Page 18 of The Best Trick

After forty minutes of driving and a few twists and turns, we ended up on the outskirts of a little town called Oak Corners.

“We're here!” Zeus announced.

“Is this the surprise?” I asked.

Zeus looked at me, disgusted. “What, some random town? What the fuck kind of surprise would that be?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

We drew closer. There seemed to be some kind of outdoor festival going on, judging from the number of people on the sidewalks and how hard it was to find a parking space. We finally found one and got out.

Zeus seemed extremely excited.

“Isthisthe surprise?” I asked.

“When you see it, you’ll know it,” he said.

I was just excited that there were no hot air balloons anywhere. But what was the surprise?

Zeus had his phone out and was following directions, heading north. I walked by his side as though we were a pair, and Odin and Thor walked together some ways behind us, acting as if they didn't know us. This way of walking had become second nature to us, being that one of the first things ZOX agents and the police who worked with them would be looking for would be three men and a woman.

Not that people would be on the lookout for us in random places. But you never knew. And Odin and Zeus still seemed to be looking over their shoulders more than usual.

We turned a corner onto Main Street, nearing the center of the small town. It was there that I spied the huge banner strung between old-fashioned streetlights, emblazoned with the words “Oak Corners Artisanal Cheese and Wine Festival” and, below that, “AAGSCI.”

I spun and grabbed Zeus’s arm, grinning so widely I'm sure my chipmunk cheeks were the size of two baseballs. “The American Artisanal Goat and Sheep Cheese Invitational!” Which we in the business pronounced ag-see.

“That's right,” he said.

We’d been spending so much time running from place to place I hadn't kept up with the world of artisanal cheeses. I'd forgotten it was even this weekend, or that this year's festival was on the West Coast.

“This is one of the most prestigious small-farm cheese events in the world!” I exclaimed. “How did you think of this?”

Zeus smiled mysteriously.

At the center of town, Zeus showed his phone to a guy at a table. The guy handed over four bracelets. Zeus discreetly passed two of them to Odin and Thor. I hooked my arm in his and practically dragged him toward where cheesemakers and other vendors had set up their tables and booths to display their wares.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Zeus said.

“For cheese?” I exclaimed. “Always! Thank you,” I added.

Zeus’s mysterious smile wore on. Was there a further surprise? Were they giving romantic hot air balloon rides at the festival?

“My sisters and I always dreamed of Sunny Sisters Sheep Farm being invited to compete,” I told him. “It was on our dream board.”

He just smiled some more.

We tasted an amazing gouda at the first table, and then some really interesting blue cheeses. Zeus bought me a soft, hot pretzel covered in melted Swiss cheese, and I nearly died of yumminess. I turned and caught Odin’s eye and pointed to the booth, meaning,you two need to get yourselves these things.

We headed up the street. In addition to the many cheese tables, there were cheese-themed Christmas ornaments, cheese knives and serving sets, plaques with cheesy cheese sayings, and lots of other cheese-themed crafts that made me wish we had a permanent home to decorate.

We stopped and bought some fresh cider—luckily not cheese flavored—and proceeded on to the local high school football field where the main judging event was apparently being held.

Tables were set up all over the playing field, arrayed in four long rows up and down. The place was crowded already, and it wasn’t even noon. There were even clusters of people sitting up in the bleachers.

“This is such an amazing surprise, Zeus,” I said.

“Oh, it gets better,” he said mysteriously.

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