Her face softens, “I knew what you meant.”
I inhale and look around. We are ready. And, damn him to his dark, fiery home, I’m listening to the devil’s advice. Everyone is. I don’t think he planned to help all the shops but he’s evilanddumb if he thinks I’m not going to tell everyone exactly what he told me.
It can’t just be word of mouth and samples and decor.
We’ve upped our prices. Steven and I came up with special menus—you’re welcome, Cadbury, for my giant chocolate order—and a million activities for kids and families. We thought beyond just the physical Easter eggs around town and added the digital QR codes hidden for grown ups. We’ve got various types of photo opps for influencers. We started a low-key competition with Cedar Point and Pine Bluff to draw more tourists to the region. Hopefully people will road trip in from the city and hit all of us tomorrow and Saturday.
The weather is supposed to be lovely.
It’s all coming together.
And it’ll be so amazing I won’t need the extra sales on Sunday. Our small town closes completely for Easter, as it always has, because God forbid we don’t honor Resurrection Day. Literally, we’re pretty sure He forbids it.
And, Janie can tease me about being hokey all she wants but I kind of love it. I need the day of rest. Dad does too. I like the comforting traditions of church, the hopeful story. The aunts will be in the front row whispering, until one of them falls asleep. And it never fails, either a baby poops in their diaper or an old man farts. For the last part of service, the whole chapel smells foul.
Not unlike the cabbage at the Shamrock Falls Fest.
Ugh.
Janie knows I’m more stressed than usual but she doesn’t know why, exactly.
So far I’ve had a town that smelled like butt crack, three trucks stuck in the mud, and no actual profits.
This event, though, we’re really leaning into the family angle. We should’ve done that more with the Maple Tap, touting how kids could tap the trees themselves and learn how syrup gets made.
Parents pay a pretty penny to entertain their kids. Kids eat snacks, go inside stores to potty, and whine for mom and dad to buy all the little tchotchkes they see.
So, tomorrow will be different.
This time, I really worked through every single thing.
_____
“You didn’t think about the weather!?” Someone screeches at me. Could be a horrified parent. Could be Shelly. There’s a crowd, so it’s hard to tell.
“It’s never this warm!” Steven tries to defend me.
“What’s everyone on about?”
Oh no.
Thatvoice I’d recognize in a freaking stadium. Which is weird, actually. And very unfortunate for me right now. Wish I could just pretend he doesn’t exist.
The crowd erupts to answer Aiden’s question.
“Whoever did this is going to hell! It’s Easter!”
“It’s hilarious, already a thousand likes!”
“We’re going viral?”
“Like an STD! Get it!”
“Thanks to the idiot baker and her inappropriate—”
“Hey,” Aiden cuts through the crowd with his tone. “Do not call her an…oh.”
Yeah.
