Like Bees to Honey | gxg

11. Kids These Days

Mel's declaration of war was concerning, but when Mr. Chibana drifted by with his clipboard, ostentatiously looking over each stall and taking notes, Sabina remembered that Verger Orchards wasn't her only competition for the Best Vendor Award. After all, participation was non-optional. Every vendor here was a threat.

When Mr. Chibana got to the High Valley Honey stand, he nodded once. "I'm glad to see that you're taking steps to make up for last week's mistakes."

"I'm doing my best, Mr. Chibana." Sabina adjusted her hat and gave him a winning smile. "What's the ranking looking like so far?"

His mouth made a flat line. "It would be unfair for me to tell you that."

She widened her eyes in an expression of perfect innocence. "Not even a hint?"

"All I can say is that after your rough start, you've got a long ways to go." With a sniff, he moved on.

Beside her, Riley chewed on the lip of their water bottle. "He told Otis he's doing weekly scores and then adding them all up at the end."

"What? When did Otis tell you that?"

If she had been paying attention, she might have noticed their slight hesitation. "At the Pebble Beach party, after you disappeared."

Frowning, Sabina shuffled two jars of honey slightly to the left on the table to improve the symmetry. "We probably got a terrible score for last week because of the sample disaster."

"You've got five weeks to make up for it," they said with an encouraging grin.

"Yeah. We'll have to work twice as hard. And at least the Vergers will have got an awful score for the first week too."

Riley hummed in agreement.

"It's more than just the evil cousins we have to worry about, though." Sabina looked down the lane. "I'm gonna go see if anyone else is doing anything interesting."

"Ooh, can you get me an oatmeal cookie from Ambrosia? I've been smelling them all day and it's torture."

Sabina bought a cookie for herself, too - white chocolate cherry. After delivering Riley their order, she nibbled around the cookie's edges as she strolled the market lanes on her threat identification mission.

Gretel's Pretzels had repainted their truck in an uncanny photorealistic style. The salt crystals on the enormous pretzel seemed to shimmer in the sun. Ambrosia Bakery was offering a new product, a bake-at-home bread mix in a green bottle. Interesting, but not enough to worry Sabina. More concerning was Clear Spring Beauty, a local makeup brand. They were offering novelty face painting for children, always a hit. She lingered to watch: as soon as one kid walked away, bouncing with excitement over the unicorn or octopus on their cheek, another sat down bubbling with requests. It wasn't a petting zoo, but she was sure Mr. Chibana would be impressed.

As she passed the Verger Orchards stand on her way back, that inappropriate dance music still playing, Mel called out to her. "Scoping out the competition?"

Only a little bit reluctantly, Sabina stopped. Mel gave her a wide grin. Otis sat beside her, eating a sandwich. It looked like peanut butter and jelly on white bread, because he had never grown up. There were only a dozen cartons of cherries and strawberries left on their table and the crates behind them were all empty. She was not jealous. No, she had never once sold out all her inventory in a day, but they operated on different business models. They were only competitors for the market prize, not in business.

"Did you see the face painting at Clear Spring?" Mel asked, in a tone like they were co-conspirators. "They might be tough to beat."

"I'm not worried," Sabina said stiffly. "I've got a plan."