“Um, hi,” she says.
“ ‘Um, hi,’ ” he mimics with a grin. “You look... refreshed. Sleep well?”
“Very.” The sleep she did get was certainly restful, a nice chunk of it spent as the little spoon to Charlie’s big spoon. “When did you get back from the Nowhere?”
“Oh, somewhere around when you were like, ‘Ahh ahh mmmmm ooh’? The first time, I mean. Not when you made the same sound during round two in the middle of the night. Though obviously I was around for that one too.” Gretchen’s outraged expression has him quickly adding, “Hey, don’t give me that look. I wasn’ttryingto listen. You two were just really loud. I could hear you from the couch.”
She narrows her eyes at him but doesn’t say anything. It’s embarrassing to learn that their intimate moments weren’t, strictly speaking, all that intimate.
“So where do we stand on the whole convincing-Charlie thing now?”
She takes a deep breath, the reality of it all hitting her anew. “I told him everything. And he believes me about you and the curse.”
“Really? So he’s going to stay? Crisis averted?”
Gretchen goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth. “I don’t know. We didn’t discuss that part of it. But I’m assuming so. As long as we can make it financially feasible.”
Everett does a twirl, following her in. “Gretchen Acorn, I could kiss you!”
“I’m really glad you actually can’t,” she says around her toothbrush.
They make eye contact in the mirror, and Everett gives her one of his crooked smiles, but this one is small and affectionateinstead of intended to charm. “I know how hard it was for you to do that. Thank you.”
Gretchen nods ever so slightly, touched by the genuine gratitude in his voice. It’s easy sometimes to think of Everett as immature, impulsive. A tad prurient. But maybe there’s some depth to him after all.
—
At the market, Gretchen catches Hannah eyeing her as she sets up.Looking for Charlie, I bet.“Just me today!” she calls over to the Johnny Bee Goods booth with an overly wide smile that Hannah tentatively returns.
“Oh, that’s... nice?” She tries but can’t fully hide her disappointment, and Gretchen is perversely a bit satisfied.
But after everything is out and ready and Gretchen is standing there behind their table (which now has one of Ellen’s least clashy afghans acting as a tablecloth, among other small aesthetic improvements), waiting for customers to appear, she has an epiphany. How did she not think of it before? It’s tempting to smack herself in the forehead. Such an easy way to boost the farm’s business. She checks her phone—ten minutes still before the market officially opens. Just enough time.
She does a quick online search, then walks across to where Hannah is making minor adjustments to her display. “Those are really pretty,” Gretchen says, nodding toward a group of beeswax candles with various herbs and flower petals pressed into the top.
Hannah straightens, wispy strands of hair Gretchen assumes were strategically left out of her French braid swishing with the movement. “Thanks. It’s something new we’re trying.”
“I’m sure they’ll be a hit.” This is intentional flattery, of course, but it’s also true. Which is one of the reasons Gretchen came over here in the first place: From the artfulness of her display to the lovely smile Gretchen has watched her deploy each time a customer approaches, Hannah is an excellent saleswoman.Like recognizes like. But unlike Gretchen, Hannah will be around for the foreseeable future. “I actually wanted to talk to you about a business proposition, if you have a second. Charlie was planning on bringing it up with you today, but he had a family emergency. I told him I’d discuss it with you on his behalf, since it’s somewhat time-sensitive.”
“Oh gosh, I hope everything’s okay. I’m free for a bit. What’s up?”
“How many farmers markets do you do a week?”
“Two during the winter, five in the summer,” Hannah answers.
“Wow. Busy bee, huh?”
Hannah smiles politely at the pun.
“And you do wholesale?”
“Yeah, we work with a few gift shops in Maryland and Virginia, bed-and-breakfasts, places like that.”
“Any arrangements with restaurants?”
“Just a farm-to-table place here in Leesburg right now, but I’m planning to really focus on expanding that this summer.”
Of course, Gretchen already discovered much of this while skimming the Johnny Bee Goods website, but it’s nice to know the information is current. Having someone dedicated to sales and marketing has given Hannah’s family’s operation a much wider reach than Gilded Creek Goat Farm, but Charlie doesn’t have the time or money to replicate that business model, especially once Gretchen goes back to DC.
