Page 23 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Seven

A stack of cherry-picking buckets lay in a heap on the lawn next to an overturned U-Pick sign. Seth began to collect the buckets as a father marched his two young boys over to take responsibility for the mess. Seth shook the father’s hand and helped the kids straighten up. He thanked the group and the boys scampered off.

It had been great to see Gia and meet her friends—people other than employees or family members or customers. They seemed nice. He’d become even more comfortable in the fact that moving back didn’t have to mean the end of his social life, whether Stacey was in the picture or not.

Stacey.

She’d been texting him all day, even though she knew he’d be busy with the festival. Last night over the phone, he’d finally asked her if she wanted to visit before she firmed up a place to live, just to see if she liked it first. The apartment was going to cost a lot and he didn’t want to see her lose any money over it.

She’d reluctantly agreed, but today, she needed reassurance that things between them were okay. Honestly, he wasn’t sure, himself, but he literally had no time to spend on the phone with her today. There were more important matters at hand. The festival was beginning to wind down, but the lines of customers fanning out from the market and baked goods tents were long. He needed to see how his mother and their employees were faring behind the counter.

He’d been pouring at the tasting room and checking on the various tents and booths this afternoon. The last time he’d checked on his mother, she’d been relatively busy. He slipped in under the tent and joined her behind the counter. Things had certainly picked up. “Has it been like this for a while?”

“Yes, about an hour now.” She handed a man his change. “I think everyone wants to get a little something before we close. It wasn’t this busy this morning.”

“You need a break, Mom? I can take over for a while.”

She finished with the next transaction then stepped out of the way. “Sure. Thanks, honey.” She promptly moved down to help at the next register. Its line was equally long. His mother sent Melissa, an employee who’d been behind that register, on a thirty-minute break and stepped into her place. Seth shook his head, grinning. His mother was tireless.

Seth got to work handling customers. About fifteen minutes later, he looked up from the credit-card reader on the counter to see Gia. “Oh, hey!”

She leaned in. “Hey, it looks like you’re really busy, so I think I’ll probably just take off.”

Seth tapped a few items on the screen, then handed the card back to the customer. He turned to Gia. “Oh, okay. Are you in a hurry?” He didn’t want to make her wait, but he wouldn’t mind chatting with her when things slowed down a bit. It would be rude not to, since he’d asked her to come out today. “I’ll be done here soon.”

Gia nodded, glancing at the line. “No, not at all.” She looked around. “But—do you want some help?”

He certainly wouldn’t mind the help if it would make the line move more quickly.

He took two jars of preserves from a customer and rang them up. “That would be fantastic. You sure?”

“I’d be glad to,” she said. “It’s no problem.”

“Okay, sweet. Come on back.” He shot her a grateful look then turned his attention to the next customer. Gia stepped under the shade of the tent and set down her purse. Seth pointed to a stack of bakery boxes then rang up the purchase as Gia bagged a cherry pie and two scones for the customer.

In another five minutes, with the two of them working, the line was moving more quickly and growing shorter. She seemed to be a natural. Seth smiled at Gia. “Thanks. You’re awesome.”

Seth’s mother returned, nodded politely at Gia, then walked over to Seth. A look of concern clouded her face and she spoke softly. “Honey, I don’t want to worry you, but I have to run over to the house for a bit. It’s your father. He didn’t listen to me. I told him to take it easy, but…”

Seth turned away from the customers, wrinkling his brow. “What’s wrong?”

“He says he’s not feeling well. I’m sure he’s fine, though.” Her expression said otherwise.

“I’ll go check on him.”

“No, I’d rather go, myself,” she insisted. “But Melissa’s not due back for ten or fifteen minutes. Do you think these people will mind if I shut down the line for a little while?”

Seth looked at her line. It was long. They couldn’t afford to turn away paying customers. Plenty of inventory from the bakeries still sat on the tables behind him, and people were holding merchandise from the tent they still needed to pay for. “Oh, no, Mom, please don’t do that.” He glanced around to see if any other employees were near. “Hmmm. How about…”

Seth’s mother looked around anxiously, her phone in her hand.

Gia finished boxing some scones and handed them to a customer then approached Seth. “What’s wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?”

His mother blinked and sized up Gia. “I don’t think we’ve met.” She looked at her son.

“Mom, this is Gia Stewart,” Seth explained quickly, grabbing a cherry apple pie for his customer. “She’s our event coordinator for the anniversary party. Gia, this is my mother, Clara.”

His mother relaxed. “Oh, I see. It’s nice to meet you. And I wouldn’t normally ask such a big favor but I’m afraid we’re in a tight spot right now. Can you work a cash register?”

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