Chapter 3 #3
Chelsey opened her phone and glanced at the list of the companies who’d pledged to make up a picnic basket for the auction. She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from her printer. She called the first one—Smokin’ BBQ—and chatted with the owner, Marge Hale.
An hour and a half later, she’d made some progress.
Juniper Valley Realty
Bake Me Happy
Garth’s Grill
Shooting Star Ranch
Juniper Valley Library
Curl Up & Dye
Shift Happens
Main Street Bookstore
Her page was covered in her doodles again, one beside each business.
She’d drawn a cupcake for the bakery, a burger and fries for Garth’s Grill and a sky of shooting stars for the ranch.
They would make for fun coloring pages for kids.
But the thought of her nonsense art going out in the world made her stomach tighten.
She wasn’t good enough to have anything of hers printed.
She grabbed a water bottle and took a long drink to refocus.
More than half of the sponsors had their baskets ready to bring in Saturday morning.
The baskets would have different specialty items from their businesses, plus gift certificates for the food.
The bidders were responsible for setting up a date and grabbing the actual meal.
Sandy McCormick ran and owned the local realty and happened to be the valley’s best realtor. She also happened to be an exceptional cook and Mason McCormick’s sister. She pledged an Italian dinner with a bottle of champagne and two glasses in her basket plus a candle and brownies.
Annie at Bake Me Happy wanted to put together a basket, even though she was catering the event. She was going to make her famous cinnamon rolls plus a certificate for a free baking lesson.
Garth’s Grill made their own BBQ sauces that “have more taste than Texas has armadillos” or so their tagline said. Their basket would have the sauces and different card games, one of which was get-to-know-you cards.
Sandy’s older brother, Clay, ran the ranch and was donating a side-by-side adventure to see the wild horses and a couple of steak dinners at sunset.
He made sure Chelsey understood that Sandy would be grilling the meal and his wife, Tanya, doing the tour.
“I don’t have time for silly romance games.
” Chelsey chuckled to herself once he hung up because she remembered a time when he chased Tanya across the state and even serenaded her.
Under his gruff exterior, Clay McCormick was a romantic at heart.
The owner of Curl Up & Dye was also a yoga instructor. She was donating a yoga class and couples massage along with champagne and homemade chocolates. Chelsey hoped the winning couple knew each other well enough and would be comfortable with a massage.
Heather’s boyfriend, Rodney, ran the Shift Happens bike store.
Chelsey tried not to get too excited when he not only donated a tandem bike tour around Juniper Valley, but also gifted a couple of smaller E-bikes to be given to the little houses that would be built starting in the fall.
“I figured the vets needed a way to get around town,” Rodney told Chelsey.
She wanted to kiss him but would leave that to Heather.
The library and bookstore were still working on their basket. Twin sisters were involved—one ran the library and the other owned the store. They were “discussing” what would go in each basket so they weren’t doubling up on anything. Did they see the irony in their words?
Chelsey stood and stretched. Her stomach growled and she glanced at her watch, way past lunchtime. Lucky for her, she’d packed a sandwich that morning and threw it in her mini cooler. She started on the chips she’d also packed and glanced around.
The area still bustled with activity as people set up more tables and chairs and finished making the centerpieces.
Each table would have one to three battery-operated candles set in a wreath with strawberry accents.
There would also be silk daisies, which was the one decoration Chelsey asked to be used in memory of her mom.
A text came in while she ate her ham-on-rye sandwich, reminding Chelsey that the fire chief was scheduled to come and inspect the sparklers that would go off at the end of the night—if Rich got them to work. Had he fixed the waterline? Maybe this year they could use hand-held ones.
Taylor. Was he still here?
Chelsey glanced out back. She didn’t see him or Rich.
Maybe they finished and went out for a bite to eat.
She walked out the open back door and found the two of them filling in a couple of holes they’d dug.
Leaves, mud and grass splattered Taylor’s clothes, face and dark wavy hair.
Taylor said something that made Rich laugh.
Just as she took a step outside to join the conversation, someone called her name.
A thin man with a shiny forehead scurried through the main area and glanced around. “Is there a Chelsey Hooper here?”
Chelsey raised a hand and waved at him. “I’m Chelsey. What can I do for you?”
The man handed her a paper. “This building has several OSHA violations. You’re shut down until further notice.”