Renee’s voice rang through the air, and I turned to see my sister nearly skipping over to my booth. She had a Santa sticker on her chest and waved happily as she made her way to me.
“Where’d you get that sticker?”
Renee chuckled. “Oh, that’s the ticket that gets you in the door.”
“Ah.” I nodded. “Makes complete sense.”
“Doesn’t it?” Renee gushed as if she’d suddenly drunk the Kool-Aid. “Everything is just so quaint.”
“Sounds like you’re starting to fall for it.”
“In small doses, it does seem to have a positive effect.”
“We’ll see.”
Renee moved around my booth and spun around with open arms for a hug. “I’m beyond proud of you.”
A man wandered into my booth and smiled when he spotted the name of the store. “Oh, thank goodness.”
I traded a glance with my sister.
“My wife and I were so worried that we’d make the trek all the way to Fireweed for the Christmas Market, and we wouldn’t be able to get the fudge any longer. We were so heartbroken to hear of Phyllis’s passing.”
I smiled and Renee took a step behind me. “Well, I hope you love the fudge just as much as before, but I think nothing probably beats my Aunt’s.”
“You’re her niece?” he asked as his wife came up behind him, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank goodness. The fudge.”
I laughed and nodded. “I’m Sasha, and my sister is Renee.” I pointed behind me, and she waved at my very first customers.
“We’d like two boxes of the plain fudge.”
I nodded and bagged up two boxes as I waited for his credit card to go through. The moment my machine beeped, I took out the card and handed it back to him and they were on their way.
“Boy, they got on the ferry just for our aunt’s fudge.”
“Talk about putting on the pressure. I just hope they like it.”
Renee laughed. “I have to tell you something. I know you won’t believe it, but I like yours better.”
My eyes widened, and I shook my head. “You’re an amazing sister.”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Thank you, but I doubt it’s any better.”
As a steady stream of customers began swarming our booth and weaving in between one another, I wondered where Wyatt had wandered off to. Granted, he’d done so much for me so far, it wasn’t like I could expect him to give up another entire day.
But the moment I saw Trevor wandering down the aisle, my heart completely fell.
I ducked underneath the table and Renee bent down. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Trevor. He’s here.”
“Here?” Renee’s face twisted into confusion. “That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
“Uh. What do you want me to do about it?” Renee asked.
“I don’t lie. Put him in a yoga trance. Just do something to scare him away. I can’t let Wyatt run into him.”
“I’m sure he’d understand.”
“It’s not a chance I want to take.”
“Renee, is that you?” Trevor’s voice boomed through the air, and I rolled my eyes.
Of course it’s her.
“It sure is. What are you doing here?”
“I heard about Sasha’s Aunt, and I felt horrible. When I couldn’t get ahold of her at the house…”
Think booty call.
“I reached out to your mom. She said you were here.”
Thanks for that, mother.
“Wow. So here you are.”
“Is she here?”
Renee tapped her foot. She always got fidgety when she fudged the truth. “Nope.”
“Is she going to be?”
“Maybe.”
I scrunched my eyes closed and wished we were a family of better liars.
“I can just wait, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, umm.” Renee sounded anything but Zen. “Actually, the booth sizes are so tight why don’t you go wander around and enjoy yourself? If she comes back, I’ll let her know.”
“So, she’s been here?” Trevor sounded all too eager.
I smacked Renee’s ankle, and she whipped it away from reach.
“Just briefly to drop things off.”
“Okay, well…” Trevor fell silent. “I guess I’ll see you around soon.”
“Yup.”
I counted to sixty and tapped on Renee’s ankle. She kicked at me, which must have meant he was still in sight.
It wasn’t until I heard Wyatt’s voice that I knew today wasn’t going to go as planned.
Chapter Eighteen
“What are you doing under there?” Wyatt asked, leaning over.
“Leg was wobbly.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
I gave him my hand, and he helped me up while I decided whether to be truthful or just try to make the whole thing go away.
Meaning Trevor.
Several people had started to congregate, and one of them brought over a few bags of brittle.
“Your brittle is to die for,” the woman said cheerfully.
I laughed and smiled. “Oh, don’t do that.”
She handed