One Bride for Five Brothers

Dammit, I really wanted that one.

“Sixty dollars?” she says to herself.

I don't say anything, figuring she's going to decline and walk away.

But then she starts digging in her handbag, pressing her lips, wrinkling her nose. She pulls out three twenties all folded together and thrusts them toward me.

“Can I wrap that up for you?” I ask meekly, choking back my disappointment.

She squints at me, taking my measure.

“That would be nice,” she sniffs. “Are you feeling okay?”

I take the piece off the shelf and begin wrapping it in some tissue paper.

“I'm feeling fine,” I shrug. “It's kind of warm in here. Don't you think?”

“I suppose so,” she says uncertainly. “You look a little pink.”

I slap a smile on my face and hand the paper bag back to her, figuring that the best defense to her rudeness is a big, stupid smile.

“I always look like this. Have a great day!”

She takes her bag and shuffles off just as Charlie comes over to check on me.

“What was that all about?”

“She says it's hot in here,” I explain. As the words come out of my mouth, it does seem kind of stuffy. Kind of close. Charlie squints at me appraisingly.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Come on, not you too!”

He holds his hands up in a gesture of innocence. “Okay, okay. Just checking. So, you doing all right? You need anything? Looks like you made a lot of sales.”

I dig a handful of bills out of my back pocket and hand them to him, along with the receipt pad.

“Yeah, I've swiped a few credit cards on the app too. Can you take all this? Maybe I should take a little walk.”

“Sure, baby,” he says in a low voice so no one else can hear him. “Don't get lost in the maze. I think there are a bunch of teenage boys in their waiting for unsuspecting victims.”

Checking for witnesses, I lean forward quickly and drop a kiss on his cheek.

“No worries. I've got the best protectors in the world. I'll holler if anybody gets fresh!”

Outside the farm stand, the breeze is much cooler. I feel that nip in the air that says that fall is really here. The trees have gone crimson and orange, and the deer have started appearing in the mornings looking for food to fatten up for winter.

Closer to the maze, I take a deep breath and am surprised to feel myself go a little dizzy. I reach out to a fence post to steady myself and stop, breathing evenly, wondering what the hell is going on.

The feeling passes in about thirty seconds or so, but what the heck?

“Oh, excuse me,” a woman mutters as her toddler trots past, dragging her by her hand.

She holds the Styrofoam cup filled with mulled cider away from her. The scent washes over me, and for a second it's too intense. I feel like I'm drowning in it, like it's punching me in the face.

“Okay, that's weird,” I say out loud.

Standing up straight, I just look around, waiting for the world to kind of settle down. My stomach feels weird, and I'm a little lightheaded, little woozy. I didn't eat breakfast, but I just didn't feel like it at the time.