In ten minutes, the set up was finished, and the booth had taken on a deeper, more ethereal air.
I studied it, both hands on my hips. “I like it.”
The earth witch next to us leaned over. “Much better. Beautiful.” She gave us two thumbs up. “First market?”
I nodded. “Yes. We want to do it right the first time.”
“I’m Emmy. Don’t be afraid to switch it up during or for the next market. I’ve done this one for years and went through at least six set ups before I found the one that works for me.”
Emmy was short and had a riot of curly brown hair pinned up in no discernible order atop her head. She had friendly blue eyes and dimples at the edge of her mouth when she smiled. As was the case with most witches, I couldn’t discern her age. She could be anywhere from thirty to eighty. Witches weren’t immortal, but they were very long lived.
“Do you have a shop in town?” I asked. I’d never seen her before, but I was a creature of habit and didn’t often venture too far away from the town square.
“No. I live in Dripping Springs, so I only do the market once a month. Me and my best friend switch spots.” She smiled. “You’ll meet Yvonne next time if you’re here. She’s a besom maker.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Once things slow down, feel free to browse my wares. I offer a substantial discount to the vendors.”
“There’s tea over here if you want some,” Moira called. “Only three blends today because of our small water boiler, but I’m happy to make you a cup.”
“I’d love one,” Emmy said. “Once the market opens and things stop being so crazy, I’ll pop over.”
The wand maker was a tall, thin man who said very little, and only offered a polite smile by way of greeting. He had small, round glasses, and a sharp jawline, but even with him sitting several feet away, I could feel his aura of power. Wands weren’t my thing, and I never used them, but much like my new work table, his wares felt alive.
We each grabbed a chair and sat down, taking one last break before the market opened.
When the bell rang announcing the market’s opening, a sense of anticipation and giddiness filled me. As much as I hated us getting in here because of someone else’s influence, our shop’s talent would see us through. And if it didn’t, at least we had the opportunity to experience it once.
“Places, people,” I said quietly as I stood and tightened my apron.
Our booth was a riot of color, bright flowers blooming at their peak. Each glass vase was a different color and shape, and we’d used stacked shelving to display each one at different heights. Moira and Tess had strung fairy lights all over the booth and around the table, casting everything in a soft, ethereal glow.
Ash had the best handwriting out of all of us, so he’d taken on the responsibility of writing up clever descriptions of each product. I don’t think we could have done it better, not for our first time. Maybe when it was over, we could do a hotwash and discuss improvements for the next one, but pride filled me with what we’d already accomplished today, even without a single sale yet.
People of all shapes and sizes piled into the market.
“Here we go,” murmured Moira.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
“Holy crap,” I groaned as I kicked my shoes off and dug my bare toes into the earth.
“That was awesome,” Tess breathed.
Moira sipped a cup of blood-laced tea. “We might need to hire more help.”
Ash had turned his bottom half into a tree and was soaking up some of the extra magic permeating the earth from the market denizens. “Do we have stock left in the shop or does one of us need to change next week’s order?”
I accepted a cup of non-laced tea from the vampire. “Bump up next week’s stock order. I may need to remodel the greenhouse.”
We sold everything. None of us could believe it. And not only had customers decimated our stock, we’d given out every business card we brought and booked two weddings.
“You’ve needed to remodel that thing for ages now,” Moira remarked. “The greenhouse looks like an abandoned asylum.”
“Har har,” I drawled. “It came with the house, and it has some odd energy, so I haven’t done much with it. But now thatwe’re doing these markets, I might have to start growing more stock to keep us in business.”
