“Sounds great. Ian and I will head over to the main building and wander around until then. I want to go through the exhibits and see what people sent in for judging.”
Felicia took her plate along with Angie’s. “Just don’t tell me if they already have the ribbons out. I haven’t gone over to check my entries. I’m a nervous wreck about it. Especially my banana bread. I’m worried my tweaks were too much for the judges.”
It was official. Felicia had fallen in love with the rural lifestyle. When she’d found out she could enter the baking competition at the fair as a professional, she’d spent the last three weeks baking and perfecting her recipes.
“I’m sure they won’t announce until tomorrow. You coming by before service?” Angie sipped on her soda. The heat of the day had wiped her out. She threw away the almost-finished bottle, then stepped over to the counter and bought three bottles of water. She handed the extras to Ian and Felicia before opening her own. “Remind me to put water on the shopping list. I’m sure that booth is going to be scorching hot by midday.”
“I’ll be here until about noon. You can send me for extra groceries then so you all can keep prepping.” Felicia stared out into the darkness in the direction of the main exhibit hall. “I have made a decision, though.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Felicia drained half of her water, then reclosed the bottle. She started walking toward the exit and back to her own booth. “Next year I’m entering the canning competition. You’ve canned before, right? You can teach me.”
“The ag extension office has classes going now. Do you want me to get you a schedule?” Ian called after her.
Felicia paused at the doorway. “That would be lovely. I’ve had a little too much time on my hands since Taylor and I broke up. This is just the project I need.”
Angie watched her friend disappear into the crowd. Even though the River Vista United Methodist Women’s booth was only a few feet away, it seemed like Felicia disappeared into a crowd of people moving down the street, looking for the perfect place to eat dinner. “She loves living here. Someday she’s going to walk in and tell me she’s married a local farmer and is going to raise goats and chickens.”
Ian put an arm around her waist as they made their way into the crowd to find the path to the exhibit hall. “Yeah, but she won’t quit the County Seat. That girl has too much energy to stay home. She likes having her to-do list a couple pages long.”
“She reminds me of you. How did the board meeting go?” Angie settled into the pace the crowd was moving. Not too fast, and she had to swerve to avoid traffic when the people in front of her stopped to read a menu board. The smells of fried onions, grilled burgers, and deep fat–fried everything made her stomach growl again, even though she knew there was no way she could be hungry after the meal they’d just eaten.
“We’ll come back for pie after checking out the competition site.” Ian chuckled as he turned her toward the new path and out of the crowd. “Let’s not talk about the board meeting. I swear, those guys think there should be absolutely no cost in setting up a booth. Even when I show them the numbers, they don’t get it.”
Ian had been fighting with the board for months now. The budget was calling for a slight raise in booth prices, but the majority votes on the board were farmers and didn’t want to increase costs. Which she understood, but electricity, advertising, and space rental weren’t free, either.
They cut through the back alley between the two main walkways. Ian pointed to a row of empty booths in the center of a large path of grass. A large sign over the Western-style entrance said Restaurant Wars. “I guess that’s where you’re working tomorrow.”
Angie stepped closer to the roped off entry. “There’s our booth. Right next to Copper Creek. I’m so glad. I haven’t talked to Sydney since the last time we had dinner there.”
“Should be fun.” Ian took her arm. “Come on, you’re on a date. I already spent dinner talking about work. Let’s go see what they have for sale.”
“Same old, same old. I don’t want a new phone service or my vents cleaned, but I might find the fudge shop.” She grinned as she stepped back onto the path. A crash sounded behind her. “Is someone there?”
She saw a dark figure running out of the area. She glanced at Ian, who was already on his phone. “I’m calling fair security.”
Angie paused, looking at him. “You have the number on your phone?”
“The farmers’ market has a booth in the exhibit hall. I was going to surprise you when we arrived. I’ve got volunteers manning it tonight, but I’ll be here most of the week. So we can hang out again tomorrow after your event. I hear they have bands at the dance hall every night.” He held up a finger. “This is Ian McNeal, and I’m over at the Restaurant Wars section. I think someone was inside and either broke or stole something.”
Angie shined her phone flashlight over the area, trying to see what the guy had been after. When Ian finished his call, she pointed to the Sandpiper display. “Does it look like the sign’s been torn down?”
“Maybe.” He pushed her arm down and took the phone. “We’re just standing here waiting for the security people to come secure the scene, then we’re out of here.”
Angie smiled up at him. “You worried I’m going to go investigating?”
“I’m worried that you’re going to find a dead body and ruin our date. Let’s pretend the security personnel have this in hand and just have a good time tonight, okay? Tomorrow we can start figuring out the whys and hows.” He put his arm around her and turned her away from the setup. “Look, there’s the small animal barn. You want to go see a thousand guinea pigs?”
“I’m sure there’s not that many.” She leaned up and kissed his jaw. “I’m not that bad about investigating, am I?”
“Oh, honey, there’s no way in the world I’m answering that question.” He pointed to the golf cart speeding its way toward them. Or at least as fast as the crowd would let the driver go. “There’s the officials. I think our date is almost back on schedule.”
Chapter 2
Ian had been about thirty minutes off on his planning. By the time the security guys had “secured the scene” and taken their statement, it was almost eight thirty. He glanced at her. “Still up for the exhibit hall?”
“Of course. I’d love to see your booth.” What Angie really wanted to know was what the guards had found, but they’d been closemouthed about what they’d seen in the Sandpiper booth. It was David’s booth, and Angie wondered if one of the other contestants was trying to set up some early sabotage.