“How do you want to organize the boxes that people just have to pick up?”
Taking the list that Terri had provided, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God, they’re listed alphabetically.”
Scrunching her brow, Barbara asked, “How else would they be listed?”
“Knowing them, I was afraid they’d be listed by customer astronomical sign or something.”
“I’ve bought things from them for a couple of years,” Renée said, looking down into a box. “I had no idea you knew them.” She pulled out a smaller bag. “I hate to run, but I promised Jon I’d help at his booth. Um, this was what I’d ordered. I’ll just mark my name off and take it with me.”
“Sure,” Caitlyn mumbled, her attention on stacking the bags in some semblance of order. “See you later.”
“I’ve got to go to the Fine Arts department booth to help,” Barbara moaned, tossing a wave as she walked away as well.
Hustling to meet the opening time, Caitlyn finally stood with a smile on her face as the first customers came along.
There were lots of customers who wandered past her booth, but the intriguing scents from the T&B products drew them back to sniff the candles and potpourri or have a tiny tasting cup of brewed tea samples. Then their wallets came out.
Grinning, she worked continuously, barely having time to greet her family members that came along to support the school’s fundraiser. Looking up, she spied her sisters-in-law Harper, Sandy, and Kimberly as they sniffed candles, each choosing one. Hugging them quickly, she waved to Sean, Kyle, and Rory standing behind them. Sean’s keen gaze was moving over the crowd, Rory was smiling at something Sandy said, and Kyle moved next to Kimberly, his face hard as he looked over the potpourri.
Sniffing, he growled, “Smells funny. Smells like that crappy incense college kids use to cover up their weed smoking.”
Blinking, she plopped her hands onto her hips. “You are ridiculous. Just because there are herbs, spices, and dried flowers in something, you think it’s for some kind of illegal use.”
“Sweetie,” Kimberly said, placing one hand on Kyle’s arm, holding up a small bag in the other. “This one smells like Christmas.”
His face softened. “You’re right, that one’s good. Get it, babe.”
Caitlyn smiled at the sight of her tough brother giving in to the woman he loved, his someone, and the familiar pang went through her, only lessened this time. Thinking of Griffin, she smiled wider, wondering if he might be her someone.
Selling several items to her family, she waved them off as more preorder customers came by to pick up their purchases.
“Hey, girl.” Renée walked back over. “I’ve got some time, so how about I run your booth for a few minutes while you take a break?”
“Are you sure?”
Nodding, Renée said, “You’ve sold so much, there are just a few more pickups, anyway.”
Glad for the reprieve, she hurried to the stadium bathrooms for a quick trip to the ladies’ room and then off to wander amongst the food tents. Finally making her decision, she bought a hot dog, chips, water, and then a funnel cake because nothing says ‘fair’ like fried dough covered in powdered sugar.
Making her way back to her tent, she saw students around, sniffing the items while talking to Renée. “Hi, Ms. McBride,” called several while a few others looked up and simply nodded before going back to their perusal. She was surprised at the diversity, having to admit that a few of the students hadn’t struck her as “fair-goers”, but as they purchased several items, she realized that T&B’s products held a wide appeal.
Waving goodbye to Renée after thanking her profusely, she stuffed her face while chatting with the students. It took another hour, but the last of the preorders were picked up and she marked the final name off Terri’s list.
“Hey, babe,” Griffin’s rough voice sounded in her ear as his arms banded around her from behind.
Twisting around, she grinned up at him. “Hey, to you, too.” She glanced around. “Did Russ come back with you?”
“Yeah, he ran to grab something to eat, and said he’d be back to help load things up.” He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “He’s a good kid, Caitlyn. I think he’s gonna work out fine.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight with her head leaned back, holding his gaze. “And I think he’s lucky to have you. For that matter, so am I.” The noise of the tent next to her being taken down interrupted her moment of enjoyment at just being in Griffin’s embrace.
“I guess we’d better start breaking things down, also.”
As she was struggling with one side of the tent, Russ jogged over. “I’ll get this, Ms. McBride.”
Stepping out of their way, she watched as Griffin and Russ made quick work of getting the tent and tables folded up. Using the handcart provided, Russ rolled them back to where the administrators were collecting the items. While Griffin carried the empty boxes back to her car, she counted out the day's sales, and pocketing half to give to Terri and Bjorn, she shoved the other half into an envelope and walked it over to the school’s bookkeeper. After it was counted and she was given a receipt, she hurried into the parking lot to find Griffin standing at her car.
“I’m gonna take Russ to his house, and then I’ll come home,” he said, bending to offer a light kiss. His nose glided along her cheek as he whispered, “Remember, tonight’s date night.”
A shiver ran over her and she grinned. “I can’t wait.” Waving goodbye to Russ and him as well as a few of her friends, she climbed into her car and drove home.
Terri and Bjorn came out to get the empty boxes, thrilled that everything they’d sent had sold, especially when she handed them their money.
“Oh, wow!” Terri threw her hands upward and shook her hips, her broomstick skirt swishing about her ankles.
Bjorn rubbed his hands together. “We’ve got to get busy and make more T & B brilliance!” The two of them hustled back into their apartment, leaving Caitlyn climbing the stairs, excited to get ready for her evening.
21
Griffin stood in his bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hips and another one in his hand as he swiped the condensation off the mirror. He’d showered and shaved and now ran a comb through his wet hair. Staring at his reflection, he tried to ignore the nerves fluttering. Shit, when was the last time I was nervous before going out on a date?
As he continued to stare, he snorted. When was the last time I was excited about going on a date? When he couldn’t remember the answer to that question, he turned from the mirror and jerked off the towel before stalking into his bedroom. Once dressed, he shoved his wallet and keys into his pockets, swiped his fingers through his almost-dry hair, and headed into his living room.
His phone vibrated on the coffee table, and he glanced down, grinning to see his mom on caller ID. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“I hear you have a date tonight,” she said.
Chuckling, he shook his head. “I ran into Marcie at the grocery store and she invited me to dinner. I kept trying to give her excuses, but she weaseled it out of me. Damn, she’s good.”