Chapter Nine
The day of the fair, the weather was absolutely perfect. The hot temperatures had cooled, making it comfortable to be outside. The sky was a perfect blue without a cloud in the sky. At eight in the morning, Monique and Jacque got into his car to head into town.
The past week with him had been confusing.
One minute he was open and warm with her, and the next he was closed off and cold.
She couldn’t begin to guess what demons he had inside him.
She wanted to discover what they were and somehow exorcize them.
She wanted him warm and open with her all the time, but she didn’t know how to make that happen.
Her ribs were definitely feeling better and the thought of returning to her shanty was happening more and more often. But today she didn’t want to think of anything but having fun and enjoying the day.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked as she gazed at his handsome profile.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied with a quick smile at her.
As always, his smile blossomed a wave of warmth through her. Her desire for him continued to grow with each day that passed. She wanted him, and there were definitely times when she believed he wanted her, too.
There were moments when she felt him looking at her when he thought she didn’t notice. There were also times when an inadvertent touch from him lingered for a bit too long. But she also didn’t want to think about that today, either. These kinds of thoughts only confused her.
She directed him to park at the back of All That Jazz as parking on Main Street was discouraged on this special day of celebration. He turned off the engine, unfastened his seat belt and then turned to look at her.
“Let’s go over the rules for the day,” he said. “First of all, you stay close to me. Second, you don’t leave the area with anyone but me.”
“And third, I changed my mind. I need you to smile a bit today, otherwise you’ll chase off all my customers with your scowls,” she said.
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll work on that.”
“You don’t have to worry about me wandering off from you,” she added. “I’m well aware that I could still be in some kind of danger. But I don’t want to even think about that today. It’s a day for fun. Do you know how to have fun, Jacque?” she asked teasingly.
He gave her a half grin. “Just for you, I’ll dig deep and see if I can remember how to have fun. Now we’d better get inside so you can get set up for this sidewalk sale you intend to have starting at nine.”
Together they went into the store through the back door, and he immediately re-locked the door behind them. As she began pulling items off the racks and placing them on a separate rack that would go outside, he wandered around the shop.
“I don’t go into women’s stores, but this one looks really nice,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said with a huge sense of pride.
“What can I do to help you?” he asked.
“There’s a card table in the back room. If you want to bring it up here, that would be great.”
“Consider it done.” He went down the short hallway and disappeared into the back room. It was not only where people could take their breaks, but it was also a storage room holding stock.
He returned with the card table.
“Just lean it against the door. I want to take it outside and use it along with this rack of clothing. But first I need to mark down the prices of the things that will be on sale. If you want, just have a seat behind the register.”
He sat and watched as she worked with her calculator and changed the prices. “How much are you cutting the prices?”
“I’m marking them down by forty percent.”
“That’s a really good discount,” he replied.
“Most of these items have been really slow sellers, so now the goal is just to get rid of them and make what I can,” she replied. “Of course I got Debbie’s permission to do all this.”
“Just think, once you buy the shop you won’t have to ask permission from anyone for anything,” he said.
“We’ll have to wait to see if that really happens, but that’s certainly my goal,” she replied wistfully. “I would love to own this shop.”
It took her several minutes to get the clothes tagged with the sale price, and then she moved on to the scarves, jewelry and shoes she intended to sell.
Once everything was tagged appropriately, she went into the back room and grabbed a black tablecloth to cover the card table.
Finally, she was ready to move everything outside.
It was an easy job with Jacque there to help her.
At all the other stores down Main Street, there was a flurry of activity as clerks and owners worked to set up for the sidewalk sale. In the distance a Ferris wheel rose up, and even though it was early in the day, the scents of popcorn, grilling hot dogs and other culinary delights filled the air.
It all had a thrumming energy that filled her with excitement. The sidewalk sale would last until five o’clock, and then all the stores would close, giving everyone time to enjoy the festivities.
She was working the entire day, although she had arranged for Samantha McGuire, a middle-aged woman she had recently hired, to work with her. She was hoping her sale would be so busy it would need two sales clerks.
At exactly nine o’clock Samantha showed up. She was an attractive woman and a frequent buyer at the store. Monique introduced Samantha to Jacque, and then Jacque brought three folding chairs from the back room and placed them beside the rack and card table.
The two women sat, but Jacque remained standing just behind Monique. Today he was wearing a pair of black slacks and a green-and black short-sleeved dress shirt. He also wore his shoulder holster and gun. He looked incredibly hot and a little bit dangerous. She found it a very sexy combination.
It wasn’t long before the street began to fill with people. Laughter filled the air, along with the sounds of dozens of conversations.
Women started coming by their sale, thumbing through the clothes and checking out the other items. Some bought things while others were just lookers. The morning passed quickly with a lot of traffic and sales, and before Monique knew, it was after noon.
Jacque had remained a standing sentry just behind her all morning. She was pleased that he had actually smiled when customers approached, but she knew he was probably getting hungry.
There was a lull in the traffic, and she turned to Samantha. “You think you can handle things here by yourself for a few minutes while Jacque and I grab something for lunch? And then when we get back you can go to get some lunch.”
“That sounds good to me,” Samantha agreed. “I’ll be fine here alone.”
Monique stood from the chair and looked at Jacque. “You ready to see what we can find to eat?”
“Definitely,” he replied.
“Then let’s go.”
There was still a crowd of people on the streets although a lot of folks were gathered in front of City Hall. A bandstand was set up there, and a local band was playing country tunes.
As they walked, Jacque surprised her by wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders and pulling her closer to his side. She knew he was doing so to make sure she stayed safe, but she found it more than wonderful to have his body so close to hers.
The scent of him infused her head and half dizzied her senses. She not only felt incredibly safe, but his nearness stirred up her physical desire for the man.
They stopped walking in front of the grocery store where the owner, Howard Griffen, was serving up pulled pork sandwiches and French fries at a reasonable price.
“Sound good?” Jacque asked her.
“Smells delicious,” she replied.
“Heck yes, they smell delicious, and they taste even better,” Howard said. “Should I serve you up a couple with fries on the side?”
“Yeah, that would be great,” Jacque replied.
Minutes later, Monique held the two plates while Jacque once again pulled her tight against his side. They returned to the shop and ate while Samantha left to go get some food.
The rest of the day passed with sales made and plenty of laughter as friends and neighbors stopped by. Dominique came and bought a scarf and told them Angelique was keeping busy at her sidewalk sale. Nola also showed up, more to gossip than to buy anything.
At five o’clock, as they began to move things inside, a layer of clouds moved in, darkening the day. “I hope it isn’t going to rain,” Monique said. “That would certainly ruin everyone’s fun.”
“The weather report called for a cloudy evening, but it’s not supposed to rain,” Jacque replied.
“That’s good,” she said and then turned to Samantha. “You’re officially off duty. Thank you so much for working with me today.”
Samantha smiled. “I really enjoyed it, and I’ll see you day after tomorrow when I work again.” She got her purse from inside the store, then with goodbyes said, headed down the sidewalk.
Finally, everything was put away in the store.
Monique and Jacque stepped back outside, and she locked the door and then gazed down the street.
All the shoppers had disappeared, leaving the sidewalks relatively empty.
She knew most of the people were either by the bandstand or enjoying the small carnival that had set up in a field just behind City Hall.
“With the cloudy skies, the lights of the carnival really sparkle and shine,” she said. “Especially the ones on the Ferris wheel.”
“I suppose you want me to ride it with you,” Jacque said from behind her.
She whirled around to look at him. “Would you?”
“I suppose I could do one ride.”
“Oh, thank you, Jacque.” On impulse she stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him on his cheek as once again she smelled the delicious scent of him. Instantly, a familiar flame flickered to life inside her.
She quickly lowered her arms, but not before she saw the flames that danced in the depths of his green eyes. “Let’s go,” she said with a forced lightness.