“Thank you. Bae, it’s almost time for the fireworks show,” Tegan announced, turning her attention to me.
“Cool. I’ve already had JC to take our chairs down when he took his down. You ready?” I asked, taking her hand in mine.
“Yeah, babe.”
“See you at the park, Paul,” I stated just as the deejay announced over the intercom that everyone should head down to the park for the fireworks display.
I lifted our clasped hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “This was a great success today, bae.”
“I know. Thank you so much for taking this and running with it.”
“You did all the work, girl.”
“No. You kicked it all off, and it took flight from there.”
I squeezed her closer to me as we walked down the street, and groups of people followed our lead, doing the same. Not only had we given away lots of free service today, but it had resulted in actual sales and new customers for all the stores.
People stopped in the gift shop and bought an item or two. Patrons who hadn’t made it in time for the free haircuts still paid to get their hair cut anyway and asked for a business card for future appointments. Baby received customers in thebakery, who purchased whole cakes and other items that weren’t freebies.
That had been the story for the other business owners as well. They hadn’t all come to the event at the very start. Some of them had prior obligations to tend to and they arrived later in the afternoon, while others had to cut out early. There were plenty of business owners who had been here from the start of the day until the end.
“There’s our seats over there,” she remarked, pointing in the distance where some of our friends and staff sat.
“You hungry?” I asked, pointing at the line for the funnel cakes, popcorn, and cotton candy.
She laughed and shook her head. “I’ve had more than my fair share of food. With all I’ve eaten today, I need to be in Palmer’s class every day, twice a day for the next three weeks.”
I smacked her on the ass and chuckled. “Shut up with your fine ass. You ain’t hurting nobody by eating an extra cupcake or two and all those grilled dogs you chowed down on.”
“Oh my God! You saw me?” she asked, her light eyes brightening even more in embarrassment.
“Hell yeah. Couldn’t take my eyes off your fine ass all day long.”
“I’m so thankful that I chose to close the bakery tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and I’ll need the extra sleep.”
“You’re the one who decided to work on a holiday,” I pointed out.
“It didn’t feel like work at all,” she countered as we took a seat in our chairs.
“It really didn’t, Harlem,” Raque spoke up when we sat down in the middle of our friends.
“Thank you all for doing that today. It meant a lot to me, to the community, and just everyone,” Baby declared.
“We think it’s an awesome idea. That’s the same thing that I told Harlem when he called and asked if I wanted to be a part,” Stephanie remarked.
“It just could not come together without you all. Harlem, don’t forget to get those items,” Baby stated, reminding me about the thank-you gifts.
“Yeah, give me a second.” I stood, Eli followed me, and we walked to the parking lot where our cars were. We grabbed some boxes and returned to our little group and sat in the middle of them.
“What’s that, boss man?” Monte asked, bobbing his head at the boxes.
“This is our little thank you for your support today. It didn’t go unnoticed that you all pitched in at the last minute without complaint,” I explained as Eli and I ripped the boxes open with our pocketknives.
“I enjoyed it. We had so much fun,” Thérèse stated.
“We should do this every year,” Kori Jones, one of Baby’s wine attendants, proclaimed.
I got my box opened first, and I passed out the first bottle of Premium Edition Sexton Bourbon.
