I wandered without direction, letting the current of the crowd carry me, until a soft glow pulled my attention left. There was a tent with a striped yellow canopy and a sign that looked gently handmade in looping script for Chapter & Crumb, so I headed that way first, hoping to see my new friend.
The smell was immediate—warm sugar, butter, the faint zest of lemon. The kind of scent that slips under emotional armor before you’ve realized it.
Inside, Lila stood behind a wooden display, arranging pastries with the measured, content focus of someone who loves what they do. Her hair was braided loosely, her cheeks kissed with the kind of glow only ovens or happiness produced.
Her face brightened when she saw me. “Hey Hattie! Good to see you. What do you think of our little Summerlights Festival?” She offered a mischievous smile. “I heardthat Kipp’s got another booking up at the cabins. How’s that going? Has he come around yet?”
“Well, he’s definitely improved.” I gave her a wink. “He’s getting on my good side more and more each day. Not totally forgiven yet.”
That was an understatement if there ever was any. He redeemed himself (several times) if I were the gossiping sort.
She laughed. “Don’t let him off too easily. Can’t let them think that we’ll just forgive anything.” She hummed a little and poked at the pastry case. “Sage is here tonight, so I’m sure she’ll want to see you. Make sure you stop at her stall. I told her that you’re going out with us on girl night.” I hadn’t really agreed, but I kind of liked that she was assuming I’d go. It made me feel like I might have a little girl band of my own. “You want something from the case? I’ve got blackberry lemon bourbon bars and sugar cookies today. I also brought in a few of our blind dates with book selections if you’re interested.”
My eyes had been glued to the pastries, my mouth watering even though I was snacking on caramel corn, but I swung over to the table that had been set up. It was a good thing that I’d planned ahead and brought a tote bag with me this time. Sure enough, she had an entire display arranged with books wrapped in plain paper, stickers tucked inside, along with bookmarks and little tabs. Every time I was around Lila, she impressed me more and more with her marketing and business sense.
“Wow. These are amazing. I’m definitely going to snatch a few of these up. Did you do these yourself?” She had a couple of selections, including ‘Blind Date with a Killer’ that I was going to pass on, but she did have ‘Spicy Blind Date’.
“A lot of times, it’s either me or my manager, Mia. Sometimes I let Sage help because she’s great at coming up with wacky suggestions. People seem to enjoy the blind date options, so I try to rotate the genres we offer. This month, it’s romance and thrillers.”
“These all look amazing. I’m going to have to take a few of them. Endless TBR is a thing.” I winked. Placing my book selection on the counter, I salivated over the options in the case and had her package up a few choices for me to take back to the cabin, just in case I had a visitor.
“I love reading, and my TBR is just as long. That’s probably why I own a bookstore—because I want all the books. If you ever need gossip about Kipp, you know where to find me. I’m not above gossiping about him.” She gave me a smirk that had me liking her more and more.
“I might take you up on that,” I agreed. It was tempting to gather as much intel as possible on the enigmatic Mr. Holt. “And I am looking forward to going out for a ladies’ night.”
Back out on the main path, the sky had darkened, and a light breeze had started to blow, finally cooling the air. It had been a blistering hot day, and any relief was welcome.
And that was when I saw Kipp moving through the crowd like someone not entirely convinced he belonged among so many people—broad shoulders that filled out a T-shirt that clung to arms that should have been considered a civic distraction.
Fish trotted beside him, tail wagging so enthusiastically his whole back end shimmied with each step, practically vibrating. It was easy to see that Fish was one happy doggo. When I was growing up, Jane and I had desperately wanted a cat or a dog, but our parents hadn’t felt that we had time as a family for pets. We’d both begged, but in the end, we never could talk them into it.
Kipp clocked me a few steps later, his eyes finding mine. If I’d had a chance to worry that it’d be awkward seeing him again after our interlude, I didn’t need to. His face lit up in a knowing smile.
“Hey,” he said when he reached me, his voice a low, familiar warmth. “Good to see you here. Didn’t know if you’d make it out tonight. Hell, I didn’t know I’d still be here, but my family has conned me into being here all day setting up.”
Fish bumped against my hand insistently, and I scratched the bristly hair between his ears. “I needed a break from… everything.” The day had been overwhelming, but I wasn’t sure that sharing it was what I wanted to do.
“Yeah, I get that. Sometimes having a break is important.” Kipp nodded, something like understanding flickering behind his eyes.
A group of kids dashed past, chasing a swirl of bubbles. The lights above us swayed gently. The band on stage shifted into a slow, bluesy tune that threaded through the air.
“Do you want to walk around? Me and Fish were about to start the loop before we headed home.” His shoulders gave a little shrug. “We might find something for dinner that is a little more substantial than caramel corn if you want.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’d like that.”
We fell into step naturally. Fish ranged ahead, sniffing stray popcorn kernels and greeting strangers like old friends. The festival glow deepened as more lanterns flickered on, the light brushing the edges of Kipp’s shoulders, the curve of his cheek, the quiet steadiness in his stride.
We passed craft tents, food stalls spilling warm scents into the air, couples slow-dancing by the stage, families sprawled on picnic blankets. The night had grown rich and sweet, and I liked walking around next to the man and his dog while he pointed things out to me.
We walked in comfortable silence for a while until he broke it. “How was your day?”
I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Intense. But… this is helping. I figured I could come here and be around normal people whose biggest worry was whether to have that serving of funnel cake instead of the double ice cream cone.”
He scoffed. “Silly girl. The answer is not to sweat the small things in the summertime and have both desserts.”
We angled towards one of the food booths, where he bought us both a couple of tempting trays of tacos that I didn’t hesitate to dig into.
“Tell me more about you.”
