Page 75 of Lucy Loves Him Not
Adam
don’t regret it one bit, would literally give you more time if I could
going to sleep now. Goodnight, Lovely Lucy.
People were scurrying through downtown, our festival team running around with maps and layouts as stages and booths were built. We had people hanging decorations, setting up rides on the green space outside City Hall and a crew talking through the day of traffic and parking.
I was assigned to meet with the vendors to make sure we answered their questions and, as Adam said during our brief chat that morning, “make sure they felt good about everything.”
It felt strange to go from flirting on the drive home to a rushed business meeting. I wanted to grab hold of his hand or grab his face and kiss it or something. I hated that what we started had hit pause.I could practice professionalism and patience,I told myself.
I was feeling drained hopping from vendor to vendor, answering questions, making notes, and putting out little fires as I went along.
In the late morning, I was scheduled to check in with Coffees and Commas. I checked my notes and saw that they planned to leave their door wide open with a little sign pointing inside on Festival Day. But, when I walked up to the shop, I found Gabriel Hernandez and Terrence outside the doorway trying to set up some sort of wooden stand.
“I was told you were going to leave a sign encouraging visitors to go inside for air conditioning and coffee?” I asked.
“The girls changed their mind,” Gabe said, wiping sweat off his forehead. “A few times, actually. Just decided now that they wanted to have a stand in the doorway for the festival to give out some discounted mugs and beans and stuff.”
“Is that allowed?” Terrence asked, his voice sounding hopeful I’d say itwasn’tallowed.
“Most shops here on Main Street are doing something outside their doorway to draw people in or offer something special. Sounds like a good idea to me,” I said. “We’re so close, though, I’d recommend you don’t change the plans anymore.”
“Back to work then,” Gabe said, his drill buzzing loudly.
Inside the shop, I found Emma Brown, Gabriel’s fiancée, and Katie in a serious discussion over the coffee bar. A familiar scene here in Sweet River, these two girls had been best friends since they were in diapers.
“Hi, guys.” I waved my folder in the air. “Ready for some festival planning?”
“Oh, come join the festival strategy session we’re having right now.” Emma waved me over, her engagement ring glimmering in the light.
“Congratulations, by the way, Emma.” I pointed to the ring.
Emma tucked her long, blond hair behind her ears as her big blue eyes beamed. “Thank you.”
“Wedding planning, festival planning—planning is all we do these days,” Katie joked. She had her dark, brown hair up in one of her usual messy buns and a khaki Coffees and Commas apron on.
“You Rhodes ladies can expect an invitation in the mail soon.” Emma shimmied her shoulders excitedly. “Though, I bet Olivia will be going as my future brother-in-law’s date, right?”
Katie raised her palms up in the air to indicate she didn’t know the answer either.
“Um,” was all I could say. “Maybe?”
Emma covered her mouth. “Was that awkward of me to say? I thought Victor and Olivia were…never mind! Forget. I. Said. Anything.”
To my relief, the conversation rolled right along until we were deep into festival talks.
I left Coffees and Commas with an iced coffee in my hand. Stepping onto Main Street, my eyes landed on Adam, whom I had barely seen today. He had his button-down sleeves rolled up his forearms, having helped pitch one of the big tents. He’d stepped back to look at the work they’d done when his eyes spotted me.
He shot me a wink. It was like a tug on my heart.
My last meeting of the day was with a few local school teachers about the art show. We paced back and forth around the area sectioned off for the show, deciding on how to line up the tables.
“We thought we could have a table in the corner here for a teacher section,” Ricardo, a local superintendent said, gesturing toward an area near the front. “We have some really inspired contributions coming in including pottery and quilting.”
I had forgotten we had decided to add a teacher’s section this year. A smile spread across my face. “I love this.”
“Hey,” Ricardo said, “you’re a teacher. You seem artsy. Why don’t you contribute?”
