Light Me Up

SARA

Anxiety madethe morning rush fly by even faster than normal. We had completely sold out of muffins and banana bread by ten, so I went to the back to make more and prep sandwiches for lunch. Working methodically, doing the same thing I had done everyday for years was helpful.

By noon, I had the front restocked and I’d decided I was done being stressed about the Eryn Blake thing. Until Alex stopped by.

“Sara!” She practically screamed as she shuffled through the door with her laptop bag.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Your website keeps crashing. I’m sorry, I’m working on it but it needs more bandwidth. We’re not used to getting this much traffic.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ve had two million hits since this morning. Usually you just get a few hundred a day, maybe in the thousands during tourist season. So we just don’t have the infrastructure in place to manage that much traffic.”

“Two million?”

“Yeah, it’s crazy. I saw Eryn Blake’s post.”

“Yeah. I guess it’s blowing up.”

Alex laughed. “You could say that.”

“Okay, well what do we do?”

“I have to switch it to a different server, it’ll be a bit more expensive but it’ll keep it steady. It shouldn’t be down much longer.” She headed toward the table closest to the kitchen door and got her work station set up.

Alex had become my all-in-one computer woman. She designed a new website for me last fall and handled all the tech stuff involved with the business—upgrading the point of sale and inventory system, implementing security, and whatever else made my life easier and more streamlined.

I liked to pride myself on researching and learning as much as I can about all facets of the shop, but technology wasn’t my forte. Alex was a tech wiz and owned her own business assisting companies much larger than mine, so I counted my blessings that she spent her time on me.

I prepped a turkey pesto sandwich for Alex and grabbed a cup of her favorite soup—tomato basil—and set it on the table next to her laptop. Feeding people was second nature to me but it also helped calm me, I realized, as I brought her an iced tea with lemon. It kept my hands busy and warmed my heart to see people enjoy the food I made for them.

The lunch rush began on the heels of Alex’s arrival so I was able to keep myself busy and focused. It was all the usual locals. Late April was never that busy during the week, but I had a stream of regulars. Mostly just people on their lunch breaks.

The benefit of this downtown location was that it was central to almost the whole town, both the businesses and residential areas. We had a lot of the fisherman and lobstermen come in from the harbor across the street. The small county hospital was a few blocks west. The church ladies even stopped by twice a week or so to get some tea and gossip in the corner.

By the time lunch came and went, Alex was finished with her work and I was feeling okay again. More grounded and less anxious.

“Everything is up and should be good for now. I don’t anticipate you having any other issues with it but I’ll keep an eye out over the next few days.”

“Thank you, I don’t know what I would have done without you.” The website wasn’t a part of every day operations, but it was helpful for people to get information from, especially during the summer. I always updated the weekly specials and it was easy to use for people who wanted to order catering or pastries in bulk.

“It’s what I’m here for. I still can’t believe Eryn Blake even vacationed here of all places.”

I didn’t want to keep talking about that, but I didn’t want to explain myself either. So I changed the subject to a much more palatable one.

“Speaking of vacations, have you and Sam decided on your honeymoon yet?” Not the smoothest of transitions, but as I saw Alex’s eyes twinkle and her smile kick up a few notches, I knew it had worked.

“We’re trying to decide between Scotland and St. Lucia. Totally different climates, I know,” she said with a laugh.

“Oooh they would both be amazing, but think of all the old haunted castles you could stay in if you go to Scotland.”

“I know, it would be like a spooky fairytale. Oh, that reminds me, do you think you could come a little early to the engagement party to help me?”

“I was already planning on it.” Alex smiled and squeezed my hand. “What can I bring?”

“I think we’re mostly good but if you wanted to bring some extra wine, I won’t turn you down.”

“Now that I can certainly manage.”

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