“Sorry, I’m just spitballing here. But what if we held our own farmer’s market?”
“How could we? The cars would all have to be compliant, and it would be a bigger drain on our resources if we had to monitor the vehicles that came into our town or did anything to disrupt the radio telescope.”
“What about maintenance days? Since they happen once a month, we could use those designated days to organize the farmer’s market. With the addition of the new products, we’re quickly outgrowing the booth. This way we could set up multiple booths, each dedicated to a different product. We could call it the Blaire Fair.”
“That’s perfect!” She gasps. “We’ll just have to think of a way to get the word out there. Blaire isn’t really a town people talk about.”
“True,” I say. That is a snag I wasn’t prepared for.
“Let’s keep thinking of ways to market it. In the meantime, I’ll go get the permit for it.” Callie literally takes my idea and runs with it, rushing off before I have a chance to say bye, which is a good thing. Because I can’t live with Gavin for much longer, not after today. And if I want to get out of here, I need to hire Kiki back ASAP. I make my way through the lobby, and just as I walk out the front entrance, I hear someone call my name. At first I think it’sCallie, so I stop. Before I turn around, she calls out to me again.
“El? Is that you?” It’s a voice I recognize, but not from anyone I’d know here.
I slowly spin on my heels, and my jaw drops when I’m faced with the last person I’d expect to see here.
“Willow?”
Chapter 31
“Oh my God, El.It isyou.” Willow prances over from the parking lot with her hands flopping around by her sides, a cross between a fairy and a T. rex. She jingles like a Christmas ornament from all the dangling jewelry she’s wearing.
“What are you doing here?” I haven’t heard from her all summer; she can’t be here to see me. Can she?
Willow air-kisses me on each side of my face. “I know. Like, what is this place, and what am I doing here?” She gags.
I’m simultaneously offended and relieved. On the one hand, she is insulting the place I now have to call home. On the other, she’s telling this to me with such brutal honesty that it occurs to me she has no idea I live here.
“Remember that show I’m doing?Parks and Trailers?”
“Oh, right. How’s that going?” I feign ignorance. How could I forget when I was the one who got her the role in the first place?
“So great.” Willow beams. “In fact, we’re on location filming an episode here. We’re on break, and this is the closest thing to an Urth Caffé within miles. I mean, can you believe it?” She snort-laughs.
I force myself to gloss over the dig on the cafe and zero in on the bigger news. “You’re shooting an episode here?”
“I know!” she squeals. “Oh my God, El. There’s so much I have to fill you in on. Is this near your retreat?”
So apparently my friends still think I’m on a silent retreat. And more importantly, they didn’t abandon me.
“Yeah,” I say vaguely. “Tell me more about this episode.”
“Okay, so my character is in a post-breakup funk that gives desperate vibes. So the director looked up the most desolate, sad place in the US, and this tiny town called Blaire popped up. I never knew it even existed. Then again, if its claim to fame is being the country’s most forgotten town, it tracks.” She looks around in disgust. “I mean, what even is this place?”
“It’s kind of cozy,” I say, unable to help myself from feeling defensive, “in that ironically retro way.”
“Elena, no. It’s only retro if it was once cool. And there’s no way that this red-vinyl-and-wood-paneled aesthetic was ever cool.”
The sour taste in my mouth makes my lips pucker. I think back to my first time feeling like this place was warm and inviting. But one comment from Willow is all it takes to snatch that away. No matter how much I try to resist it, the power of her opinion is undeniable, and it reminds me of how impressionable the public is too.
“You’re right.” I hear myself agreeing with her. “I can’t take it anymore. My parents are making me stay here until the bankruptcy is settled and my dad’s new role at the company is finalized. But that could take months.”
“Noooo,” she says, deep and guttural. As if there could be nothing worse than living in Blaire.
“That was my reaction when we got the news. I’m dying to go back to LA, but somehow my parents seem content being here. They’re even talking about me getting my GED so I don’t have to go back to Brenthaven.”
“Oh, El.” Willow cups my cheeks and makes a sad, pouty face. “No matter what your family did, no one deserves to live here like this. Least of all you.”
“Exactly! I shouldn’t be blamed for their mistakes.”Finally. Someone who understands me.
