Page 91 of Lovewell Lane

And fuck, it had been six months of knowing her, and I was tired of taking things slow.

Tessa came barreling out of the bounce house with Lila’s daughter, Sienna, not far behind. They were both laughing, cheeks pink and hair flying. Tessa had a balloon tied to her wrist and a flower with a swarm of bees painted on her face.

Luckily, our booth was situated across from the bounce house. I could watch Tessa and our business at the same time.

“Daddy! Can we go see Margo’s booth next?”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing her hand. I was tired of waiting for Margo to come to me. “Let’s walk around. I haven’t had a chance to see everything yet.”

I gave Sam a quick look after I helped cash out the next person. Then I looked behind me to see Jack sitting in a lawn chair on his phone. “Hey, cover for me will you?”

He groaned. His sunglasses covered his eyes, which hid giant eye bags that I’d seen earlier that morning when he’d moaned and complained about helping us set up. He stood up despite his complaints. “Fine.”

“Tessa and I are going to walk around. We’ll be back in a little bit.”

We wandered through the booths, stopping at the beaded bracelet station, the homemade soap corner, and one booth run by an old high school friend of mine that just sold paintings of owls. But eventually, I found her.

I spotted Margo in her corner booth, hair pulled back, apron tied tight, and her smile glowing. She looked more like herself than I’d ever seen her. Grounded. Present. Happy.

The woman I didn’t recognize next to her must be her friend, Scarlet. She was helping cash people out with a smile while staying close to Margo.

When I approached, Scarlet looked up first.

“Ohhh,” she said, nudging Margo with an elbow. “This must be the hot farmer.”

“I hate you,” Margo muttered. Then she straightened. “Hey, Tessa.”

Tessa pushed up on her tiptoes to see Margo over the table filled with stuff in front of her. “Hi! We wanted to come see you. Can I come around?”

“Of course,” Margo said to Tessa. While Tessa ran around the sea of tables, Scarlet leaned in to tease Margo.

“You love me.”

“I tolerate you.”

Scarlet turned to me and held out her hand. “You must be Derek.”

I shook it and gave Margo an amused grin. “And you must be Scarlet.”

She grinned. “Seems like we’ve heard a lot about each other.”

Tessa ran up behind Margo and gave her a hug. She picked out a cookie for Tessa to have while I turned my attention to Scarlet. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Margo pretend not to eavesdrop.

We talked for a few minutes, and I discovered Scarlet was nothing like Margo. She was blunt and reserved, but clearly cared a lot about Margo. Eventually, someone needed help on the far side of the booth, and Scarlet excused herself with a wink.

“She used to be an introvert believe it or not,” Margo muttered.

“She’s good for you.”

Margo looked at me, almost shy. “You’re not... overwhelmed by all of this?”

“Are you kidding?” I looked around, gesturing to the crowd, the booths, the buzzing life of the town. “You pulled this off. It’s amazing.”

She smiled, and I could see her mask slip off. Just for me.

“I’d like to do this again next year,” I said, quieter now. “With you.”

Her lips parted like she wasn’t sure what to say.

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