Page 43 of The Tomorrows After You
13
Nicolette
For such a small town, the Godot Farmer’s Market was huge. Three rows of long, repurposed barns housed booths from several surrounding towns. By seven a.m. the line to get in was wrapped around the entire barn and the parking lot was at capacity.
I don’t know why Iwasnervous to sell Riot’s artwork. Hehadbeenpretty liberal with his instructions.
“Take the prices asa recommendation.”He’dshrugged,tyingon little tags to each of the pieces.“Feel free to go low, buy one, get one, throw in a wind chime, whatever you need to get them in people’s hands. Just make sure to note which ones peoplearedrawnto first.”
Our relationship was changing. Our interactions felt weighted. It was a strange feeling, being so conscious of someone else’s thoughts and feelings. Not just considerate. But eager. Iwantedto do well today. Iwantedto impress him. Something inside me craved his approval and the irony of needing validation from someone I was supposed to be studying was not lost on me.
When he’d walked into the bar with his beard cut tighter, it was as if he was offering me something. Opening himself up. Peeling back his layers. I wanted more of him and not out of journalistic interest.
The war inside me raged on. He was offering me his trust and there was something in that vulnerability that made me want to protect him, so I told myself I would follow the Chimera clues. But I knew there was a small piece of me still profiling Riot in theback of my mind.
“Wow, honey, look at this one!”a womancroonedin a thick southern dialect,draggingher husband over to my table.“Thesearegorgeous, did you make all these, sweetheart?”
I almostlaughed.“No, but a friend of mine did,he’sall the rage on the upper East Coast right now.”Iturnedon my reporter voice,tryingmy best to command authority when Ihadnothing to back up my statements.
“Thesearejust wonderful. Harry, listen, this onehasa wind chimeinsideof it, how clever! Honey, go pull the truck around.”
After several minutes of hemming and hawing, she selected three large whirligigs and a wind chime. She’d drawn some attention and before I realized it, it wasn’t even ten o’clock and my table was cleared out.
This weird sense of pride lit up inside me and I was excited to get home.HowI was going to get home was another story. Riot had dropped me off and wasn’t planning to come back until noon when the market ended.
Iwasabout to text him to come get me early when Ibumpedinto Jeremy Blackwell.
Icursedunder my breath,stoopingdown to pick up my clutch with over a thousand dollars in cash.
“Hey, you.” Jeremy leaned in for a big hug. “What are you doing here?”
Iswallowed. Riot didn’t want anyone to know about his work.“Justbrowsingthe local talent, you know us girls, never stop shopping!”Isaid.
Hegaveme a wink andleanedin.“Don’t I know it. Hey, don’t you still owe me a breakfast date?”
I opened my mouth to protest but realized it might be my best shot for a rideandsome Chimera intel.
“Yeah, why don’t we get that over with?”Isaid.
“What’s that?” He leaned in.
“I said, yeah why don’t we head over to the diner in town?” I forced a smile and he looped his elbow with mine, escorting me to his cruiser. I shot Riot a text and let him know I’d gotten a ridehome.
“When did you decide to be a cop?”Iaskedwith my mouth half full of toast.
“Istudiedcriminal justice in college and, I don’t know, it just sort offeltright. Protect and serve, you know?”
I didn’t. I was distracted by my fork, remembering the way Riot had drummed the same fork against his fingers at our first breakfast. He had tapped it against the plate, his glass, a coffee mug. I had thought it was a nervous tick at the time but now I understood he was testing it out for a piece. I absent-mindedly pocketed the spare fork next to me.
“Didn’t want to follow in your dad’s footsteps?”Iasked. Herana hand through his perfectly coiffed dark-blonde hair andshookhis head.
“No, no, the pastor’s lifewasn’tfor me.”
“Who’son deck to take his place?”
Jeremy shrugged. “Who knows? I know Katie Plainbottom was going to seminary school but put it on hold to take care of Riot when he got home. Aside from her…”
“Wait, Katie dropped out of school because Riot got out of prison?”
