Page 33 of Prayers for the Prickly

“Ohh, you’re Mr. Winterbottom,” the woman said. “Hi, I’m Shelly Winters and this is Stacy, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. She’s done nothing but talk about the candy shop since she came in.”

“Did she tell you that she inspired a brand-new idea that I’m just beginning to test out?

“My bubbles?” Stacy asked, eyes lighting up with excitement. “Are you really making them?”

“I am, and they are almost ready. I plan to unveil them at Movies in the Park on Saturday, so if you happen to be there, you should stop by the candy wagon and pick out a few, on the house, for being the one to inspire them.”

“Really?” she asked, before glancing between me and her mother. “Can we go to Movies in the Park on Saturday?”

“I was already planning to take you,” her mother said. “Now we have an extra special reason to go.”

“Yay!”

“Thank you,” her mother said as Stacy broke into a happy little dance punctuated with giggles.

“Anytime,” I replied, before stepping out of their way. This time, I paused against the side of the building to make my notes, including a reminder to bring the lollipop tray so they’d all stand up easily in the display case. Lollipops were always a great hit with the kids, and being able to sit and suck on one while they watched the movie might keep some of them occupied, which parents always appreciated.

Oh yeah, I was seriously patting myself on the back for all of my good ideas when I stepped into the chamber office and smiled at the older lady behind the desk.

“Hi, I’m August Winterbottom, I’m here to see Mr. Maxwell?”

“Oh yes, you can go right on in, he’s expecting you, and tickled pink about your idea for a popup candy shop, so much so that he’s already contacted the paper to make sure they add you and Mr. Leroux’s Gourmet Popcorn and Peanut wagon to the advertisement so people will know they don’t have to stock up on their own snacks.”

Excitement surged through me at the thought of this unexpected bit of advertisement.

“Oh, that’s great,” I said. “I’m glad I reached out in time.”

“Mr. Winterbottom, it’s good to see you again,” Mr. Maxwell said, standing and shaking my hand across his desk.

“It’s just August, please, Mr. Winterbottom is my dad, it always feels way too formal for me.”

“Oh, perfect, then call me Max, please, and yes, I am well aware of how unoriginal my parents were when they came up with my name, I still give them a hard time about it whenever I think about how much crap I put up with in school. Grab a seat, I’ve got the forms and map right here.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re most welcome. Your popup idea inspired me to reach out to Donny Driscoll at Unlimited Flavors, he just launched a line of homemade soda pop last year, and he and his boys are going to put together a soda stand for the event, so you solved my refreshment problem, too. Thank you again.”

“Glad to help.”

“Just need your signature right here, saying you understand when setup time begins and that you’ll be responsible for the cleanup of your space once the event is over.”

I glanced over the very short form, which basically said I was responsible for ensuring that the space was in the same state when I left as when I found it, and that I’d need to bring my own extension cords if I needed to hook up to the power onsite, which I would need to do to run the portable register.

I signed and passed over my twenty-five dollars, and he stamped paid in the corner of the page, gave me my receipt and the map, with my site circled. He’d made it easy for people and put the candy, popcorn and drink stands side by side, so folks could easily move from one to the other while still being able to see the looming movie screen they had drawn in front and center. I didn’t even want to know what a setup like that ran, but man was it going to be fun to see it lit up with movies every Saturday.

“If you look on the second page, you’ll see a list of the movies each week. Each Saturday is a double feature and we tried to pick themes that went together. I don’t know if it makes a difference to what products you bring out, but I thought it might be good to know, just in case.”

I glanced over it quickly, seeing several children’s movies I’d created themes for in the past.

“Oh, this will be very helpful indeed,” I said before I folded it and tucked it in my pocket.

“You’re all set then,” he replied. “I look forward to seeing you there and please feel free to reach out anytime you have ideas, we can always use them. I know the season is about to get busy, but if you have the chance to pop in on a chamber meeting sometime, you’d be most welcome.”

“First Monday of the month at seven,” I said, wanting to be sure I remembered correctly. “I keep meaning to put it on my calendar, let me do that now.”

I had planned to be active in it, and would, now that I was entering it into my phone as a recurring event. I wondered if Gregor attended, too, and if he was even a member with how antisocial he claimed to be. I still hadn’t seen any proof of that yet, at least not with me. He was always eager to spend time together but maybe that was because I was his mate and not just some random person he passed on the street.

Of course, he had grown up here, so I suspected that he knew the longtime residents better than he was willing to admit. Whenever I asked him about someone new I’d met at the shop, he’d listen but never provide me with much of a clue if he knew them or not. Occasionally, his lips would quirk, like he was thinking about smiling, but couldn’t decide if he really wanted to or not and once, his eyebrows had shot up when I’d mentioned a name, then he’d promptly turned and went back to loading the dishwasher. If that wasn’t a sign that he knew them, I didn’t know what was, but when I asked what the look was for, all he’d said was that he’d thought they’d moved away for good.

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