Page 19 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Six

Seth reached his truck and heard his phone buzz with a message. He climbed into the truck and pulled the phone out.

It was a photo and a text from Stacey. She was smiling, standing arm-in-arm with a handful of the other employees at the Henderson Estates. The rolling hills of the vineyard gleamed in the background. The beautiful villa that served as the tasting room and restaurant were behind them. His old friends—fellow employees, guys and girls—their sunglasses blocking that never-failing California sun from their eyes.

Stacey looked pretty, the wind blowing her long hair away from her face.

Thought you wouldn’t mind seeing everyone. We all miss you. xoxo

Seth stopped and stared at it. Something felt a little different from the last time she’d sent a photo like this. No pang in his chest for how much he missed that life. No actual sadness. And no sweeping anticipation for when Stacey would arrive in Wisconsin so they could restart their lives together. Instead, it felt a little more like dread.

Things were never going to be the same again. These people were quickly becoming a part of his past. Maybe Stacey should, too.

He texted her back.

Thanks. Tell everyone I said hi.

A neutral reply was easier than none at all, when it came to Stacey. He started up the truck. The life he’d left behind had been great, but maybe this new life could be good, too. Maybe there were plenty of people here he could start calling friends.

* * *

Seth was up before dawn.Saturday morning had arrived, and there was plenty to do to get ready for the festival. He sucked down the last few drops of his coffee and skipped down the stairs of the old farmhouse porch. The early morning air was brisk, and the sky barely revealed the daylight. Vendors and trucks had begun to arrive with light equipment, and some of them were already setting up tents and booths on the property.

Seth walked the grounds, inspecting the progress. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. He checked his watch. Right on schedule.

Farmhands were taking stepladders, buckets, crates, and signage out to the fields, perching the ladders among the trees. Two employees were helping to decorate and prep the place for the crowds.

Seth’s mom was rallying from warehouse to lawn to the big white tents, followed by two other employees rolling dollies full of jarred fruit preserves, dried cherries, baking mixes, mustards, and sauces from the market. Two local bakeries provided fresh pastries each year, and their trucks were unloading several hundred boxes of tart cherry pies and other assorted treats to sell under the tents.

Excellent. Now if the whole day could run this smoothly, they’d be in great shape.

Seth’s father was outside, too, with a mug of decaf in his hand, directing some of the action from a lawn chair near the farm store.

His father had been warned outright by his mother that the last thing they needed today was another medical emergency, so he’d better take it easy and let everyone else do the heavy lifting. His father had begrudgingly agreed.

Seth hadn’t been home for one of these festivals in years, but he remembered them well from his eighteen years on the farm. It was all-hands-on-deck on festival day, and he’d been looking forward to it for a lot of reasons, not the least of which that if everything went well today, they might even see a profit.

He exchanged a few words with the truck drivers, signed some order forms, and started in on a stack of chairs.

* * *

The tantalizing smellof burgers and sausages on the grill came from a food truck parked next to the lawn at the Pederson Orchard, and a folksy band played a familiar tune on the banjo. Gia crossed the parking lot and meandered around the hedges and flowers. Several hundred people still milled about at the cherry festival.

She glanced at the time on her phone. It was just about five o’clock in the evening and she was late meeting her friends. Noreen had called Gia this afternoon when she was on her way out the door, asking her to go to the office to discuss a last-minute booking for a wedding. The couple was interested in getting married at a winery in early October and they had some time to meet and go over their plans. So far, they’d done everything on their own. They’d settled on a vineyard in Michigan, but the venue had fallen through. Fed up with the DIY approach, they now wanted someone to help plan the affair.

Gia had jumped at the chance and met with them, successfully securing them as a client. They wanted to switch to a closer venue to make it easier on their extended family members who’d be traveling. The bride and groom were from Green Bay, which was just over an hour away, so Noreen had suggested Gia tell them about the Pederson Cherry Orchard and Winery.

Why had Noreen put her on the job rather than Tara or Jackie? Perhaps it was because Gia already had the most information on this venue and had been the one to sell Seth on the idea of hosting more weddings on the property in the first place—not that she’d had any convincing to do. Whatever the case, it seemed like the only fair way for Noreen to handle it.

Whew.It seemed Noreen hadn’t lostallfaith in her when it came to weddings.

Gia had suggested the couple stop by the festival to see the property today, but they had plans to drive a little farther up the coast to visit a large hotel that could offer overnight group rates for their guests. They wanted to come back on Tuesday.

Gia had been thrilled to call Noreen and tell her the couple had signed on. Now she was excited to tell Seth about it.

Gia walked onto the festival lawn and glanced around at the booths and games. How was she going to find her friends?

She stopped for a second in front of a tent shading tables full of countryside-themed décor when she heard Kira. “Hey, Gia! Over here!”

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