Page 94 of This Memory
Brystol
The festival was held inside the community center, and the turnout was terrific.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many booths or people crammed into the center!” Cadie said, as she made her way toward Gavin and me.
“The amount of money we’re raising to add to the community center will be wonderful,” Harper added.
I draped my coat over my arm and unwound the scarf that was now making me sweat. “I’m just grateful it’s inside. It’s freezing today.”
“Let me take your coat. I’ve got a spot behind our booth to store stuff,” Cadie said, as she took them. “Come get some hot chocolate!”
We followed Cadie to the Batter Up Bakery booth, and my mouth instantly started to water at all the goodies she had displayed. I gasped when I saw there was banana bread on the table.
“She’s got some banana bread!” I said, grabbing Gavin’s arm. “She hasbanana bread!”
Once everyone had gotten a taste of Cadie’s now-famous banana bread, you were lucky if you ever got any, period. It sold out early every single day.
Gavin chuckled, asking Katherine, a bakery employee, for two loaves of banana bread.
“Why two?” I asked.
“One for my mom.”
My stomach flipped, and it wasn’t the baby this time causing the little flutter. It was the handsome, kind man standing next to me. “I love that you think of your mom. I should give this other one tomymother.”
I stared at the loaf in my hand, reminded once again about how damn good this bread was.
I shrugged and said, “Nah, she can make her own banana bread.”
Gavin laughed as he reached for my loaf and put them both in a bag Cadie had given to us.
Harper handed us a map listing all the booths and their products. “There are a ton of cute little booths. I’ve already made the rounds,” Harper said.
“Did you see Evelyn’s booth?” I asked.
Harper and Cadie exchanged a look before plastering on smiles. “We did.”
“What’s she making?”
“Um,” Cadie started, before Harper interjected.
“I think you need to be surprised.”
Gavin’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Harper and Cadie both shrugged. A customer stepped up, so Gavin and I got out of the way. I said goodbye to my friends and we started on our way. The booths were typical for this close to the holidays, consisting of handmadeornaments for Christmas and Hanukkah, cute gifts, or food. I was digging the food booths, and I know Gavin was as well, since he was currently eating a giant turkey leg.
As we walked along, I said, “I can’t wait to see what Evelyn’s selling. I wonder why she hasn’t mentioned doing crafts before now?”
“No telling with Evelyn,” Gavin said, before taking another bite of his turkey leg. We stopped at a few booths where we knew the people selling their wares, bought a few ornaments for the tree we planned on getting later in the day, and sampled more food.
“Oh. My. Gosh.”
Glancing at Gavin, I asked, “What is it?”
He was staring straight ahead. “I see Evelyn’s booth.”
I quickly followed his gaze. “Where is it? What is she selling?” I asked, my tone enthusiastic.
