Fern wakes up, showers, combs her long red hair, and applies her skincare routine. Many people think she's a tomboy, but she actually has always loved doing hair and makeup, and when she was a teenager, skincare became a hobby of hers.
She washes her face with a salicylic acid foaming cleanser, then applies a toner, a moisturizer, a face oil, and finally her daily sunscreen.
After eating breakfast and brewing a cup of coffee, she fills her mug, pours in some cream (she doesn't take her coffee with sugar), and walks through the red door.
The morning is quiet for a few hours, but Fern was expecting this because today is July 5th, and yesterday everyone was up into the wee hours of the morning, shooting off fireworks and partying.
Bear Lake has an age-old tradition that every year at 8 pm on the Fourth of July, and each camp lights red flares running along the shoreline. Fern always wondered what that would look like from up in the sky, but she obviously didn't have the resources to find out.
Around 9 am, the bell dings and she closes Instagram on her phone and looks up.
"Good morning Mr. McAllister, how may I help you?"
Mr. McAllister removes his baseball cap and begins twisting it in his hands, with a hesitant look on his face. Fern frowns, dreading whatever he's going to say next, as it can't be anything good.
"Fern, you know how I've been planning to retire, maybe move down to Georgia, or even Florida, especially now that Dorothy's gone and all the kids have moved out of state,..." he rambles.
"Yes, I've been aware. What are you trying to say?", Fern interrupts softly.
"The thing is, I've been offered a hefty sum for that empty parking lot you're renting, and I've been thinking for a few days now about taking the deal and retiring early with the money," he says, wincing at the end of his statement.
Fern's jaw drops and her eyes stare roundly at him.
"Mr. McAllister, you can't do this to me! I can't have a store without a parking lot! Please just hold on for a month or two so I can earn the money, and then you can retire just like you've always wanted," Fern pleads.
Mr. McAllister sighs.
"I'm sorry, Fern, but I've already accepted the deal. I signed the papers this morning. I'm really sorry to do this to you, but you're young, you've got plenty of time to recover. I don't have that kind of time, I gotta look out for myself," Mr. McAllister replies.
Fern is devastated.
"How could you just do this without telling me?!"
She's angry, but she takes a second to calm down and realizes that she does understand where he's coming from, and knows that she probably would've done the same thing if she was in the same situation as him.
Fern sighs.
"Do you know what the owner plans to do with the lot?"
Mr. McAllister's face brightens a bit.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you. I only agreed to the deal on the term that he would fulfill the remaining 3 months of your lease contract, so you'll have time to try and get the money together and buy it off him," he replies.
Fern sighs in relief that Mr. McAllister was at least looking out for her that much.
"I obviously still don't like what you did to me, but I do understand where you're coming from," Fern states.
Mr. McAllister smiles slightly, and then his expression changes as if he's just thought of something.
"Oh, do you want the contact information of the new owner? I have his business card right here."
Fern takes the card, but she doesn't plan on using it anytime soon. She decides that she won't go meet the new owner, she'll just pay the lease quietly and focus on making the money to buy the lot from him when her lease is up.
"Thanks Mr. McAllister. For everything. Congratulations on your retirement," Fern says, her usually chirpy personality somewhat subdued.
Mr. McAllister leaves, and Fern sits on the stool behind the counter, weighing all of her options for a few minutes. Suddenly, her favorite song, "Better Than Ever" by Flight Facilities comes on over the radio she always keeps playing quietly in the store.
Fern smiles and walks over to the radio to turn it up, since there aren't any customers. She sings along and dances around Freeman Market's shelves, and deciding as she passes the fridges to treat herself to a beer.
When the song ends, she's sitting on the stool behind the counter again, enjoying the cold beer. She stays this way for a half an hour, letting the loud music vibrate in her chest and the beer wash over her senses slightly.
When the beer is gone, she tosses the can in the recycling and feels the need to do something, anything.
So, Fern pays for the beer and starts sweeping the floor. Then she mops it. Then, she restocks all the shelves where there's only one or two of a product missing
After 2 hours, she has a couple of customers, but when they leave, she's idle again.
Fern is restless and bored out of her mind. She mops the entire floor for an hour without a single customer, and finally decides to just close the store early for the day.
Fern grabs her phone and sunglasses and strides out the front door of the Market, flipping the sign and locking the door behind her.
She walks down 23, turns onto the gravel road, and goes to see the camp. She knows Aunt Marcy and James won't be there, they only stay there for a few days at a time.
In the kitchen, she scrounges in the fridge and finds the ingredients for a ham sandwich. She makes the sandwich, grabs a soda, and walks out to the deck. It's near sunset, so she decides to go eat sitting on the edge of the dock with her toes dangling in the water.
With the cool water gently lapping against her ankles and her stomach settled, she sips the cold soda and watches the sunset, waving occasionally to the boats that pass by.
Fern had taken a bad day and invented her own happy ending.