‘The other stall is better than nothing,’ Morgan suggested, hoping she was helping. She really didn’t want to give up her plot, not just for the practicalities but because this specific market stall came with an emotional attachment. It had been Elaina’s stall for a long time and being relocated to a different pitch wouldn’t feel like she was honouring her mother in the same way at all.
‘Is there any way you’d take it next week?’ Nate asked her without any assumption lacing his words. He was good at this: arguing his case but not sounding like he was being anything other than gracious. He had, after all, paid.
And while she wanted to be equally courteous, she didn’t want to give up the stall either. And she couldn’t imagine telling Ronan it might take twice as long for her to clear the stock because she had a limit to how much she could sell each week. ‘I have a lot of stock too and while some items are smaller, they’re breakable. That stall really is better suited to sweets or confectionary rather than anything else.’
‘Which puts us in a bit of a spot.’ Nate didn’t take his eyes from hers.
She only looked away when she heard Jasper muttering beneath his breath at the complications that were down to him. She watched the colour drain from the market manager’s cheeks as his two traders found themselves at an impasse.
‘I really don’t have time on my side,’ said Nate, eyes back on her when she looked around again. And then he looked over at Jasper. ‘Don’t you have a cancellation policy from both sides? So I’m obliged not to cancel so many days before and you’re supposed to do the same?’
‘That’s right, I do.’ Jasper’s hands shook and he dropped his phone, bending to retrieve it.
Elaina would hate this. She loved Jasper; she’d been to his wedding when his own parents refused to witness him marrying a man, and upsetting him would be the last thing she’d want. She’d be wrapping her arms around him, telling him they could sort something out.
Morgan went over to the table Nate had been unloading onto. ‘What are you selling exactly?’
‘Hand-crafted wooden items, some large, others small. I’ve still got a bit more to unload yet.’ And then it was his turn to curse. ‘I left a woman in bright yellow dungarees looking after my car because the boot is wide open. I need to…’
Morgan dismissed his worries with a wave of her hand. ‘That’ll be Hildy. She won’t leave her post.’ Knowing Hildy, she’d bend over backwards for a good-looking guy like Nate. ‘Look, the way I see it, we can either keep bickering or we can agree to share. I’m selling vintage items, I’m not direct competition, not food alongside furniture or anything else that might hideously clash.’
Jasper had his hands together as though offering up a silent prayer either to whatever god he believed in or perhaps to Elaina as if she was watching over them at this very moment.
‘That could work,’ Nate agreed. ‘Would you share for a few weeks, say four? That’s how long I’m here for.’
‘Sure,’ she found herself saying. Although aside from the sharing of the stall, her mind was more on the fact that he was hanging around for a while.
‘One side each?’ he smiled in a way she felt was near impossible to resist even if you disagreed with him.
Jasper put a hand on Nate’s shoulder and one on Morgan’s. ‘Thank goodness. I was beginning to have visions of this story making the papers, Morgan. I thought you might take to your keyboard and write about it.’
‘Jasper, I’d never do that to you.’
He squeezed her shoulder. ‘Well, you kids just saved my arse.’
‘Jasper, you’re the boss,’ Morgan pointed out. But she was glad she could make it easier for him, she couldn’t bear to see him hurting. ‘We’ve only saved you from yourself.’
‘Let me give you a hand, Nate.’ Jasper went off to help him unload and at least it gave Morgan some time alone to think about how to position the items she’d brought with her to the best of her ability with half the space. She wouldn’t be able to fit so much on, but she’d have to make do and move items in from boxes at the back as others sold.
Nate returned time and time again with items, some beautifully crafted, although he ended up with the same issue as her in that he didn’t have much space to play with. ‘Jasper says you’re at the stall for the foreseeable.’
‘I need to sell everything, then I’m done,’ she told him.
‘Sounds a familiar scenario.’ He turned his attentions to his things and cramming as much as he could into the reduced space he now had. He put a wooden trivet with a beautiful grain pattern on display along with a wooden tidy box for household items. She wondered where he got all his stock from.
A petite, smartly dressed, blonde-haired lady came over to introduce herself. ‘I thought I’d say a few hellos,’ she beamed. ‘I’m Sadie. I’m new here; I have the cookie stall at the far end that way.’ She pointed in the appropriate direction. She was dressed a lot smarter than Morgan was – most stallholders chose outfits for comfort and staying cool now it was summer – but this woman could’ve been mistaken for an office worker.
‘Good to meet you. I’m Morgan and this, as you can see…’ She pointed to the sign waiting on the table to be put up. ‘…is Everything Vintage.’
‘I’ll have to come back for a better look later.’
Nate introduced himself too and let Sadie know what he was selling today.
‘Stop by, both of you,’ Sadie instructed before she waved goodbye, calling back, ‘I’ve got plenty of tasters.’
When Erica from the toy stall walked past and introduced herself to Nate, Morgan wondered how many others would be stopping by her stall today to check out the new talent – probably a few.
‘Want me to put that up?’ Nate indicated the sign when it was just the two of them again.
