Taryn swallowed a sigh.
She loosened her grip. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s fine.” He glanced at the empty tables. “Slow day?”
A lump burned in her throat, and her breath hitched.
Do. Not. Cry.
After exhaling, she placed the plans on the table and sat.
“Yes,” her voice cracked.
She cringed, but the emptiness of the one thing she loved wholeheartedly pressed all her buttons and not in a good way. No one had stopped in to purchase a loaf of bread or rolls for dinner. No one had popped by for a cookie or a cupcake. No one had ordered a special dessert for a celebration in the upcoming days.
Taryn’s stomach churned. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.
Even with the patio’s grand opening this past weekend, business was getting worse. People might visit during evening hours, but that wasn’t generating any day traffic.
“Are you okay?” The concern in Garrett’s voice matched the look in his eyes.
Taryn would kill for a hug. Instead, she raised her chin.
You can do this.
She didn’t have a choice unless her father decided otherwise. “Yeah, a lot’s going on.”
He glanced around. “Margot mentioned a new bakery in Summit Ridge.”
“They opened a few months ago. We’ve taken a big hit.” Taryn glanced at the door, willing for someone to enter to show the situation wasn’t hopeless, but no one did. “Now the booth is ruined, and it feels like everything is going wrong.”
“My showing up didn’t help.”
No.” Heat rushed up to her neck. She squirmed in her seat. “I mean…”
“I know what you mean.”
Did he? Because Taryn wasn’t sure she did. “I appreciate you offering to help. There’s no way I could do this on my own.”
“Then let’s get this done.”
His confidence gave her a much-needed boost.
With a closed-mouth smile, he leaned forward. “Show me your plans.”
The plans, right. She pushed the design toward him. “My theme isA Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Garrett glanced up at her. “From Tchaikovsky at Christmas to Shakespeare in the summer.”
Taryn shrugged, but not out of indifference. She took the business association’s competitions seriously and had filled a notebook with ideas for themes.
“Lawson’s Bakery has never won the booth competition, so I wanted to come up with something extra special. I did this without knowing the other bakery would open this year. The booth resembles the woods outside of Athens. The goal is to make it appear whimsical and magical, using edible decorations.”
He paged through the sheets of paper. “You put a lot of thought into this.”
“I did. Last fall, I spent every night after work and all day on Sundays working on it. There isn’t time to replicate the exact design, but I’d like it to be as close as possible.”
“So before we talk about the actual plans, what is the booth for, and where will it be set up?”
