Chapter 1 - THE LIVESTREAM
Margaret Morgan was already smiling into her phone when she raised the wooden stick.
“Look at this pathetic little business!”
The first blow shattered the front display.
A wicker basket flipped.
Jars rolled across the pavement.
Paper bags burst open.
Seven-year-old Lily screamed.
“Grandma, stop!”
Margaret barely looked at her.
She turned the phone toward the wreckage.
“Everything at this stall is cheap junk, guys!”
Claire moved before Margaret swung again.
She caught Lily around the waist and pulled her backward.
“Stay behind me.”
Margaret knocked another basket from the table.
Then struck the side shelf.
Wood cracked.
Boxes fell.
Lily began crying.
“Stop destroying our things!” Claire shouted.
Margaret rolled her eyes at the phone.
“Some people need to learn their place.”
Then she kicked a lightweight crate onto its side.
Apples rolled into the dust.
Small jars of honey struck the pavement.
One broke.
Claire looked down at Lily.
The child’s face was wet with tears.
Her hands were shaking.
Claire moved her farther back.
Then turned.
Margaret stood in the middle of the ruined stall, proud of herself.
She lifted the phone higher.
“Now that’s much better!”
Claire walked toward her.
Slowly.
Not because she was calm.
Because if she moved fast, she was afraid of what she might do.
Margaret finally noticed.
Her smile faltered.
Claire stopped two feet away.
“Turn off the livestream.”
Margaret laughed.
“Why? Embarrassed?”
“No.”
Claire’s voice was quiet.
“I want you to hear what I say next without performing for strangers.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
The livestream continued.
Claire pointed at a shattered box beside Margaret’s heel.
Inside were jars labeled only with handwritten batch numbers.
Margaret looked down.
Her expression changed for half a second.
Claire saw it.
“You recognize those, don’t you?”
Margaret’s smile returned too quickly.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You should.”
Then:
May you like
“You sold six hundred of them last Christmas.”
Margaret stopped laughing.
