Before You Go

chapter fourteen

Eliza

To my utter dismay, Leon is right – it does take me half the time to unload the car and set up the booth with his help.

The booth Serena, Tenille, and I set up is adjacent to a kettle corn stand, making the air smell sugary and savoury. I also find that it gives the Farmer's Market this carnival-like feeling; the sweetness in the air, the smiling faces in every direction, and the distant smell of deep-fried foods from surrounding food trucks. Altogether, it's an enticing aroma – especially with the kettle corn being so close.

Ever since I can remember, I've loved kettle corn. It's sweetened with a little bit of sugar, but it's fluffy and crisp and doesn't stick to your fingers like caramel corn does. Aside from eating it, I also like watching how they make it. Rather than putting the kernels in an air-popper, they pop the kernels that have been coated in sugar in a huge kettle over an open flame, stirring them around and around with this big stainless-steel paddle. When the kernels are done, they scoop out the popcorn and put it in a bag while it's still hot.

As Leon and I are setting up our display, sorting each soap based on its scent, size, and price, I continue to glance over at the kettle corn stand, my stomach grumbling. Leon's peanut butter-coated toast clearly wasn't enough to curb the hunger pangs created by my greedy stomach. After I get Leon situated and explain to him the rules, I'll have to grab some food from one of the vendors.

Such as the kettle corn stand.

"So," Leon says. He places a bar of soap on the top shelf of the display, making sure it's straight and matches the pattern we have going. "When did you and the ladies start doing this?"

I finish arranging our summer specials – lime-coconut and shea-passionfruit – and turn to face Leon. Or, rather, stare up at him. He's dressed in swim shorts and a black muscle shirt that displays his naturally tanned skin and toned arms. There's a ballcap fitted to his head, the visor facing backwards.

I gesture to the ballcap. "The visor loses its credibility when it's pointed backwards," I say. I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to get to know me again by asking me personal questions about my life.

He shrugs and adjusts the hat. "I think it gives me swagger."

I snort. If there's one thing Leon doesn't need, it's swagger – the man already has enough of it. Honestly, I don't know how he manages to keep this persona going. He can be so goddamn arrogant and indifferent, yet I think he's one of the most modest and caring men I know. He's definitely a contradiction, but maybe one that's not so bad.

"You avoided my question," he sings.

Turning my back to him, I pull out our money box. It's metal with several dents and tons of stickers. There's a padlock on it to prevent anyone from stealing the cash inside. Serena, Tenille, and I are the only ones who have keys, and mine is currently hidden in a secret compartment in my wallet. I also pull out our payment terminal. Despite everything being digital nowadays, the payment methods bounce back and forth between cash and credit. For the longest time, we didn't have a payment terminal and it really affected our sales. That's why we invested in one. The only thing we don't have is a receipt printer – we still have to write those out. I suppose it's our fault – we bought the cheapest payment terminal we could find and the receipt printer in it has never worked. Normally, the book we use to write these receipts would be in my bag. But the more I rummage through it, the more I begin to realize that I must have left it in the car.