Page 10 of November

“Oh, no reason. I guess I just expected the owner of this place to be a little old man or woman.”

“It was. A few times, technically,” Maisie replied with a smile. “It’s a family business. I took it over from my grams when she passed away. So, I guess it will be owned by a little old lady again in another fifty or so years, depending on what you consider old.”

India smiled and said, “It’s a great shop.”

“Thank you.Ithink so. It’s been in the Lincoln family since its inception.”

“Lincoln?” India asked. “As in…”

“Very, very distant relation. Like, if you put my DNA online and tried to find how I’m related to the former president with the same last name, you’d be scrolling for a while.”

India chuckled and replied, “Got it. Well, thisisa great place. I come in here every so often. I’ve never seen you before, though.”

“Really? I’m here all the time,” Maisie said. “We’re open six days a week.”

“I would have remembered you,” India replied with a smile.

Maisie smiled back and said, “Maybe you saw Sarah or Lainey. They work here and usually cover the register.”

“The girl up front?” India hooked a thumb that way.

“Sarah.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her before.”

“She’s one of my part-timers, but I’m always here. I’m just sometimes in the office. Or, recently, I’ve been running my campaign from the back.”

“Campaign?”

Maisie pulled something out of the front pocket of her jeans and handed it to her. India looked down and saw a button.

“Vote Maisie Lincoln for city council.”

“City council?” India asked, looking down at the button. “This district?”

“Yes. Wait. You probably don’t live here, do you? Just work in the area?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Well, I should probably ask for my button back, then. Got to save money where I can.”

India held it out for her to take.

“I was kidding,” Maisie said, laughing. “You can keep it. Maybe leave it at the bus stop for me, though, so that at least someone actually sees that I’m running against the guy on the big ad there.”

“Colter,” India said.

“Yeah, of course, you would know him. See him on the giant billboard?”

India nodded and didn’t know what to do with the button. She couldn’t exactly pin it to her pretty expensive blouse or blazer, but her blazer did have an inside pocket where she kept her phone, so she tucked it in there.

“Well, he’s my competition. Better funded, but not the best candidate. Of course, he’s the incumbent, so I will still lose, but I’m trying. That has to count for something, right? My platform is small business.”

“Small business?”

“Yes. Like this one.” Maisie motioned around the shop. “I want to protect places like this.”

“Colter wants the opposite,” India noted.