. They’re going to try and stop you.”
“Call me Crash Bandicoot, Boss.”
I huffed out a laugh. “She’s precious cargo, Bill.”
“I know.”
I opened the door and peeked inside. Amber was already standing. Her eyes were smudged with tears and a hollowness that broke my heart. “Baby, are you okay?”
She nodded and her eyes filled. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“It is. I should have known better.” She dashed them away. “I’ll fix it. I promise.”
“Honey, it’s fine.” I looked over my shoulder at the four girls who were definitely paying too much attention. “Okay, we gotta get you out of here. Too many people are paying attention to this shed.”
“I couldn’t think of anything else. Rudolph. Just Rudolph.”
“I know.” I pulled her in close for a tight hug, damn the videos that were being taken. “I know.” I tucked my chin on top of her head for a second. “Bill is going to take you out of here on our golf cart. I told him to take you to my house. Use the gates. You remember your code?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Good. Hole up there for a while. I’m going to clear this out.”
“Wait. No. It’s opening day.”
“I know.” I didn’t want to tell her about the damages. “It’s just safer.”
“It’ll be okay after I leave, right?” She glanced over her shoulder at James who was quietly seething.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“We’ll talk about it later, okay? I just need you safe for now.”
She nodded. “Right. You’re right.”
I waved to Dylan who was doing a good job of playing goalie with the craftier fans. The kid nodded and jumped into action, blocking people from passing by the makeshift barriers they’d created.
Bill backed up as close to the door as possible. I opened the Rudolph rear doors and waved them out.
