Page 30 of This Memory (Moose Village #3)

Brystol

The festival was held inside the community center, and the turnout was terrific.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many booths or people crammed into the center!” Cadie said, as she made her way toward Gavin and me.

“The amount of money we’re raising to add to the community center will be wonderful,” Harper added.

I draped my coat over my arm and unwound the scarf that was now making me sweat. “I’m just grateful it’s inside. It’s freezing today.”

“Let me take your coat. I’ve got a spot behind our booth to store stuff,” Cadie said, as she took them. “Come get some hot chocolate!”

We followed Cadie to the Batter Up Bakery booth, and my mouth instantly started to water at all the goodies she had displayed. I gasped when I saw there was banana bread on the table.

“She’s got some banana bread!” I said, grabbing Gavin’s arm. “She has banana bread ! ”

Once everyone had gotten a taste of Cadie’s now-famous banana bread, you were lucky if you ever got any, period. It sold out early every single day.

Gavin chuckled, asking Katherine, a bakery employee, for two loaves of banana bread.

“Why two?” I asked.

“One for my mom.”

My stomach flipped, and it wasn’t the baby this time causing the little flutter. It was the handsome, kind man standing next to me. “I love that you think of your mom. I should give this other one to my mother.”

I stared at the loaf in my hand, reminded once again about how damn good this bread was.

I shrugged and said, “Nah, she can make her own banana bread.”

Gavin laughed as he reached for my loaf and put them both in a bag Cadie had given to us.

Harper handed us a map listing all the booths and their products. “There are a ton of cute little booths. I’ve already made the rounds,” Harper said.

“Did you see Evelyn’s booth?” I asked.

Harper and Cadie exchanged a look before plastering on smiles. “We did.”

“What’s she making?”

“Um,” Cadie started, before Harper interjected.

“I think you need to be surprised.”

Gavin’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Harper and Cadie both shrugged. A customer stepped up, so Gavin and I got out of the way.

I said goodbye to my friends and we started on our way.

The booths were typical for this close to the holidays, consisting of handmade ornaments for Christmas and Hanukkah, cute gifts, or food.

I was digging the food booths, and I know Gavin was as well, since he was currently eating a giant turkey leg.

As we walked along, I said, “I can’t wait to see what Evelyn’s selling. I wonder why she hasn’t mentioned doing crafts before now?”

“No telling with Evelyn,” Gavin said, before taking another bite of his turkey leg. We stopped at a few booths where we knew the people selling their wares, bought a few ornaments for the tree we planned on getting later in the day, and sampled more food.

“Oh. My. Gosh.”

Glancing at Gavin, I asked, “What is it?”

He was staring straight ahead. “I see Evelyn’s booth.”

I quickly followed his gaze. “Where is it? What is she selling?” I asked, my tone enthusiastic.

Gavin gave me a look. “I wouldn’t get too excited, Bry.”

Frowning, I asked, “What do you mean? Why not?”

The corners of his mouth twitched with a hidden smile. “You’ll see. Come on.”

He gently tugged me to follow him, and it wasn’t long before I was practically blinded by a bright neon-green wreath with giant red bows and…

“What is that on the wreath?” I asked in a lowered voice.

Gavin cleared his throat. “I think…I think …it’s a skull.”

“What kind of skull?”

“Deer.”

I stopped and spun to face him. “ What? ”

He gently took my arm. “She’s looking this way. Smile.”

Forcing a smile, I let Gavin take my hand in his and we started toward Evelyn’s booth .

“Hi, guys!” she said, standing up and making her way around the table. She hugged me, and then did the same to Gavin.

Turning, she motioned toward the booth with a wave of her hands. “What do you think?”

I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. There were wreaths, and also some kind of ceramic items painted by what looked like a five-year-old.

“Wow!” Gavin and I said in unison.

“I know!” Evelyn cried with a wide grin on her face. “Who would have thought I’d be selling crafts at the winter festival?”

“Not me,” Gavin replied as he surveyed the table. “What is this?”

Evelyn picked up the ceramic piece. “It’s a reindeer, silly!”

Gavin stared at it for a beat too long before I elbowed him in the side. “Oh, right! A reindeer. I see it now.”

Setting it down, Evelyn turned to Denny, who was doing everything he could to hide in the corner. “See? I told you it looked like a reindeer.”

Denny and Gavin exchanged knowing looks.

I glanced down at the wreath and noticed, for the first time, that it was made with bright neon-green duct tape.

Forcing myself to smile naturally, I said, “You used duct tape on the wreath…how clever of you!”

Evelyn beamed with pride. Poor thing.

“Yep! I used pool noodles and duct-taped them together. Green tape for the bows and then red touches added to them. It makes it look Christmasy!”

I nodded. “And the…um…the deer skull? ”

“I wanted something woodsy, and I remembered there was one on the back of our property, so I looked up how to clean it, and I was lucky enough to find its antlers as well!”

“Yeah, we lucked out on that one,” Denny deadpanned.

Gavin pretended to cough to hide his laugh.

“Here’s another that a lot of people have been looking at. I think I might have them priced too high because I’m getting tons of people stopping to look, but no one’s buying.”

Gavin was about to say something when I gave him a glare.

I turned back to the table to study the wreath made from a wheel.

Evelyn had wrapped red and green rope around it and woven a string of small battery-operated lights around the spokes.

It looked like a spider web, finished with another giant red bow.

I smiled. “It’s…so unique! You used a bicycle wheel?”

Gavin laughed and quickly turned away as Denny jumped up, and they both suddenly became interested in something on the table at the booth next to Evelyn’s.

“Nice job repurposing this,” I said, trying to find something positive to share with her.

“Thank you! Do you like it? I’ll give you a discount.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Gavin snap his head over to look back at us.

“I do have a friend who loves to bike; it would make a great gift,” I mused, quickly glancing at some of her other items. There was another ceramic item that I was pretty sure was a snowman.

It was almost kind of cute, if you were into holiday horror movies.

The way he was holding the broom made it look like he was about to attack you at any moment.

“Do you like the snowman piece?”

I jumped when Evelyn reached across me and held it up, offering a closer look. “Um, I’m not a huge fan of snowmen.”

Confused, she set it down. “You love snowmen.”

“Not this year. It must be…the pregnancy hormones.”

Evelyn’s brows pinched in but she didn’t say anything.

“Speaking of the pregnancy, I felt your baby move today.”

“What?” Evelyn gasped, nearly dropping the demonic snowman. “Are you sure?”

Smiling, I replied, “I’m pretty sure. It felt like a little flutter in my stomach. I know it happens around sixteen weeks, but I guess some women experience it sooner, some later.”

Evelyn pulled me in for another hug. “How wonderful! So what did it feel like exactly? You said a flutter?”

“It’s like that feeling you get when maybe Denny touches you a certain way, and your stomach feels like butterflies are in there? It was that kind of feeling. Nothing was happening at the time, so I assume it was the baby.”

Evelyn clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait until we’ll be able to feel the baby move!”

I grinned. “Me too.”

A customer walked up, and I stepped out of the way and told Evelyn I’d be back later. She waved goodbye and started chatting with the older woman, who picked up the antler wreath and started raving about it.

Hooking his arm with mine, Gavin rushed us away.

“I couldn’t hold my laughter in, and poor Denny said he’s been dealing with this for weeks.

He doesn’t have the heart to tell her they’re awful because it’s made her so happy to make them.

He told me I should buy stock in duct tape because Evelyn is using the shit out of it. ”

I laughed at that. “If it’s making her happy, then we should be supportive. I do feel bad lying to her, though.”

Gavin looked back. “Oh my gosh, the older woman’s buying the antler wreath!”

A warm feeling spread through me. “Good! That will give Evelyn the confidence boost she needs. She’ll get better.”

Gavin stopped and faced me. “She’s already making Easter wreaths…and Denny said she’s hunting for a real rabbit.”

I felt my stomach drop. “Do I want to know why?”

“Rabbit’s feet. He told her he could buy them for her on Amazon. He’s putting his foot down when it comes to killing Thumper.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed even louder this time.

As we walked along the booths, I found an adorable crochet of Perry the Moose. The seller had four, so I bought all of them—one for me, Harper, Aurora, and Cadie. Evelyn hated moose, which was weird, considering we lived in Moose Village.

“Have you ever seen Perry on Christmas Eve?” I asked Gavin much later, as we started for the exit.

“My mother said when I was five, I swore up and down that I saw him. You?”

Smiling, I replied, “I think I was about seven or eight. We were at the toy store, and I was sitting in the window display while my mother was redoing it for the big after-Christmas sale. It was Christmas Eve, and she told me if I sat and played quietly, I could open a present that night. I saw him walking right down the middle of Main Street. I pulled on my mother’s pants leg and told her to look.

” I laughed at the memory. “I’ll never forget what she said. ”

Gavin grinned. “What did she say?”

“She said, ‘I’ll be goddamned. It’s the moose!’”

He tossed his head back and laughed.

“I informed her it was Perry, and my mother yelled for my dad. And I know we weren’t both crazy, because he saw him too. Perry stopped, looked directly at us, and continued toward city hall.”

“Your parents didn’t take a photo with their cell phone?”

Hitting his arm, I replied, “No! They were both so shocked. I don’t know why no one else has seen him.”

“Maybe he only shows himself to people who’re special.”

I smiled up at him. “Maybe.”

“You know what we should do?” he said. “We should sit in the window at the toy store this Christmas Eve and see if we can spot him.”

I stopped walking. “Wait, are you serious? Because I would totally do that.”

He laughed. “I know you would. That’s why I suggested we do it!”

Bouncing on my toes, I replied, “It’s a date!”

Christmas had come and gone in a flash. Gavin had the whole week of Christmas off, so he’d offered to come in and help—and thank goodness he did.

The toy store was hectic the two days before Christmas, and even though Gavin and I were both exhausted, we camped out in the window on Christmas Eve.

If Perry walked by, we missed it, because we both fell asleep and didn’t wake up until nearly two in the morning with neck and back pain.

I was open the day after Christmas as well, but only worked a few hours. I let my staff work the rest of the week. The time off was wonderful, and I’d swear I napped more in those few days than I had in my entire life. Gavin kept reminding me I was making a baby and rest was good for me.

We did manage to go out to dinner a couple times, but we spent most evenings in the kitchen together at my house, which was so fun. Gavin was on a baking kick, and we ended up with so many sugary treats, we started delivering them to family and friends.

We were at my parents’ house, delivering them a batch of cookies, when my phone rang.

“It’s Evelyn,” I said, standing from the sofa. “I should get it.”

My mother nodded, and Gavin continued chatting with my father. “Who do you think will be in the Super Bowl, Drake?” he asked my dad as I stepped away.

I stepped into the foyer before answering. “Hey, Eve. Everything okay?”

“Everything’s amazing! Denny surprised me with a trip to New York City to shop for baby things and to spend New Year’s Eve there! We’ll be gone through the first of the year, and we’ll head back home on the fourth. He rented a condo near Times Square so we can watch the ball drop!”

Excited for them, I smiled and replied, “That’s amazing. When are you leaving?”

“Right now! I just wanted to say thank you for the fudge. I’m sorry we missed you, but thanks for leaving it on the porch. We’ll take it with us to New York. ”

“You’re welcome. I’ve been giving everyone goodies since Gavin has the baking bug. I’ll be glad when he heads back to work.”

Evelyn laughed. “I’m so happy, Bry. I finally feel like myself again.

I think this trip was just what I needed.

I’m so excited to shop for the baby! I’ll have to keep everything neutral for now, until we find out the sex, but it’ll still be fun.

I’ve got a list of baby boutiques I want to stop at—oh, and there’s a store there that makes custom cribs!

You can turn it into a toddler bed when they’re old enough.

It’s popular with celebrities. Apparently, Jennifer Lewis, that super-popular actress from that fantasy show on TV? She bought a crib from this guy.”

“I’m so happy to hear the joy in your voice again, Eve.”

“Therapy has been a tremendous help too. It’s gotten me out of my funk and made me realize how blessed we are. No, I’m not carrying our child, but we’ll have a baby this June. Our baby!”

I couldn’t hold the smile back if I wanted to. “That’s right. June will be here before you know it!”

“Ugh, I have to go. Denny’s yelling for me to get packing. Love you, Bry. Take care of our little one!”

My hand automatically went to my stomach. “I will. Be safe and have fun. Happy shopping!”

She let out a squeal before hanging up.

Laughing, I hit the end button and turned to see Gavin in the entranceway.

“Everything okay?”

I nodded. “It’s better than okay. Evelyn is back to her old self, and this trip was a great idea. I’m glad you suggested it to Denny. ”

He walked over, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my head. “Wait until she finds out she’s going to Hawaii.”

I pouted. “In a way, it’s not really fair. I’m doing all the work. It should be me going.”

With a lighthearted chuckle, he kissed my nose. “I agree. Can you imagine telling Evelyn you’re going on a plane ride that far?”

I groaned. “No! She’d totally freak out. After I have the baby, maybe you and I can plan a trip.”

A wicked smile spread across his face. “You and me alone for a few days…”

“A few days? I’m going to be carrying this baby for nine months! I think I deserve at least a week.”

Gavin tossed his head back in laughter. “Seven days it is.”