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And Jackie made it all worse by leading Mollie to the best vendors. Bags increased, as did the number of people in the square.
“Ooh, is that a coffee truck?” Mollie asked.
“Yep,” I said.
“Finally, I can get a good latte.”
I didn’t know aboutgood. The one thing Strawberry Springs didn’t have was great coffee. Most people went to the diner for a cup, but it wasn’t good.
Eric walked with Jackie, who was holding onto his hand tightly as she followed Mollie and me around. For some reason, I stuck close to the woman who’d made me carry all her stuff. She was easier than all the people around me.
Mollie got everyone a drink. Eric and I got something non-caffeinated while she got coffee-based drinks for herself and Jackie.
“Time for a taste test,” she said, bouncing as she took a sip. She quickly stilled.
“Yeah,” Jackie muttered. “Not great.”
“We need a damn good coffee shop,” another voice said. Mollie and I turned to see Theo, another one of the youngermen in town, standing next to us. He had dark hair and tattoos, something he had gone to the next town over to get.
Theo had moved into town about eight years ago. He was always quiet, yet had been welcomed warmly since he did a lot of the handyman work that anyone needed.
“You like coffee,” Jackie said. “You should do it.”
“I’d need a lot of money for that.”
“There’s the grant,” she offered.
Theo shrugged, grimacing as he took another sip. His eyes met mine, and he gave me a nod. I didn’t get to see him much, but when I did, it was like he knew I shared his hesitance to speak to people.
If I could have called that a friendship, it would have been the best I’d ever had.
Theo’s eyes then moved to Mollie. “Hi,” she said with a bright smile. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Mollie.”
“Theo.”
That was it. No double take. No checking her out.
Just the same as he did with every woman in town.
“You two should be friends,” Mollie said, elbowing me. “You could sit in silence and enjoy it.”
“Would be a good way to spend a Friday night,” I said.
“Agreed.” Theo took another sip and sighed. “I’m gonna go throw this away. I can’t believe I spent ten dollars on this shit.”
He walked off, still shaking his head, and Mollie dragged me to the next vendor in line.
It should have been a terrible experience, yet I didn’t find myself hating it. Mollie was good at dragging me into conversations. She bought most of the food and told me I could use it to cook with for the rest of the week.
We stayed until the market dwindled, and finally, she announced shewas done.
“Help me load all of this in the car and I’ll free you,” she said.
“At least I’ll have my arms again.”
“No quips about how much I spent?”
“It’s your money.”