Page 27 of Love Notes

“Thanks,” I said, a lot more genuinely this time.

She pulled a bag of cookies and a thermos out of her backpack.“Chris is working the police department tent.”

“Did he draw the short straw?”

Rebecca laughed.“Something like that.He’s hoping for fewer lost and crying kids this year.Anyway, I’ll be around, so do you want me to stop by and give you a few breaks, or do you and Sam and Haider have it covered between you?”

Sam was at his family’s maple syrup produce stall, and Haider, of course, was in charge of the Harmony Chocolates stall.They both had employees though, so usually they came and checked on me to make sure I could grab something to eat and drink or get the chance to go to the bathroom.Founders Day waslong.

“We’ve probably got it covered,” I said, trying not to blush because Adam was excited to come and check out the stalls and help me run mine for a little.If Rebecca saw him here, she would definitely have questions I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer.“But thanks.”

We both looked around at the sound of a loud honk, and a vintage fire truck rumbled slowly down the street.Conor was driving it, and he waved as he passed us.The firefighters’ booth was always hugely popular with the kids, mostly because they got to climb all over the fire truck parked outside and try the siren.Eldi the firehouse dog was another huge draw.I was a fan of Eldi myself.

“How’s your guest?”Rebecca asked, hefting her backpack over her shoulder again.“Or my guest, I guess.”

I rearranged the stuff she’d moved.“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“You’re not bothering him, are you?”she asked worriedly.“Just, he was really specific about that.He didn’t want anyone bothering him.”

Did blowing him last night on the couch count as bothering him?Adam had certainly looked bothered at the time.Hot and bothered.

“I haven’t really seen that much of him at all,” I said, which was a total lie, because I’d seen everything.

“Okay.”She let out a breath.“Good.And the cottage is almost all dried out, so I won’t have to ask you to do this again.I do appreciate it though, Ry.Really.I know your workshop can’t be very comfortable.”

“It’s no problem,” I said, guilt biting at me.Not for breaking the “no bothering” thing, but because I didn’t like lying to my big sister, not even by omission.

“You’re the best!If I see any funnel cakes, I’ll bring a couple back here for you.”

“Okay,” I said, hoping her path wouldn’t cross with Adam’s.Not because I wanted to keep lying, or because I thought she wouldn’t approve—once that whole “no bothering” thing was cleared up, of course—but because today, surrounded by people while I was trying to sell stuff, wasn’t the best time to explain.

My first potential customers arrived shortly after Rebecca left.They didn’t buy anything, but they looked like the sort of people who’d be back once they’d checked everything out.The woman was especially taken with the wooden bowls.

Haider and Sam both stopped by, allowing me the opportunity to get a bathroom break, and then Haider brought me my favorite malted milk balls.

Founders Day was huge this year.For a while, it had struggled.Tourism still wasn’t back at pre-pandemic levels, and a lot of businesses were feeling the bite still.But this year, Dallas Blade, the musician and singer, was coming to town for a concert.He would definitely be better than the polka band.I’d been a fan of The Dallas Blade Band back in high school, and I still listened to their stuff pretty regularly.There were a lot of people in town today just to see them, and they had money to spend.I wasn’t sure if I’d stick around for the concert though.As much as I liked Dallas Blade, I wasn’t a fan of crowds.

The day went by quickly.I barely had the chance to restock my table before I was making my next sale.At this rate, I was going to sell out and have nothing to lug home except empty boxes.By the time Adam showed up, I was a little frazzled and doing my best to hide it—the last few customers had bought a lot and paid cash, and I wasn’t great at calculating the costs in my head, especially when people changed their minds halfway through and swapped one product for another.I preferred it when people used the point-of-sale app Rebecca had set up on my phone.I just had to hit the right picture, and the app did the rest.Cash could get overwhelming.

“I think you mean ninety-five, dear,” an elderly woman said, when I’d just told her a hundred, and she didn’t look like a scammer, so I apologized and dug five dollars change out for her.

She thanked me as I wrapped her new serving platters.

“Hi,” Adam said, slipping behind the table and into the booth as I handed the lady her purchases.“Wow, this all looks great!I bought you a maple syrup milkshake.You’d think there would be limits of what you could put maple syrup in, but nope!”His eyes sparkled as he passed me the milkshake.“Apparently not.”

I took a sip and let out a long breath.“That’s so good.Thanks.”

“Can I leave my bag here?It’s full of maple syrup stuff.I’m not even that much of a fan, but Sam has an excellent sales pitch.”He stashed his bag under the table and then turned back to face me.He put his hand on my chest.“I’m heading out there again.Want me to bring you anything?”

“I’m good,” I said.

“Okay.”He patted my chest.“See you later.”He slipped out of the booth again.

It wasn’t until a few customers later that I realized he’d left a folded note in my shirt pocket.When I next got a break, I carefully unfolded it and winced.

It wasn’t cursive, not exactly, but it was a linked-up scrawl that was just as impossible to decipher.When I’d first been diagnosed, one of my teachers said that writing cursive could be helpful for people with dyslexia.And it was, I guess.When I was practicing writing it, suddenly I wasn’t reversing a bunch of my letters anymore.But reading it was even more difficult than reading regular writing, because I had trouble knowing where one letter finished and the next one began.And that was with uniform cursive.With writing like Adam’s, the words were just an incomprehensible scribble.

My heart clenched when I saw the heart he’d drawn at the bottom beside his name, and the same hot flush of shame that had been so familiar back in my school days washed over me all over again.

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