Chapter 18
Saturday morning rolled around way too early. Mia shot upright when the alarm went off, her heart thudding. Damn. Her first thought wasn’t coffee or the market. It was whether today would cooperate at all.
She had only a short time to shower and dress, load the van and get to the farmers’ market.
Sarah would already be setting up and waiting.
Mia crossed her fingers that Roy had remembered to put the coolers back in the van like he’d promised.
She’d been baking until way into the night and only stopped to catch a few winks.
Now she was scrambling to finish last-minute items she should have done yesterday if sleep weren’t a thing she occasionally needed.
She kept telling herself it would be fine.
After a quick breakfast of coffee, she kissed her dad on the forehead and sprinted out to the barn.
The trays of cinnamon pear muffins and maple-bacon scones were cooling on the counter, and the whole place smelled warm and cozy like baked sugar and browned butter.
She slid everything onto sheet pans and hurried to the van.
She yanked open the back doors.
No coolers.
Mia closed her eyes and let her head fall forward.
Frustration shot through her chest. “Roy,” she whispered.
What the hell happened? He’d promised he’d rinse them out and load them before he left yesterday.
If he wasn’t able to do the job, he should have told her.
Now she had to stop and scrub them herself, pack ice and pray nothing spoiled.
She checked her watch. Great. Half an hour gone already. And the morning hadn’t even started.
She called Sarah on her way back to the barn. “Hey, I’m running behind. Like … painfully behind.”
Sarah sounded instantly alert. “What happened? You okay?”
“Yeah. Classic. You depend upon someone and they let you down,” she huffed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“No problem,” Sarah replied. “The market doesn’t open for another half an hour, and some vendors are nowhere near ready.”
Mia hung up, took care of the coolers and ice and was just bringing out the last tray of muffins when Caleb’s truck rolled down the drive. He climbed out, looking far too awake for this hour, and strode over.
“Morning,” he said. “We’ve hit a snag, and I need a moment to …”
“Not today, Caleb.” She lifted a hand. “I’m drowning, and I’m late.” The words came out sharper than she had meant.
He blinked, taken aback. “I can help …”
“I’m fine, thanks.” She walked around to the driver’s side. “Let’s talk later, okay?”
His jaw tightened, but he stepped back.
The look on his face tugged at her, but she had no time to unpack it.
By the time Mia finally pulled into the farmers’ market and parked, her pulse was racing. The lot was filling up, and she managed to grab the closest spot to her table, which wasn’t close enough. She opened the back doors and lifted a tray. Sarah noticed her and raced over to help.
“You look frazzled,” she said.
“Humph.” Mia slid a tray onto the table. “Probably because I am. This has been a morning.”
Customers were already drifting closer, drawn by the scent of cinnamon and maple and crisp autumn air. Mia smiled, shaking off the morning chaos, while Sarah continued to unload the trays.
Today, their spot was wedged between Benny Rodriquez’s Taco Mama and a nature-themed vendor selling handmade wreaths, beeswax candles and dried herbs.
The air smelled of cilantro, pine and sizzling spice, and her stomach growled loud enough that Sarah side-eyed her.
She promised herself a taco before she left.
Mia glanced around. Will’s booth was several vendors down, Sabrina’s right next to his, and where was Dana?
Oh, there she was. At the end of the aisle, already entertaining a group of women.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Sabrina hovering nearby, pretending to be interested in a basket of gourds. She wandered around a couple more booths, chatting with the vendors. Not doing anything wrong, not even looking at Mia.
She just lingered.
And Mia’s neck prickled in warning. Could be something or not. After all the whispered comments she’d heard, Mia didn’t trust her. Not completely. Maybe not at all. She hated that it even crossed her mind.
Sabrina finally glanced over, gave her a wave and polite smile, then turned away.
Mia rang up several quiches, handed out a few samples of a spiced apple cake she was perfecting. Sarah was taking care of other customers. Still, every so often, Mia felt eyes on her. Each time she looked around, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Which somehow made it worse.
“Hey.”
Mia turned. Sabrina hovered in front of her table. “It’s quiet on my end, so I thought I’d come on over and say hello. See what’s new?”
“Nothing really,” Mia replied. “How about you?”
“Oh, you know, same ol’, same ol’.” Sabrina let out a small laugh. “I just signed up a couple of new clients, so I’m taking a break.” She launched into updates about a new yoga class, holiday events, and the weather.
Mia lost interest somewhere around hot yoga with goats. She smiled anyway. Polite. Professional.
“Great,” Mia replied when she sensed a pause.
“Yeah. I snagged the Overton account. Big party coming up.” Sabrina’s eyes sharpened. “But I’m sure you know that. Mrs. Overton said she’d spoken to several other caterers in the area before deciding on mine.”
Mia mentally sighed. Yes, she did know that. Mrs. Overton was very specific about what she wanted and the date. Unfortunately, Mia had a commitment that day, so she had to pass. It would have been a solid payday, not to mention great publicity.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” said Sabrina. “I’m hoping to get several endorsements from that party. It’ll be enough to keep me going for a while.” She glanced over at her table. “Oops, potential client. Gotta go.”
She flitted off.
“You good?” Sarah murmured, bumping her shoulder.
“Peachy,” Mia said. “Although if I had to listen to her tell me one more time about how well she was doing, I’d …”
She never got to finish. A customer stepped up to the table asking about the different scones, and Mia slid right back into work mode.
By noon, the crowds thinned. Mia sagged against the back of her chair. “This has been the longest morning.”
“Go home. You’ve done enough for the day. I’ll pack up whatever’s left and bring it to you along with the receipts.” She looked at the table. “There’s not much left anyway, so you might sell out.”
Mia didn’t argue. She nodded her head, gathered her purse, snagged a taco for the road and headed out.
No one was working at the new barn when she arrived home. For a tiny moment, she was disappointed. Talking to Caleb usually made her day. But she’d been abrupt this morning and would apologize next time she saw him.
As for Roy, he wasn’t around either, thank goodness, because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold her temper.
Her patience with him was at an all-time low.
He’d been forgetting lots of little things that he promised to do for her, and she was starting to wonder if she was asking too much or if he simply didn’t care anymore.
Mia unpacked the coolers from the van and carried them inside to wash.
The barn still smelled of baked sugar and warm spice.
She set her keys beside the landline, a relic left over from the property’s earlier days and still used for deliveries and inquiries.
She let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The quiet was calming.
Footsteps crunched outside.
Her heart lifted. Mia hoped it was Caleb so they could talk.
“Mia?” Dana’s voice floated in.
Damn. Not Caleb.
Dana stepped inside, her sunglasses pushed up, wearing a concerned smile. Mia hoped she didn’t look as disappointed as she felt.
“Hi, Sarah told me what happened. You okay?”
Mia gave a small laugh. “Define okay.”
Dana winced in sympathy. “It’s a lot getting ready for the market. Heard about the coolers. I would have turned my car around and gone back to bed.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how you juggle everything. If it were me, I would have walked off by now.”
“Trust me. The thought crossed my mind.” Mia rubbed the back of her neck. “It was just … a lot this morning.”
Dana stepped closer. “You work too hard. People don’t see how much pressure you’re under.”
Her kindness was unexpected. “I’m fine. Really. Just overwhelmed.”
Mia walked over to the cabinet. “Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea?”
Dana wandered instead, looking around the barn. “This is such a great space.” She turned back. “No, I just wanted to check up on you. I need to get going.”
“Thanks,” Mia said, meaning it.
Dana touched her arm, squeezed, then stepped past her toward the door. “Oh! Before I forget …” She pulled something from her pocket and set it on the counter near the sink. “A little good-luck charm. Figured you could use one today.”
When she left, the door clicked gently behind her.
Mia walked over to the sink, paused, spotting the small figurine on the counter. A tiny ceramic pig—plump, smiling and wearing a blue bow around its neck.
She huffed a laugh. “Well … aren’t you something.”
She picked it up, turning it between her fingers. Beside the pig sat a tiny cow and goat. Dana must have snuck the other two out of her pocket when Mia wasn’t looking.
“Good luck,” she murmured to the trio. “Yeah, I’ll take it.”
She stared at the trio; the sunlight caught their glossy, smiling faces. They made the barn feel lighter for just a moment.
Mia sighed. She needed all the good luck she could get.
She was used to hard work. But add in maintaining a farm, a new barn and her dad, and sometimes it was overwhelming.
Although she had her work, Roy helped when he wasn’t being ornery, the new barn was coming along, and she had her dad.
It was all good. Or as good as it was going to get.
She grabbed a sponge and got to work, her shoulders easing for the first time all day.