The gossip was drowned by a sudden tinkling sound and she glanced up to see Harold Beidleman had set all his wind chimes ringing. He beamed at her as she walked closer. Harold was an older gentleman somewhere over seventy and probably under a hundred who’d recently moved to Hidden Falls from the East Coast. “That got your attention,” he said looking pleased.
“Sure did.” She watched as the chimes danced and clashed. One was made with an upside down colander hung with antique cutlery, some were made with sea shells, and one with old keys. “These are beautiful. Did you make them?”
“Absolutely. Keeps me out of trouble. I get lots of ideas from the Internet. I like Pinterest. And Etsy. My daughter set me up with my own site but it’s more fun to sell in person. I’ve already made eighty-five dollars today.” He leaned forward and dropped his voice. “Ripped off the townies, but I figure it’s for a good cause, and they can afford it.”
“That’s great.” A pair of strangers in matching Hunter boots and designer sweaters walked up and inspected a wind chime hung with driftwood and broken pieces of jewelry. Obviously they were what he termed townies. She nodded in their direction and winked. “Keep up the good work.”
As she walked away, she heard him say, “Allow me to demonstrate,” and a delicate tinkling sound followed her.
As she headed back, she threaded her way through kids eating caramel apples, past neighbors and strangers carrying bags filled with their purchases.
Over in the entertainment area, the Hidden Falls Fiddlers were giving a rousing rendition of Louisiana Saturday Night to a small crowd who were clapping and stamping along in time to the music. From the laughter, crowds and the general feeling of goodwill she had to conclude that this year’s fair was a roaring success.
Around four things were winding down. All she had left were a few potatoes, two dented onions, and three sunflowers that had somehow been separated from their bouquet. She and Lefty were stacking crates ready to return them to the truck when the sexiest voice in the world called her name softly. She turned and Alexei stood in front of her holding something that smelled delicious in one of his blue-and-white napkins. To her amazement, he offered the napkin-wrapped food to her. “I didn’t see you eat anything all day. I thought you might be hungry. This is my vegetarian souvlaki.”
She hadn’t stopped to think that she was hungry.
And now that she had a moment to think about it she was starving. And charmed by his thoughtfulness. To have noticed that she hadn’t eaten anything, he had to have been sneaking glances her way as she’d been doing to him. But she wouldn’t even let herself think about that, only about the wonderful smell under her nose. She accepted the offering and allowed herself to be charmed. “You brought me food.”
“I would have brought flowers but when a woman’s hungry, I think it’s better to feed her. Besides,” he gestured to the three bright yellow sunflowers, “You already have flowers.”
“Thank you.” She bit into the souvlaki and her tongue nearly wept for joy. “Mmm. Mmmmm. That is delicious. I didn’t know you made a vegetarian souvlaki.” The couple of times she’d eaten at his food truck she’d had Greek salad and spinach pie.
“It’s new on the menu. I’m trying it out to see how it goes. Lots of vegetarians in Portland.” He grinned at her, “And a few in Hidden Falls.”
“I guess you’ll be heading back soon,” she said, and then could have kicked herself for sounding like she cared what he was doing on a Saturday night.
He glanced at her in surprise. “Actually, your mom invited me for dinner. I assumed you knew.”
Of course she would have. He was Matt’s brother. Somehow, Marguerite hadn’t thought it through. And her mom hadn’t bothered to mention it. “Oh, right. I wasn’t sure you could make it.” Which sounded lame.
“I’m looking forward to it.” He had such a wonderful voice. Low and sexy.
“Don’t get your hopes up. It won’t be gourmet! My mom gets so carried away. You’d think she’d be exhausted from running this whole fair, but somehow she’ll get dinner on the table for twenty people. She’s amazing.”
“She is amazing,” he agreed. “I think your whole family is amazing.” She was munching happily on her vegetarian souvlaki so wasn’t compelled to answer him. She thought her family was pretty amazing too. The strong and silent Lefty returned and hefted the load of crates that Marguerite had intended to carry to the truck herself. He didn’t seem to mind, so she let him go. It was so nice to have Alexei to herself just for these couple of minutes. He seemed in no hurry to leave. After a moment he said, “Before it gets dark, I was wondering if you’d show me your beds.”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You want me to show you my bed?”
His amusement lit up his whole face. “I mean the beds where you grow your vegetables.”
“Right.Thosebeds.” Of course he wasn’t interested in her bed. What was the matter with her? She popped the last of the souvlaki into her mouth, scrunched up the napkin, and pushed it into a nearby trash bin. “I’d be happy to.”
He turned and shouted across the lane to his brother: “Hey, Matt, you’re on cleanup. Marguerite is going to show me her organic gardening set up before it gets dark.”
“You owe me,” Matt yelled back, but he actually seemed pretty cheerful about being left to hang out in the food truck. She got the feeling it was a nice change from his usual profession. They walked toward her truck and he said, “Okay if you drive? The only wheels I have are back there.”
“Of course. It’s not that far.”
As they walked across the field to where she was parked, the sounds of Annie and Bill Arden singing Islands in the Stream floated over. “They’re pretty good,” Alex said.
“They should be. They practice it enough. Every birthday party, wedding, anniversary, really pretty much anytime more than five people in town get together, they’ll perform.” She shrugged. “One of the downsides of small town life.”
“I like your town.”
She glanced at him. “You do? I thought you were more the big city type.”
He thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think I’m any type. I like cities, sure, but I like small towns, too.”
