Old Sac LARPers in Love

Hello and welcome to the 2020 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! I’m writing one new meet-cute per day as part of my “Sacramento Love” theme. Read along as couples find themselves falling for folks in lucky locations across California’s capital city. In this time of social distancing, there’s no need to fear a little fictional fun, so get your romance fix here and enjoy!

P.S. Today’s story was inspired by Writer’s Block Coffee, who really are donating 100% of their sales today to Feeding America! They’re aiming to raise $1,000 for the hunger charity, so if you need to stock up on coffee (or just want to try something new), today’s the day.

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The butter churn was feeling frisky today. Odessa had been teaching another class of grade-schoolers about life in Ye Olde Sacramento when she realized someone else had been watching her. Smithy, the smithy, was leaning against the door of the schoolhouse where she switched between Schoolmistress Silvia and Butter Churn Betty characters on randomly assigned days, watching her mash the cream with her plunger. Up and down. Up and down. Round and round.

She saw him lick his lips, and briefly lost focus.

“Miss Betty,” one of the children piped up, “Why didn’t they just buy butter at the store?”

“That is an excellent question, my dear. Does anyone know why the settlers didn’t just buy butter at the store?” Tossing it back to the kids was a great way to stall for time as she attempted to compose herself. Smithy’s lips were ripe for kissing, like fresh berries, but she couldn’t think about that now. She had young minds to mold.

“Cuz the store didn’t have any?” one of the children suggested.

“That’s a good guess,” Odessa acknowledged. “Anyone else?”

“Cuz the store wouldn’t have any if someone didn’t churn it first?” another proposed.

“Bingo! Now, who wants to try churning?”

All the children’s hands flew up, and Odessa took two of the kids at the front of the group and placed their hands on the churning stick, showing them how to work together to move the cream inside the pot.

Stepping back as the kids got to work, Odessa snuck another glance towards Smithy.

He winked. The cheeky bugger winked at her!

She blushed. He grinned. She held up two fingers to indicate the time she’d decided to meet him in the back of his shop.

Don’t miss a magical moment!

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