Chapter List

Marigold Lane was always beautifully decorated this time of year, and Jessica loved every second of it. The annual Flower Festival was the major event of late summer, and the people on the west shore of the lake were fortunate because they were so close to the exhibits in Collins Park.

Fairweather Street connected Marigold Lane, the plaza and the fountain at the center of the park, and it was home to the festival parade and most of the businesses on West Shore. Every few feet starting at the art gallery on the corner and all the way around the plaza walk and down Fairweather Street to the park, white wooden arches stood over the street decorated with roses, lilies, orchids, ivy, wildflowers, daisies and sunflowers. In the morning sunlight, they looked just as beautiful to Jessica as the day they were put up. Especially the sunflowers because they were her favorite.

Even though she was in a hurry, Jessica couldn’t help lingering under the leafy flowers along the shady sidewalk. Most of the shops hadn’t opened yet, and other than the sounds of dozens of birds it was peaceful and quiet. A few of the shop employees were out in front of their stores sweeping and arranging furniture, signs or exhibits and getting ready for the day.

She stopped for a moment to look at the colorful display in the window at Ducky’s Spice Shop.

There’s a thousand little bottles on that display, Jessica thought. The spices were arranged on an enormous lazy Susan with eight shelves that slowly spun around and around. The scent of cinnamon cake caught Jessica’s attention and she ran next door to Waffo. Sure enough, the first tray of today’s baking was done. She stared in the big front window at the blueberry muffins, chocolate brownies, double waffles and stack after stack of cookies: snaps, tassies, shortbread, fig bars, sandies and of course, Waffo’s famous triple-chips. Jessica was sure she had eaten at least a hundred batches of triples since her mother brought them home for the first time. She made a note to stop by after band.

She looked both ways and trotted quickly across the street and hurried past the tackle shop, then stopped and ran back.

“Ooh!” Jessica almost shouted, planting her arms and nose against the glass. There in the window was the new oversize steel fishing net!

“I gotta tell Dad!” Jessica had spied the new line of nets in a sporting goods catalog almost six months earlier and she and her dad both agreed they could really use one to replace the smaller net Tadashi had been using for years. She looked up but the store wouldn’t be open until an hour after band practice started, and reaching into her pockets only made her realize she left her phone at home. Jessica spun around twice trying to think of what to do, then stopped.

Okay she thought. I’ll tell Dad about the super cool new nets tonight but I gotta remember to remember.

Then she dashed towards the music store.

Continue to Chapter Six