Chapter 11 - Randy
~August~
I let out a long breath and stretched. My back let out several pops, and I hoped that the customer that had just left my booth didn’t hear.
“A pen and two trivets,” Kerry said. “Not bad.”
I nodded. “She was eyeing a charcuterie set as well. Hopefully, she decides to come back and get one.”
“Do you need a bathroom break?” he asked. “I can man the booth if you need to duck out.”
I turned to him and shook my head. “I’m good, thanks. What about you?”
“I could stretch my legs,” he replied with a chuckle. “And I don’t know how much longer I can smell that barbecue without trying some.”
“Pregnancy cravings?” I teased.
He blushed. “About that…”
“Really?” I asked edging closer. “I thought you said it had been too soon after your last heat, so you were still trying.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I must have taken the test too soon, or something. It was negative the first time, but I tested again since we’d been trying… and…” He chuckled. “Went to the doctor yesterday, and they’re guessing it happened when we mated after all.”
“Congrats!”
He looked down and rested his fingers on his still-flat stomach. “Kind of hard to believe after all these years.”
“Yeah.” I laughed. “But I know you want it. We’ll need to celebrate later, but for now, let’s get you fed. Take some money and get us both lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He opened the cash box and grabbed several bills. “Be back soon.”
I rounded the table and flopped onto a folding chair—glad that I’d invested in a pop-up canopy for some shade several years prior.
Summer art markets were a decent sales channel, but a pain in the ass as well. Luckily, I could usually count on Kerry to help out if he was in town, and Jessie if he was on a work trip.
I watched people stroll past—the grass flattening with every footstep.
The booth across from me sported what appeared to be stationary featuring hand-drawn art. Next to it on one side was somebody selling soaps and lotions, while on the other side was a woman featuring hand-made pottery.
I made a mental note to talk to the woman selling pottery before the market closed. She seemed to be doing steady business, and if we were going to be at another market together, I’d add some wall-mounted mug racks to my offerings.
Hell… the mugs were nice. Maybe I could trade a mug tree for her display for a couple.
I didn’t make them often, but they weren’t hard.
Solid base, a few nice branches, hanger bolts, wingnut, washers, threaded inserts, and some finish.
They just didn’t sell well because cheap mug trees were so common.
I pulled out my phone and tapped my thoughts into my notes app so that I wouldn’t forget.
I was trying to remember if I’d seen any other vendors I might want to network with when Kerry breezed back in carrying two plastic bags from the barbecue truck.
“Oh my god,” I said as I got a whiff. “That smells amazing.”
He laughed. “I’m surprised you couldn’t smell it before.”
I shook my head. “Nope, but you’re probably sensitive to food smells.”
“Probably.” He grinned and handed me a bag. “I got you pulled pork, some mac and cheese, potato salad, and a roll. Oh, and spicy sweet sauce.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Good,” he replied with a laugh as he rounded the table and plopped onto the other chair. “Because I got myself the same thing to make things easy.”
“What’s this?” I asked as he handed me a styrofoam cup.
“Fresh-squeezed lemonade.”
“Damn, they’ve got all the good stuff.”
He nodded, shifted the plastic bag down below the rim of the styrofoam to-go container, grabbed his napkin and plastic fork, then opened the container to reveal the food inside.
Hunger hit as soon as I got a look at his food, and I rushed to open mine. I took advantage of the lull in customers to eat while it was still hot.
I was about halfway through my meal when voices from outside the canopy warned me that I was about to have a customer. “Let’s check out the wood stuff.”
I closed my container, stood, and put the bag on the chair so that I had room on my table. Then I rounded it so that I could greet my customers.
Two men came into view—one omega, the other alpha. “Welcome,” I started, then froze. “Craig?”
He blinked several times. “R-Randy?”
The cute omega next to him glanced up with an unreadable expression.
I swallowed. That was it. He was just a flirt. He already had an omega.
“Wait… Randy?” the omega asked with a laugh. He turned to me. “Are you the woodturner Craig’s told us about? The one who uses his own trees?”
I blinked. He was talking about me? “Yes?” I managed.
He grinned and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Joey.”
I accepted the handshake. “Likewise.”
I froze, struggling to ask the question on the tip of my tongue. “So… how long…”
He laughed and shook his head, “Oh, we’re not together.
We’ve been friends since high school, and I badgered him into joining me today so I can get my sister and her mate a housewarming present.
” He leaned in with a grin. “It’s better than staying home alone, and I promised him some barbecue as a bribe. ”
“It’s delicious!” Kerry chimed in from where he was still eating. “And don’t skip the potato salad. I might have to get a container to take home.”
Joey straightened. “Really?”
Kerry lifted his container. “Some of the best I’ve had, aside from my Mama’s, of course.”
Joey laughed and edged toward Kerry to continue the food conversation, leaving Craig and me facing each other.
I hadn’t seen him since I’d picked up the final load of my order, and I was still trying to work through my emotions around him.
“H-hi,” I managed.
Craig smiled. “Hi.” He gestured at the shelves in my booth. “So this is your work?”
I nodded. “Yeah. This is my work.”
He picked up a natural-edge bowl and turned it in his hands. “Was this from one of your trees?”
“Yes.”
He ran his thumb over the pith that made up a feature of the sidewalls. “No checking?”
I smiled. “Half luck, half excruciating drying time.”
He laughed, thumb tracing down where the rings were thicker on one side. “I can imagine, especially with this tension here.”
“Did they teach you how to identify tension in the wood at the mill?”
Joey laughed from where he was still talking with Kerry. “No, I think that comes from him working as a faller for almost fifteen years. He started working the mountain straight out of high school, and was manning a chainsaw by the time he was old enough to drink.”
“You were a faller?”
Craig nodded. “Yep.”
“What made you stop and work at the mill?” I asked.
He frowned. “Repetitive strain. My doctor said that it was only a matter of time before I’d become permanently disabled if I kept doing it.”
He hadn’t left the job because he wanted to, but because his body had forced it on him. I imagined how it would feel if I couldn’t do woodworking anymore because of that.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
He shook his head. “It’s one of the dangers of the job. I just wish I’d had more time.”
He paused, then, “But I wouldn’t have met you if I was still up there.”
My face burned, and I hoped my beard covered my blush. “I… umm…
He set the bowl back on the shelf. “What else do you make? What do you use those scraps for?”
I moved down to a shelf closer to the table and motioned to my spindle-turned items. “Pens, winestoppers, utensil handles.”
He smiled as he picked up a pen. “So delicate, but the wood shines.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“Maybe I should get one. I don’t have a quality pen, and mostly use cheap throwaways with logos on them.”
I chuckled. “I think most people are like that.”
“Well… that settles it,” he stated, then turned to look at the assortment. “Now to decide which to get.”
I swallowed. “May I?”
He looked at me. “Of course.”
I nodded and turned to the shelf. A moment later, I had what I was looking for, and I handed it to him.
“This one,” I started, then swallowed. “It-it’s from one of the scraps you put aside for me.”
My cheeks had heated again, but satisfaction curled in my middle as Craig’s face took on a slightly pinker hue.
“This one it is, then,” he replied. “How much?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s…”
“I insist,” he interrupted.
“Friends’ discount?” I countered.
He smiled. “Deal.”
I turned to the table and noticed that Kerry and Joey had moved to look at some other products.
“Do you need a receipt?” I asked as I charged Craig way less than I should have.
He smiled and shook his head. “Thank you.”
“And I’ll take this set,” Joey declared, picking up one of my charcuterie bundles that included the board and utensils with turned handles. “My sister and her mate love to entertain, and I think they’ll love this.”
“I’ve got it,” Kerry said as I reached for my receipt pad. “You two keep catching up.”
I nodded. “Ok.” Then I turned back to Craig.
“Haven’t seen you in a few weeks,” he murmured. “When do you think you’re coming in again?”
“Probably late next week,” I replied. “Spindle projects do well at these markets.”
“Like the pens?”
I nodded. “And the other small items.”
“Well,” he paused and took a breath. “I hope to see you. I’ve got more scraps set aside, but you said there were too many last time, so I cut back. I only work during the week, though.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Welcome,” Kerry said as somebody else walked in. “Please ask if you have any questions.”
“I think that’s my cue,” Craig murmured.
“Ok,” I replied. “It was good to see you.”
“You too.”
There was a long pause before he stepped back. He gave me a smile, turned, and followed Joey out of my booth.
The woman who had come in browsed for a few minutes, then left without buying anything. A couple more customers flitted through before I was able to sit to finish my lunch—which had cooled some.
“Well, that was fun,” Kerry chirped as he plopped back on his chair.
“Hmm?”
“Meeting your future alpha. He’s hot.” He chuckled. “And his friend gave us all the goods.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not my future alpha. And what do you mean his friend gave us all the goods?”
He laughed. “You keep telling yourself that. But I bet you’ll be riding his knot before the end of the year.” He paused. “And he gave us the goods.”
“Explain.”
“Dude! He went full-wingman as soon as he realized who you were!”
“I caught that Craig had been talking about me.”
He shook his head. “It was way more than that. How old is he?”
“Umm… I don’t know.”
He laughed. “Yes, you do. I don’t know the lingo, but he said he worked as a faller for almost fifteen years and was on a chainsaw by the time he was twenty-one. Context clues put him in the thirty-five to thirty-six range.”
I blinked, remembering that brief mention. “Oh… yeah…”
He grinned. “Did you know he was a faller before today?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Aaaaand,” he added with a smirk. “Joey said Craig’s single.”
“He said he wasn’t his omega.”
Kerry made an X with his hands and let out a buzzer sound. “Wrong! He said being bribed with barbecue was better than being alone all weekend. That was deliberate. Trust me, he was telling you that your alpha is single.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so.” He paused. “So… when are you going to see him next?”
My cheeks heated again. “I told him I’d stop by the mill next week.”
He grinned. “Good! Get that man.”
I shook my head. “He’s just a flirt. It doesn’t mean anything that he’s told his friends about me.”
He snorted. “You keep telling yourself that, then call me when you finally get that knot.”
“You’re relentless.”
He grinned. “I just want to see my best friend happy, and my gut says you would be with him. Not like those assholes I hated.”
The words were like a punch to the gut, and Kerry realized it.
“Sorry, man,” he said. “I didn’t mean…”
I shook my head. “It’s ok. Really.”
“No. I was an ass. I’m sorry.”
I forced a smile. “Do you think you can man the booth for a few? It looks like the crowd is thinning for lunch, and I’m going to pop across to the pottery booth to do some networking.”
He nodded. “Go. Clear your head and take a breather if you need. I’ll text if I don’t see you over there.”
“Thanks.”
“It smells like alpha in here anyway,” he chuckled. “Alpha and barbecue.”
I blinked. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“You will, as soon as you step out. Trust a man with pregnancy nose.”
I smiled. “Ok. Be back in a few.”
He waved me off with a grin.
I stepped out from under my canopy, and almost immediately noticed the change.
But, even as I strode across to talk to the potter, I started to miss Craig’s scent.