But tonight, I had drivena truck.
And tomorrow, I wouldn’t be doing any of it alone.
Chapter Eleven: Building Something More Than A Float
Lydia
I woke before my alarm, already mentally sorting greenery by type and weight.
That wasn’t unusual anymore. Ever since the inn reopened, my mornings had started that way, my brain jumping ahead before my body caught up. But today had an edge to it. The float, the truck, and the parade, all the things I had agreed to before fully understanding what they would require.
That needed to change, I decided. I needed to start thinking things through before jumping in with both feet.
From downstairs came the low hum of the inn waking up. Coffee was brewing. A cabinet opening and closing too hard. Meri’s voice asking someone if they had checked the delivery list outside in the hallway. Kitty’s voice, already loud, already enthusiastic, already arguing about something I couldn’t yet identify.
I lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening.
This was what responsibility sounded like now. Noise, overlap and people moving before everything was planned.
Getting up, I went through my morning routine before I pulled on jeans and a sweater then headed downstairs.
The lobby was already in motion. Jane stood near the front desk with a clipboard, hair neatly pulled back, expression focused in the way that meant she had decided today was going to go well whether it cooperated or not. Lucy was nearby,shrugging into a coat, coffee in hand, scanning the room like she was tracking five different conversations at once.
Kitty burst out of the storage room carrying a tangled mess of green garland.
“Okay,” she announced. “We have options.”
Jane looked up. “Those aren’t options. That’s a problem.”
“They can be both,” Kitty replied cheerfully.
Meri appeared behind her, hands in the pockets of her sweater, eyes already assessing the situation. “You’re going to need more zip ties.”
I smiled despite myself.
The truck sat outside, parked where it had been the night before, solid and patient and entirely unaware of the attention it was about to receive. Seeing it in daylight made it feel more real somehow. Less like a victory and more like a responsibility.
I took a breath and clapped my hands once, softly. “Okay. Before we start—”
Kitty froze mid-step. Jane looked up. Meri turned her attention fully to me.
“I toned it down,” I said. “The float. I really did.”
Jane’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Good.”
Kitty’s face fell. “Even more than what you said last night?.”
“The same as last night, I just want Jane and Lucy to know what we’re doing. There will be no moving parts, no tall structures. Nothing that could catch the wind or fall off and take out a spectator,” I told them.
“So,” Lucy said slowly with a grin. “You took out all the fun.”
“I took out all the lawsuits,” I replied.
Meri nodded approvingly. “Lydia is maturing.”
I rolled my eyes before stepping closer to the truck, and resting a hand lightly on the side of the bed. “Greenery along the edges, secured properly. Battery lights woven through, but nothing loose. A bench in the middle if we can anchor it safely.”
Jane tilted her head. “And signage?”
