Chapter 23
Astrid
It had only been a day since we'd posted the Summer Festival flyers around town, at markets, coffee shops, schools, and far too many at Auntie D's café. Already, we'd received over eighty volunteer applications, most of them from Orange Falls High school and the college.
We obviously couldn’t take everyone, but rejecting people randomly felt unfair. So we’d invited them all for an interview, just casual friendly questions to figure out who was genuinely excited and who’d show up for the free snacks.
Kelly and I were setting up the tables when Aeron walked in, his presence instantly filling the room.
“Refreshments are on their way.” His eyes caught mine for a heartbeat. “I'm off to meet Steve to talk about fundraising campaigns. Anything else before I go?”
“I think we’re good.”
He turned to Kelly. “It’s an interview, not your personal TED Talk. Let them also talk.”
“She’s not even handling the interviews.” I fought hard to keep a straight face at Aeron’s deadpan tone and Kelly’s rapidly boiling temper.
“She isn’t?” Aeron asked at the exact moment Kelly demanded, “I’m not?”
“Last-minute change,” I said. “We’re running low on hands, so—”
“And you're telling me this now?” Aeron interrupted, his voice deceptively calm but edged with steel. “Eighty interviews by yourself. Even if each lasts five minutes, that's nearly seven hours nonstop. Do you realize what you're getting yourself into?”
I blinked, taken aback.
Underneath that harshness, was that a genuine concern I heard? Aeron didn’t openly show concern, or openly show anything, really.
My heart tripped, then sped up, not sure what to do with this unexpected softness.
Even Kelly glanced at me, eyes wide, surprised by his sudden protectiveness.
“They come in batches.” I managed. Seven hours without a break wasn’t a good idea.
My back would definitely protest after sitting that long, but I needed to finish it today so we could finally start preparations.
We only had three weeks left. Aeron was already buried under logistics.
There was no way I could dump this on him too.
“What time are they getting here?” Aeron asked.
I glanced down at my watch. “First batch at eleven. That gives us about an hour.”
“And me?” Kelly waved her hand. “What task have you assigned me?”
“You’ll be welcoming them. Smiling, handing out snacks, and sending them to me for interviews.”
“So basically, I'm the entertainer,” Kelly said, her expression suggesting I’d downgraded her from piloting the rocket to selling souvenir mugs at NASA.
“Isn’t it perfect? You've finally found your true calling,” Aeron called over his shoulder as he walked off.
Kelly stared after him, jaw clenched in anger. “The absolute nerve. That's twice he's messed with me now.”
If I hadn’t grabbed her arm, she would’ve chased after him.
“I am not letting this go,” Kelly crossed her arms defiantly.
“You’ve said that ten times already,” I arranged the pens in a neat line.
“Azzie, picture Aeron running these interviews. Actually, don’t picture it. I’ll show you.”
“Oh god, no,” I laughed. “Please don’t—”
But she was already straightening her shoulders, eyes narrowing in a perfect Aeron impression.
“What’s your name?” she intoned flatly. “Age? Skills?” She glared at an imaginary volunteer.
“You…less talking. Actually, no talking would be good.” Then she turned sharply at another pretend volunteer.
“And you..do you even talk? No? Congratulations. You’re hired. ”
I laughed so hard I sent the pens and notepads off the table. Hearing Aeron’s carefully reserved, speak only when necessary tone coming so perfectly from Kelly’s mouth made it a hundred times funnier.
Kelly sank down onto the floor beside me, giggling uncontrollably now. Every time I laughed, her eyes lit up even brighter. Wait…wait,” she wheezed through her laughter. “Do you want another one?”
“I can’t…I cannot handle more,” I gasped, clutching my stomach, desperately trying to breathe.
But Kelly wasn’t finished yet. She stood up and began pacing the room, imitating Aeron’s stiff, serious walk.
If he were anywhere within earshot, I wouldn’t dare to laugh this hard.
But speak of the devil, and he appears, because he was standing in the doorway at the exact moment I was busy correcting Kelly’s imitation: “Shoulders straighter, Kel. Stop smiling. And don’t swing your arms.”
“Should I come back later?” His voice was dangerously calm, which somehow made my panic skyrocket.
Suddenly, faking amnesia felt like a brilliant idea.
“Yes—I mean no,” I blurted, nearly slipping on the pens scattered at my feet. “We were just...arranging the things.”
Kelly, who’d been babbling like a parrot two seconds ago, went silent and stepped quickly to my side. She stared hard at the floor, looking every bit like she'd been caught red-handed pocketing diamonds at a royal palace.
All bark, no bite.
Aeron strode into the room and set the water bottles on the table with a heavy, deliberate thud—not aggressive exactly, but loud enough to make it clear he wasn’t thrilled about what we were doing.
“Next time.” He didn’t look at me. “Maybe imitate how I breathe. I'm sure you've perfected that, too.”
I was this close to digging a hole in the floor and burying myself.
“I’ve brought the refreshments and snacks you have asked for. Come, and double check the list.”
Kelly and I didn't dare glance up, until his footsteps had faded down the hallway. Only then did we finally let out an exhale, and risk glancing at each other.
“I told you to stop after the interview imitation,” I whispered. “But no, you had to copy his walk, too.”
“Oh, please.” Kelly rolled her eyes. “You’re hardly innocent. You were cackling like a hyena on helium the whole time.”
“Because you wouldn’t stop even when I begged!” I raised my tone.
“Because your hyena-laugh was cheering me on, thank you very much,” Kelly shot back.
“That’s exactly my point! You got so carried away, you didn’t even notice him walk in. Don’t you know it’s the imitator’s job to keep an eye out for the person they're mocking?”
Her eyes widened. “He came in like a cat, Azzie! How am I supposed to notice his—”
Over Kelly’s shoulder, a shadow moved at the doorway. My heart stumbled, and I stomped down hard on her foot.
“Ow!” she yelped, and followed my frantic gaze and froze.
Aeron was standing in the doorway again.
His expression looked exactly like someone who’d returned home to find two mischievous cats knocking valuables off shelves, mildly irritated, but long past being surprised.
“I came to see if you needed anything else,” he said. “But please continue.”
He walked away, leaving silence in his wake. That anger of his was terrifying.
Kelly headed off to receive the volunteers. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps and straightened up, ready to greet the first volunteers, but instead of eager teenagers, Allen and Ayden appeared in the doorway, the absolute last people I expected to see.
“Astrid?” Allen was surprised to see me as I was to see him. Ayden’s expression wasn’t far behind. “What are you doing here?”
“Pretty sure that's my line. What are you two doing here?” Their names were not on the list I'd checked at least six times this morning.
Kelly had given me a tour of Orange Falls a couple of days ago when I'd wanted to get a feel for the town.
We'd stopped by Allen's cozy chocolate café.
I met his daughter. Oh my god, that kid was the cutest little whirlwind—talking a mile a minute in the most adorable, broken toddler-speak. I loved her immediately.
“We came for pizza,” Ayden glanced skeptically at the tables. “And drinks. Why are there pens and notepads?”
“Because I’m holding interviews.” I watched their baffled expressions grow even more baffled.
“Interviews for what?” Allen asked blankly.
Seriously? Had these two been sleepwalking through town? I’d wallpapered Orange Falls with flyers, including Allen’s own chocolate café
“There’s one guy who just arrived—” Kelly froze. Her eyes were on Ayden. I watched her ears turn bright red. Ayden’s gaze flickered to hers, just long enough for me to catch the startled blink and the way he quickly found something extremely interesting to look at: the wall.
”We got scammed, Ayden!” Allen said.
“I knew something was fishy the second he said drinks at Founders Hall.” Ayden said. “I left my grapes unsupervised for this. I’m going to kill that asshole.”
“You can plot my death threats later.” Aeron walked into the room. “Right now, snack duty at reception is calling your names.” He turned toward Kelly. “Take the interviews.”
Aeron wasn’t looking at me, not even the tiniest side-eye, even though I was openly staring at him, and he one hundred percent knew it.
Sure, he was mad at me, but I didn’t miss that softness, that protectiveness, that gentleness he was trying so hard to hide.
Did he seriously think I wouldn’t notice he'd dragged Ayden and Allen here just so I wouldn't have to endure seven hours of interviews alone?
The plan was for Kelly and me to handle interviews together, but I made a last-minute switch, pulling Allen to my side for interview duty and pushing Kelly to snack duty. I was scheming, just a little, absolutely a little, to let her spend time with Ayden.
What else were best friends for?
For reasons I couldn't quite figure out, Aeron gave me a death stare.
The interviews took five hours. When I came out, Kelly was nowhere in sight. Ayden was also suspiciously missing, which felt like a promising sign.
After chatting with the selected volunteers and collecting their numbers, I made my way back, only to find Aeron and Allen deep in conversation, loud, laughing in a way I rarely got to see.
I stared at him, not bothering to interrupt. Just stared. He noticed me, because I saw the slight flicker of his eyes in my direction, but he stubbornly pretended I wasn't there. Maybe realizing I wouldn't give in first, he stood up, and came over.
“Tell me.”
A thought slipped out before I could think better of it. “I need some records from the archive room.” I absolutely didn't, but it was the only excuse my brain could invent to keep him talking to me.
“There’s a ladder.”
“You’re the one who named me Dizzytrid and won't let me near ladders just because I fell once.” I stubbornly held my ground.
His jaw tightened. Without a word, he turned on his heel and headed straight for the archive room. I followed, grinning shamelessly. I knew exactly how to push his buttons.
“Legends and local lore.” I randomly picked a name from the register.
He picked the book, and placed it in my hands.
“Town traditions.”
Again, he handed it to me, no complaints. I asked book after book, and each time he silently complied with every demand I threw at him.
“Anything else?”
“Your smile.”
He nodded automatically, already halfway turned before my words fully registered. He stopped mid-step, freezing for a heartbeat, then turned back around. “You…” he started, fighting hard to keep his face hard, but lost the battle. The smile he'd been holding back broke free. “You’re unbelievable.”
The exhaustion from six hours of interviews vanished watching him smile. It was probably dangerous, letting myself get swept away by this feeling, but I didn’t care. All I could see right now was that I made him smile.