Chapter Fifteen AA: The Seller Who Arrived Too Late
Grace Ellison reached her booth just before the lunch crowd arrived.
She spread her handwoven blankets across the table and hung a dark green quilt behind her chair.
Her hands shook as she worked because the false cancellation message had nearly sent her home.
A customer stopped to admire the quilt and asked how long it had taken to make.
Grace said she had worked on it during the evenings after her shift at a nursing home.
The customer touched the edge carefully and asked whether the price was negotiable.
Grace explained that the price covered weeks of labor and the materials she had purchased herself.
The customer thanked her and moved on.
Grace sat down, wondering whether she had wasted the fuel after all.
Priya approached with two cups of water and asked whether she had found everything she needed.
Grace said the booth was fine but the day had begun badly.
She showed Priya the cancellation message again.
It had arrived at a time when Grace was already on the road and too tired to question an official-sounding warning.
Priya said the event organizers were collecting the messages to understand how widely the false information had spread.
Grace asked whether the person responsible would be punished.
Priya said she could not promise an outcome before the facts were established.
She could promise to protect the sellers from additional confusion during the event.
Grace appreciated the answer because it did not pretend that the problem had already been solved.
A woman carrying a toddler approached the booth and pointed to a small yellow blanket.
She asked whether Grace had made it herself.
Grace said she had woven every row.
The woman asked about the pattern, and Grace explained how the alternating colors created the appearance of tiny windows.
The toddler reached toward the blanket with both hands.
His mother laughed and asked whether Grace would hold it up so she could see the full design.
Grace stood and unfolded the blanket.
The customer bought it without bargaining.
When the woman left, Grace stared at the empty place on the table.
She had made a sale, but what relieved her most was the ordinary conversation that had preceded it.
Nobody had asked her to defend her reservation or explain why she had almost turned around.
She had been allowed to talk about her work.
Later, a man in a dark coat approached and said he had been promised the same booth number.
Grace felt her stomach tighten.
The man showed her an old confirmation bearing Nolan’s company logo.
She asked him to wait while she called Priya.
Priya arrived and compared the man’s document with the revised list.
She explained that the extra reservation had been canceled and that the man was entitled to a refund or an alternative date.
The man said he had never received the cancellation notice.
Priya apologized and offered to call the office with him immediately.
Grace watched them move toward the registration desk.
She had feared the man would demand her table, but he had listened when someone explained the situation clearly.
She returned to arranging her blankets.
A customer asked about the green quilt.
Grace began telling him how she had chosen the pattern.
