“C’mon. It’ll only take a minute.” She gripped my arm and literally batted her eyelashes at me.
“Fine. Just a few. I’m beat.”
“Right. We can make it quick.” She clapped her hands and ran for her camera stabilizer. “Maybe if we added some lights to the rooflines? With the snow it would look magical.”
She was right, but that wasn’t a quick video.
Valerie came back with a bunch of string lights and glittery stars. “This would be so perfect for Billie’s space. The glittery stars with the stained glass is a match made in heaven.”
Billie had created a special North Star to hang from the tip of her roofline over her door. She’d hung it with heavy wire so it wouldn’t fall with all the people coming and going through the doors.
I braided the daintier string lights with heavier, traditional bulbs then added in the stars until it was a brightly lit swag of garland. I draped it over the roofline and tried not to get crabby at the shouted directions from Valerie.
She filmed me adding them and then the end product, creating a quick and effective transition that looked great. And because I already had figured out the style, I made four more. I’d figure out a variation in the morning to change up the look, but for now it really did elevate the space.
I hopped down off the ladder and Valerie hugged my arm. “Exactly how I pictured it.”
I disentangled myself from her with a soft smile. “It was a great idea.”
She crossed her arms, her lips in a tight line.
I was too tired to worry about hurting her feelings. The woman wouldn’t know a boundary if it bit her on the nose.
Molly came up to stand between us.
“This is really great, Tate. Better than I even imagined.”
“Yeah, it really is.”
She nudged me. “You should be proud.”
“We should be proud. I couldn’t have done it without you—either of you.”
Valerie beamed at me. “Everyone will be talking about this place.”
“Let’s hope they all come with their credit cards.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. You’re rich.”
I’d poured a ton of money into the Wonderland Village. Between the loans for many of the town businesses and this place, I needed to make this place a success. It was incredible how fast money spent, especially when I wanted the best of the best for everything.
“Okay, I gotta get off my feet. Time for everyone to go home.” Molly turned us both away from the lights to the path back down to the front gates.
I agreed and followed her down. I was so tired that my eyeballs actually hurt. I waved at both of them. “Great job today. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Valerie took her sweet time to get to her car, but finally left.
I dragged myself into my house, but it was so quiet.
I didn’t realize just how much I’d grown to expect Amber with me at night until she wasn’t there.
Even exhausted, my brain was still spinning with last-minute details. We still had two empty stalls thanks to the last-minute cancellations. I had a few maybes, but the short notice SOS was hard to fill. It was high season for most of the artists, and they were already locked in with other craft fairs or simply ill-prepared for a large retail space to fill.
We were T-minus three days for the opening, and I felt like we’d never get done in time.
Amber was so good at talking me off the ledge and she was busy.
I grabbed my phone then threw it back on the kitchen island. She deserved to enjoy time with her friend. I could handle one night without her.
