Bastian is quiet. His hand rests on my thigh, and ever so often, he idly strokes up and down. Every time my mind wanders to worry, he soothes me.
Signs posted on the roadside shout directions to the parking areas for the fair, and boast of its magnificence. Apples, pumpkins, and mugs of ale are anthropomorphized into cute mascots that tell arriving visitors to go to the shops for a treat before games and rides.
My stomach is light with anticipation as we drive around to the back for vendor load-in. Little peeks of Ferris wheels, giant metal slides, and bungee trampolines appear through gaps in the brush, only adding to my excitement. I’ve never been to a fair like this!
The road opens to a large dirt lot where vendors of all kinds are unloading their vehicles. I see jars of honey, spices, jerky, and more heading toward the food court. Clothing, trinkets, and paintings are flowing to the market just beside it. People love to shop and munch—and I’m all for it! I just hope no one splashes any of our books with cider. I’ll have to have a “You stain it, you buy it” policy.
I find us a good spot to park and Drew pulls up beside us. We load the bookshelves onto the dollies first and find our spot in the market. It’s a great location right across from the opening to the food market. We really couldn’t have asked for a better spot.
A chill breeze hits us around noon, but the bookshelves act as good windbreaks. We create a half-circle design with the shelves to prevent inaccessible corners, or places people might get trapped, and then set up the checkout booth off to the side. Our canopy covers the shelves and the checkout with waterproof siding to make sure that, no matter the weather, we can stay open. We put down a few colorful rugs and a runner leading out toward the food court to help draw people in.
Finally, just twenty minutes to the Thursday opening at five, the shelves are loaded, my lockbox is stocked with change, and we’re ready to sell. Renee and Drew agreed to take shifts with us so we could all enjoy the fair—and get potty breaks.
Drew and Bastian take the first shift, since we don’t think it’ll be too busy, so Renee and I can enjoy a bit of hot cider to warm up. I insist on buying for all her help, and she finally concedes.
“You know,” I start as we walk the food court.
“I don’t know,” Renee says before I can go on.
I chuckle, grateful for the interruption that eases the tension in my gut. It shouldn’t be hard to say this, yet somehow it feels like dredging up a stone from my stomach. As if there’s a chest of secrets buried under years of sediment at the bottom of the lake. I’ve hauled it up, and now I need to open it for her to see…
What if she doesn’t like what’s inside?
“Cait?” she prompts me, a line of concern wrinkling her perfectly dolled up face.
I clear my throat. “Sorry, I feel awkward for saying it, but I want you to know. Your friendship isn’t something I expected, but I do so dearly treasure it.”
Renee stops perusing and turns to me, her face screwed up in a teary smile. “Same to you.”
I give a wry laugh. “Oh yes, the bookshop people always calling for your help.”
She shoves my arm. “We love helping. And it’s not as if you’re taking advantage of us. We didn’t have any friends up here before you. It was just always work, and each other. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband, but I’ve been in desperate need of girl time.”
“Yeah, me too. I wasn’t really ever good at making friends in Cali, either,” I say. “I had a lot of business acquaintances, some were rivals really, but neverfriends.”
Renee nods as she loops arms with me. “I get that, too. Why is it always so hard to connect on a deeper level?”
“I think I wasn’t in the right headspace. I was so bogged down with landing the next deal, getting the promotion, wowing the bosses…everyone was either competition or an obstacle. I lost sight of the things I needed forme.The things that would truly make a life worth living.”
“Well, it also doesn’t help when bitches named Patricia steal your work,” Renee says with a quirked eyebrow.
I sigh. “True. But honestly, I should’ve asked for her help, included her from the beginning. I’d gotten so obsessed with thatproject that I’d stopped doing the things I loved. I thought for sure it would get me the promotion, when I didn’t even know if I was being considered for it.”
Renee rubs my arm compassionately. “You definitely were.”
“I’m glad I didn’t get it,” I say with a bright smile to assuage her concern. “While I would do things differently now, I’m glad I didn’t then. Those choices led me here, so it’s hard to call them mistakes.”
“We’re all glad you’re here, too. Bastian probably most of all since you saved him from eternal lizarddom,” she says, then makes a silly reptilian face, pulling her lips wide as she crosses her eyes and sticks out her tongue.
We laugh, our warm, cidery breath fogging in the fall air.
Suddenly, Renee’s expression changes, concern furrowing her brow. I glance over my shoulder, catching librarian glasses and a crooked nose before I’m jostled hard. He grabs my arm with a firm grip on my bag.
“Quiet,” comes the groaning voice I’ve heard in my nightmares. “Not a fuss from you or I torch the book—don’t play dumb, I know what’s in your bag. I could see its magical signature a mile away with my head up my ass.”
Renee glares daggers at the man behind us. “I thought something smelled like shit.”
“Ha, ha,” the hunter wheezes and I hear the snap of an opening blade. “And don’t even think about brushing that brand on your chest.”
