“Well, we are following their advice by staying together,” declared Alice. “What’s a few minutes here or there?”
“Mom!” Emily interrupted the women’s justification session with a whispered exclamation. “There’s Eli!” The women followed the girl’s line of vision and saw the slim fiddler hovering just inside the main entrance, scanning the people who lingered after the concert.
As they watched, the woman who had introduced McKenna hurried over to the young man, and they heard her say, “Eli! I’m so glad you’re here! You can start stacking up the chairs. Uncle just left to get the truck for loading.”
Eli nodded and began doing as his aunt had asked, but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. As he folded each chair, his eyes darted to the two doors, and once he even placed the chair he was stacking off-center, causing it to slide off the stack with a clatter.
“Oh, that poor boy,” murmured Alice. “He’s got it bad!”
Emily giggled. “I told you they were all googly-eyed.”
Peggy took another look at her watch. “Googly-eyed or not, if Linley doesn’t show up really soon, we’re going to have to leave anyway,” she warned her daughter. A furtive movement by the door caught her attention. “Hey, just in the nick of time. There she is!”
Emily clapped her hands, as though applauding the lead actors of a Broadway play. Annie and Alice looked in Linley’s direction, trying not to be too obvious.
They could see that Eli was trying to play it cool, but he failed miserably. An ecstatic smile lit his face, and the chair under his hands collapsed to the floor as he rushed toward the entrance. His aunt looked up sharply at the noise, opening her mouth to correct her nephew. Realizing the cause of Eli’s distraction, she kept silent and turned back to her own work with a gentle smile on her lips.
Annie turned to her friends. “As much as I’d love to stay and watch love bloom, we really need to go.”
A guilty look crossed Peggy’s face. “I know; you’re right. At least we know Linley kept her promise to Eli. I hope we can come back next year and see if they’re still googly-eyed.”
The group slipped out of the building and into the flow of people using the door opposite of the one Linley had used. Annie barely heard the chime of her cellphone, alerting her of a new text message, over the din of the crowd. Digging it out of her bag, Annie unlocked her phone. The message read, “Is your demo done?”
“Hold up a minute,” Annie told her friends. “Ian’s asking if we’re done, and I can’t text and walk at the same time without it being gibberish.” She stepped closer to a nearby tent so as to not block traffic as she tapped in her response, the others following her.
“Ask him where we should meet,” said Alice. “They may have changed their minds about meeting at the beverage cart.”
Annie typed, “Yes. Still meet at drink vendor?” After sending the message there was hardly time for her to close the phone before the chime rang again. She read Ian’s response aloud. “No, come to athletic field A.”
Alice pulled out her brochure and located the field. Looking around to make sure of their position, she pointed in the direction from where they had just come. “It’s back that way, and at the main crossroads we need to turn right, and then left.”
“Lead on, Alice.” Peggy turned to her daughter and said, “Em, let me put Kyla’s shoes in my bag. It’s really chaotic here, and I’d feel better holding your hand. They’ll be safe in here.” She patted the large bag.
Emily was silent, the muscles of her face working. At last she nodded and handed her treasure to Peggy. Once the shoes were safely tucked away, she slipped her hand into her mother’s, and the group hurried toward the field.
Annie spoke, her fast pace adding some huff to the words, “Do you think Ian asked us to come because they have new information?”
“If they do, then we’ve all had a very productive afternoon,” answered Alice.
Peggy used her free hand to shove her bag more securely onto her shoulder. “Why else would they change our meeting place? Hey! Maybe they found someone in the Gunn or Rose family who’s willing to talk!”
“Now, that would be amazing,” Annie responded. “Though my mysteries rarely wrap themselves up quite so easily.”
Alice laughed. “She’s got a point, Peggy. But we can always hope.”
“Wait a minute!” Peggy exclaimed. “That’s too funny, especially since you and I were talking about classic rock music earlier, Annie.”