Chapter 8 #2
As their surprisingly eventful walk across the gravel lot came to an end, Daniel took a key from his pocket, opened the store’s front door, flipped on the lights, and ushered Penny inside.
The space, with its vaulted ceiling, soft gray-white walls, and rough-hewn shelving, offered a pleasing blend of rustic and modern.
“Wait,” Eva said, following them inside. “I want you to do that again.”
“Do what again?” Daniel asked.
“Walk in. I’ll already be in here. I want to film you two walking into the store.”
Penny suppressed a smile. Her young friend’s earnestness was, well, adorable.
Daniel glanced at Penny. “You okay with…?”
“Of course,” Penny replied. They left the store and shut the door. Eva turned off the lights and called, “Okay, action!”
Too softly for Eva to hear, Daniel whispered, “This must be what actors have to deal with.”
“‘All the world’s a stage,’” Penny whispered back, “‘and all the men and women merely players.’”
Daniel’s eyes flashed. “Shakespeare.”
“One of my mom’s superpowers is pulling quotes from thin air. Every once in a while, I can do the same.”
Something new — and welcome — occurred: His facial muscles, acting in coordination, arranged his mouth into a real, actual, honest-to-goodness smile. “Is your mom a Shakespeare fan?”
“More generally a literature fan. She and my dad have always loved books. It’s why they started the bookstore.”
From inside, Eva called out, “You guys can come in now!”
Daniel pushed open the door, flipped on the lights, and again ushered Penny inside.
“Remember, don’t look at me,” Eva said as she aimed the phone at them. “Pretend I’m not here.”
Daniel stood still for a second, unsure what to do. “So,” he said awkwardly. “I suppose we should find that carton of apple butter and get back to the house.”
“Oh, no,” Eva said. “No, no, no. You need to walk around the store first and talk about the store. To each other. And don’t look at me!”
Penny hid another smile and decided to play along. “I haven’t been in here in a while,” she said to Daniel. “Would you mind if I look around?”
“Sure, no problem.”
She paused to take in the apple butter promotion on the main display table near the door.
Jars of the orchard’s four apple butter varieties — cinnamon, creamy, sweet, and classic — were arranged into four pyramids on the table, next to brief notes describing each butter.
The note for the cinnamon variety read, “Northland Orchard Cinnamon Apple Butter offers the spicy sweet-tart taste of Baldwin apples with a dash of cinnamon. Perfect with your morning toast and oatmeal, and a wonderful dinner complement for pork chops and roasted vegetables. Pro tip: Try it with your favorite brie.”
Penny gestured to the apple butters. “Before Gabe bought the orchard,” she said, “the general store felt kind of random. You’d walk in and not really know what you were looking at. Even if you knew exactly what you wanted, you had to work to find it.”
Daniel glanced at the display table. “But now…?”
“When Gabe took over, he focused the store on four things: orchard products, handcrafted furniture, local art, and vintage accessories. That side of the store” — she pointed to her left — “is for art and furniture, all of which is regionally sourced. The other side is for the orchard’s products — ciders, apple sauces, and apple butters.
” She gestured to a collection of old-fashioned hand lanterns on a sideboard near the door.
“When he sells vintage items like these lanterns, he groups them together.”
Daniel was listening intently. “And he does that because…?”
“Because when items are grouped together, they become a collection.”
“And collections are more appealing to customers?”
“That’s right.”
“There’s a method to this.”
“Very much so.” She made her way to the art section of the store, Daniel and Eva following, and stopped in front of a wall of landscape paintings.
Clearly by a single hand, the paintings depicted various orchard scenes — rows of apple trees, the orchard’s big red barn, and more.
“As you can see, Gabe arranges art the same way.”
Daniel stepped closer to examine a painting of the white clapboard farmhouse. “The artist is good.”
“The artist is Ed, one of Gabe’s employees.”
“Ed?” Daniel said, glancing at her. “I met him this afternoon. Are all of these landscapes of the orchard?”
“It’s his favorite subject.” She pointed to a handcrafted wooden stool. “Another of Gabe’s employees, Mabel, makes furniture.”
“This stool is a beauty,” Daniel said, examining it closely.
“The orchard’s apple products are the focus on the other side of the store, and the display table in the center is for whatever he’s promoting at the moment.”
“You seem to know a lot about what he’s up to here.”
“We’re both in retail, so we’re always swapping notes.”
He turned his full attention back to her. “I wanted to ask you about that. About your bookstore.”
“Oh?”
“I’m curious about bookstores.”
“Since you’re an author, I can see why.”
“I’m circling a story that takes place in a bookstore.”
“Anything you can share?”
“There isn’t much to share yet. The story’s still a bit vague.” His eyes grew intense. “But if I have questions, could I…?”
“Of course,” she replied. “Any bookstore questions you have, ask away.”
And then, for the second time in a row, he smiled.
And this time, thanks to the store’s warm lighting, she was able to really see it. It was a nice smile, she was pleased to discover. It had a warmth to it and seemed to open him up, offering a glimpse of the person behind his mask of serious.
It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was smiling back — and that the two of them were just standing there, not moving, frozen in place, gazing at each other with big grins on their faces.
She heard a gasp and turned to find their eager videographer gaping at them in shock, eyes wide, looking at them like she’d just discovered buried treasure.
“Eva, are you okay?”
The girl let out a delighted laugh. “Me? Oh, yes, I’m fine. I’m totally fine. Wow.” She laughed again, her eyes flashing with undisguised glee. “The three of us? We are gonna have so much fun.”
Oh, dear. What had just happened was not good. Penny knew all too well the dangerous notions ricocheting through Eva’s head. Like most folks raised in Heartsprings Valley, the girl possessed a powerful gift — a talent for meddling — that, when activated, was capable of all manner of chaos.
Most folks knew how to wield their power subtly. But Eva, who lived life in the sledgehammer zone?
Penny’s stomach twisted into knots. A whirlwind of meddling — unruly, unpredictable, untamed — had just been unleashed and was barreling their way.
“So, Mr. Bedford,” Eva began, “you live in New York, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you drive up with your wife or girlfriend?” she continued, fulfilling Penny’s prophesy with terrifying speed.
Daniel’s eyes widened. “No, I drove up by myself.”
Penny jumped into the fray, determined to at least try to shield Daniel from the approaching storm. “Eva, I thought you wanted us to pretend you’re not here.”
“Oh, I do want that,” Eva said cheerfully. “Except when I don’t. If I ask questions, you can answer me.”
“It’s just that —”
“See, what we’re doing now, talking back and forth — it’s called a ‘confessional’ shot.”
“A confessional shot?”
“You know, the director or producer asks the person on camera a bunch of questions to get their reaction to something, to help the director tell the story to the audience.”
“I can see that, but —”
“So as I was asking, Mr. Bedford, do you have a wife in New York? A girlfriend?”
“Eva,” Penny began. “That’s not —”
“Hey,” Eva said brightly, “this is just me being casual, you know, making small talk. No agenda at all. It’s important to know my client, right?”
Penny shook her head. “Some people may not be comfortable sharing that kind of information.” To Daniel, she added, “As you can see, at times Eva can be a bit, um, forward.”
“Oh, totally,” Eva agreed immediately. “People tell me that all the time.”
“She’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her.”
“Which is basically like forever. Penny used to be my babysitter.”
Daniel turned to Penny. “Is that so?”
“Best babysitter ever,” Eva continued. “Totally amazing person. Really great with kids. You’re lucky you get to spend time with her now that she’s babysitting you.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Eva,” Penny said sharply.
“She’s the perfect person to do it, too. Not only is she a wonderful human being, she’s very pretty. Don’t you think so?”
Daniel’s mouth opened but no words came out.
“Eva,” Penny said, her face flushing. “That’s not appropriate.”
“Why not?” Eva said, undeterred. “I think you’re pretty and there’s nothing wrong with me saying that.” Then she turned to Daniel and said, with startling directness:
“Mr. Bedford, do you agree?”
.