Page 29 of Her Hometown Man
Of course they had. When it came to the thrift shop, Ellen and Mallory were a great team because they’d been running it together for a long time. Unlike brewing beer and opening a tavern, Sutton’s Seconds was totally in their wheelhouse.
“Do you need anything?” her mom asked. “There’s water in the cooler under the table, and you put sunscreen on, right?”
“I’m wearing so much sunscreen I could play slip and slide without a hose and tarp right now.” Ellen laughed, but she was looking around, and Gwen knew she was scoping out the booths and looking for her friends. “I’ve got this, Mom, if you want to go say hi to people.”
“I’ll come back and check on you. And remember, if anybody says anything about your books, you’re just going to smile and nod.”
Gwen pasted an obviously fake smile on her face and nodded, causing Ellen to sigh and throw her an exasperated look before walking away.
Left alone for what would probably only be a few minutes, Gwen straightened the stack of flyers Evie had printed up for the occasion. Because they didn’t have an opening date yet, they’d kept it simple. The logo and an introductory paragraph. A few photos of the brewing in process—and Mallory had even managed to catch Lane smiling in one of them—and a list of where they could be followed on social media so they wouldn’t miss any updates.
They’d also gotten an enthusiastic yes on the concept of having orders delivered from S-HoP, so there was a sign with both logos announcing the partnership, as well as a stack of take-out menus from the pizza place. Ellen had wondered about having a framed photo of David, but it was Mallory who found the words to gently explain to her that whichever of them was manning the booth would be accepting condolences and talking about their father all day instead of hyping their product.
Keeping her eyes on the flyers that didn’t really need to be straightened again kept Gwen from scanning the slowly growing crowd, looking for Case. He’d be wandering somewhere, since D&T Tree Service didn’t run a booth. Instead they carried on the tradition of their fathers of sponsoring a wood artist’s booth. A guy who carved animals from wood with a chain saw. A couple who made the most gorgeous bowls out of chunks of wood with chisels. Always something that drew in spectators, who couldn’t miss the large Sponsored by D&T Tree Service sign. That way they could be part of the celebration, but as Lane’s dad had often said, it wasn’t really something that needed a booth of its own. If you had a problem tree, you called a tree service.
The flyers didn’t stop her fromthinkingabout Case, though. She could needlessly fidget with paper and still relive their carriage house kisses. And she could remember all the Old Home Day celebrations of her youth, when she’d imagined what it would be like to be there with Case, walking hand in hand through the booths. In her youth, she’d dreamed of him buying her a flower from the garden club booth. Now she had a picture in her mind of her feeding him a bite of cotton candy and him sucking the spun sugar from her fingertips.
“Gwen!”
Jerking her head up as guiltily as if she’d been caught with her fingers actually in Case’s mouth, Gwen saw Molly coming toward her and relaxed. “Hey, Molly.”
“Your face is really flushed. I know it’s hot, but it’s not even noon yet. Maybe we could find some kind of umbrella? Or find a shady spot we can move the booth to.”
Gwen laughed, relieved to have the heat in her cheeks blamed on the weather. “I’m just not used to being outside, I guess. But I’ll be fine, and you know the shade spots are reserved for the beverage vendors and picnic tables.”
“Okay, but if you need a break, just shoot me a text. It’s not as if I have anything else to do today.”
“What? There’s no Cyrs Funeral Home booth? What fun is that?” They both laughed. “I guess being the only funeral home in town saves on the advertising budget.”
Molly nodded. “We did get to be a part of it a few years ago, though. A parents’ organization signed up to have a float and after they got approval, they asked Dad to drive the hearse in the parade with banners that said Free Ride If You Text And Drive.”
“Mallory sent me pictures. Two of the car and four close-ups on the Old Home Day committee members as it drove by.”
“Although we approve of the message,” Molly said in a haughty, high-pitched tone, “we don’t feel that your display was in keeping with the positive and uplifting community spirit the Stonefield Old Home Day celebration seeks to inspire. Of course, we will continue to welcome your participation as sponsors for future celebrations.”
Gwen laughed. “Give us your money, but keep your deathmobile out of our parade.”
“The next year, Mom wanted to sneak it into the parade so it was following the ambulance in line, but my dad talked her out of it.”
“And that’s why your mom is one of my favorite people in this town,” Gwen said with a grin. “That and her pies, of course.”
They talked for a few minutes before they heard Molly’s name being called and she moved on to socialize with somebody else. Over the next hour, the parade segued from rescue vehicles to sports teams and Scouts mingled in with floats to the very long line of tractors they’d see again at the fair in the fall. By the time it got to the end, where the organizers put all the townspeople who were just really proud of their cars and trucks and wanted to show them off, a lot of people were already milling around in the square.
Gwen gave out flyers and talked about the beer—they’d had all the info and buzzwords drummed into their heads by Lane—and smiled and nodded. She’d been dreading the day, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. A few people mentionedA Quaking of Aspens, but mostly to tell her they’d enjoyed it or that they’d bought a signed copy from the library sale. She figured the people who were still mad about it would visit the booth later when Evie was behind the table.
As time passed and she started getting hungry, Gwen realized she had yet to see Evie, and she hoped her sister hadn’t blown her off. Even if she snuck away to find food for a few minutes and let people take flyers on their own, there was no way she could stand the whole day manning the booth.
When she couldn’t take it anymore, she took out her phone and pulled up Evie’s contact page. Texts were easy to miss or ignore, and Gwen was starving, so she called her instead. Just when she thought she was going to end up going to voice mail, her sister answered.
“Gwen. Hi. I...” In the background, Gwen heard a male voice as Evie paused. “Sorry, I was doing something and lost track of time. I’ll be right there.”
She hung up without Gwen even saying a word, and as happy as she was that the freedom to find food was imminent, she found it odd. And it had been admittedly hard to tell, but she was fairly certain the voice she’d heard in the background was Lane’s.
Sighing, she slid her phone back in her pocket. The exes had been working together reasonably well, for the most part, and she really hoped Evie hadn’t been delayed because they’d gotten into an argument.
When Evie did appear, she looked flustered and wouldn’t meet Gwen’s eyes. “I’m sorry I left you holding down the fort for so long. I’ll take over now.”
“Must have been something good to make you lose track of time,” Gwen said. She was fishing for a clue to what Evie had been up to, and she was careful to keep her tone light so it wouldn’t come across as criticism.
