Page 77 of What I Should've Said

“Hey, Josie!”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll go!” I yell, realizing what a good idea this actually is. “But only on one condition!”

Her head pops into the bedroom, making me jump with surprise. Jesus! I thought she was in the kitchen already!

“What’s the condition?”

I grin. “That I can bring along a few of my friends.”

The sun is shining, the summer heat is rising, and the Red Bridge Farmers Market is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Booths with crafts and fake homemade candles and all sorts of things fill up the town square. And more people than I even realized lived in this small town are here, walking around and shopping like it’s December 23rd and they still have their entire Christmas list to buy for.

It’s wild. And busy. And everyone appears hell-bent on grabbing a “homemade” Grandma Rose candle. I’m still reeling over the fact that Josie told me Grandma used to order all these candles off Amazon, relabel them, and sell them as though she made them herself when we were gathering supplies in the shed this morning.

“Oh, Josie, I am so happy I got to your booth before you sold out,” our latest customer gushes. “I needed my candle fix.”

Word on the street is that if you like to buy in bulk, Amazon can hook you up.

“Aw, Darlene. You’re such a doll.” My sister smiles and hands the older woman her bag filled with three “homemade” candles.

“You know, the only thing that would make this better is if Rose were her to sell them to me herself,” Darlene says with a wistful smile on her lips. “I’m sure she’s proud of you for continuing her legacy.”

Her legacy? Ha.

“By the way,” Darlene continues. “How long does it usually take you to make all these candles, Josie?”

“It depends on the scents I’m utilizing, but it can take anywhere from two weeks to an entire month for a hundred.”

I have to bite my lip to fight my laughter. An entire month? We just packed up one hundred of these things in two hours.

“Oh my goodness. I’m so thankful for all the time and hard work you put into these. Do you think you’ll have enough in stock for Christmas this year? Last year, you sold out pretty quick, and I was hoping to get a candle for each of my sisters and cousins.”

“I’m definitely going to try.”

Darlene looks at me with a soft smile. “Norah, you are so lucky to be on the inside of Rose’s homemade candles now. I begged her for years to show me, but she only let Josie in on the family secret.”

I force a smile to my lips. “Josie is still being pretty top secret about Grandma Rose’s candles. She’s only been letting me put the labels on them, but I’m hoping she’ll show me how to make them soon.”

So, is it a one-click checkout? Do we get Prime shipping with the bulk orders? So many difficult questions my sister has yet to answer.

Darlene smiles at both of us like a woman who really thinks my sister is making homemade candles, bless her. “Well, I better head over to Kelly’s booth before she sells out. You girls have a wonderful day.”

“You too, Darlene!” I answer with a big, fat, phony grin on my lips. “Enjoy those homemade candles! I know my sister worked really hard on them!”

Josie discreetly elbows me in the side, a smile still intact on her face, and offers Darlene a friendly wave as the older woman carries her bag of fake-ass candles toward another booth that sells knitted scarves.

Now, does Kelly actually make the scarves or buy them off Amazon, too? I have no idea. Maybe she has to utilize Etsy or eBay.

“I didn’t know our grandmother was a little con artist.”

Josie just grins. “She always said it was a dog-eat-dog world and you have to capitalize on every opportunity you can find.”

I laugh. “She has an entire town believing she could make candles. She was a swindler!”

Josie’s eyes turn wistful, and a little grin lifts the corners of her lips. “Grandma Rose was the best.”

Yeah, she definitely was.

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