only a few feet away, it seemed like Felicia disappeared into a crowd of people moving down the street, looking for the perfect place to eat dinner. “She loves living here. Someday she’s going to walk in and tell me she’s married a local farmer and is going to raise goats and chickens.”
Ian put an arm around her waist as they made their way into the crowd to find the path to the exhibit hall. “Yeah, but she won’t quit the County Seat. That girl has too much energy to stay home. She likes having her to-do list a couple pages long.”
“She reminds me of you. How did the board meeting go?” Angie settled into the pace the crowd was moving. Not too fast, and she had to swerve to avoid traffic when the people in front of her stopped to read a menu board. The smells of fried onions, grilled burgers, and deep fat–fried everything made her stomach growl again, even though she knew there was no way she could be hungry after the meal they’d just eaten.
“We’ll come back for pie after checking out the competition site.” Ian chuckled as he turned her toward the new path and out of the crowd. “Let’s not talk about the board meeting. I swear, those guys think there should be absolutely no cost in setting up a booth. Even when I show them the numbers, they don’t get it.”
Ian had been fighting with the board for months now. The budget was calling for a slight raise in booth prices, but the majority votes on the board were farmers and didn’t want to increase costs. Which she understood, but electricity, advertising, and space rental weren’t free, either.
They cut through the back alley between the two main walkways. Ian pointed to a row of empty booths in the center of a large path of grass. A large sign over the Western-style entrance said Restaurant Wars. “I guess that’s where you’re working tomorrow.”
Angie stepped closer to the roped off entry. “There’s our booth. Right next to Copper Creek. I’m so glad. I haven’t talked to Sydney since the last time we had dinner there.”
“Should be fun.” Ian took her arm. “Come on, you’re on a date. I already spent dinner talking about work. Let’s go see what they have for sale.”
“Same old, same old. I don’t want a new phone service or my vents cleaned, but I might find the fudge shop.” She grinned as she stepped back onto the path. A crash sounded behind her. “Is someone there?”
She saw a dark figure running out of the area. She glanced at Ian, who was already on his phone. “I’m calling fair security.”
Angie paused, looking at him. “You have the number on your phone?”
“The farmers’ market has a booth in the exhibit hall. I was going to surprise you when we arrived. I’ve got volunteers manning it tonight, but I’ll be here most of the week. So we can hang out again tomorrow after your event. I hear they have bands at the dance hall every night.” He held up a finger. “This is Ian McNeal, and I’m over at the Restaurant Wars section. I think someone was inside and either broke or stole something.”
Angie shined her phone flashlight over the area, trying to see what the guy had been after. When Ian finished his call, she pointed to the Sandpiper display. “Does it look like the sign’s been torn down?”
“Maybe.” He pushed her arm down and took the phone. “We’re just standing here waiting for the security people to come secure the scene, then we’re out of here.”
Angie smiled up at him. “You worried I’m going to go investigating?”
“I’m worried that you’re going to find a dead body and ruin our date. Let’s pretend the security personnel have this in hand and just have a good time tonight, okay? Tomorrow we can start figuring out the whys and hows.” He put his arm around her and turned her away from the setup. “Look, there’s the small animal barn. You want to go see a thousand guinea pigs?”
“I’m sure there’s not that many.” She leaned up and kissed his jaw. “I’m not that bad about investigating, am