She grabbed her purse and left. On the way to the park, she found herself thinking about Raoul instead of the impending event. Not a good thing. Thinking about him was dangerous to her heart. Work was safe.
She walked the few blocks to the park and found the setup had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Booths lined the walkway and vendors were already putting out their goods. The smell of barbecue mingled with the sweet scent of melting caramel.
The Fall Festival was one of her favorites. Sure the days were getting shorter and the first snow was right around the corner, but she loved the changing colors, the promised quiet of winter, the scent of a wood fire.
Each festival had its own personality. This one was going to be a little different because of all the men in town. She’d added extra games to keep them happy and a second beer vendor. To counteract the latter, there were also extra police on patrol.
A heavyset man in a Fool’s Gold safety vest walked up to her. “Pia, we’re five portable toilets short. The guy’s lost.”
“Not for long,” Pia said. “Have someone get his cell number, then call him and talk him in. We need the extra bathrooms.”
An electrician needed to be dispatched to fix a faulty outlet, the shift in the wind meant smoke from the meat smoker was choking the jewelry vendors and someone had forgotten to put up the no-parking cones to reserve spots for the fire truck.
Pia handled each crisis quickly and easily, as she had for years. She turned to take a quick tour, only to find Denise Hendrix walking toward her, a folding chair under one arm.
“I have the first shift,” Denise said cheerfully. “It is now eight-thirty. You are to sit until nine.”
“But I have to go check on the setup.”
“No, you don’t. And you’re not going to.” Denise batted her eyelashes. “Don’t make me use my bad-mom voice, because you won’t like it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Pia said meekly and sank onto the chair.
Denise saw Montana and waved her over.
“Hi, Mom,” Montana said, then grinned at Pia. “I have the eleven-thirty-to-twelve shift and then I’m on again this afternoon. Bossing you around is fun.”
“Gee, thanks.” She was being forced to sit for thirty minutes of every hour. “Can you go talk to the vendors and make sure they have everything they need? Also, there’s water for them in the back of Jo’s pickup. Find her and make sure it’s put somewhere the vendors can find. And if you see a guy driving around with portable toilets on the back of a truck, let me know.”
Montana stared at her. “You expect me to do all that?”
Pia flashed her clipboard. “That’s not even all of page one.”
“Jeez, I wouldn’t want your job,” Montana grumbled. “Mom, if you see Nevada, tell her to come help me.”
“Of course, dear.”
Montana left.
“Impressive,” Denise told Pia. “You’re resting and getting your work done.”
“I’m an expert multitasker.”
Denise stared after her daughter. “Montana seems excited about her new job.”
“She does. I admire her—she gives her all to whatever she does.”
“I know she’s worried about finding the right kind of work. Not that she won’t but that it’s taking too long. I keep telling her that everyone finds his or her own path in his or her own time, but she won’t listen. One of the thrills of being a mother.” Denise smiled. “Wait until your little ones are teenagers.”
“At this point I simply want them to be bigger than a rice grain.”
“That will happen, too.”
The sound of a large truck caused them both to turn. Denise shaded her eyes with her hand, then turned to Pia.
“That’s interesting. Were you expecting elephants?”
RAOUL WALKED WITH PETER through the crowded park. Fool’s Gold was holding yet another of its many festivals. Knowing Pia was going to be working, he’d arranged to take Peter for the afternoon. The Folios didn’t seem to mind him spending time with the kid, which was good. While the couple seemed pleasant enough, Raoul was still concerned about their caretaking abilities.
He and Peter had already checked on Pia, who was being confined to a lawn chair until the top of the hour. She swore she wasn’t the least bit tired and that she’d never had so many assistants or done so little work at any festival.
“Want to get ice cream?” he asked, pointing to a stand.
“Sure!”
Peter led the way. They both got two scoops, then went over to a bench.
“This is so cool,” Peter said between licks. “I like how there are different festivals at different times of the year. It’s really fun. My parents used to bring me all the time.”
“You grew up in Fool’s Gold?”
“Sort of. My dad worked at one of the wineries and we lived out of town. But I went to school here.” His smile faded. “After they died, I was in a group home for a while. I didn’t like that. It was really hard because the other kids made fun of me when I cried.”
Raoul felt his pain. “It’s okay to feel stuff and be sad.”