“What do you think about Chicago?”
Pepper shrugged. “I never think about Chicago. Except for deep dish. Yum.”
“That’s where I want to move. They have a theater scene. It’s cheaper than LA. Lake Michigan sounds pretty. Are there any other dog-walking jobs going in these parts? I could hustle up a bit of cash, too, and be on my merry way.”
“Not really. I’ve cornered the market. You could find the Village Pillage medallion.”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. I’m kidding.” Pepper grabbed a copy of theEverland Examinerand held it up. “It’s a weeklong festival. One of the big events is a silent auction—neither of us have cash to worry about that—and the other is this town treasure hunt.”
“Stop the presses.” Tuesday jumped off the counter and grabbed the paper, speed-reading through the front page. “You are a genius! So every couple of days they put in a clue, and whoever finds the medallion first wins ten grand?”
“Yes, but we’ll never—”
“Listen to the first clue, it’s cryptic…In the summer, fall, and spring, you can hear them sing, at the place that has a bed and never sleeps and a mouth that never talks.” She lowered the paper with a frown. “Ugh. I hate riddles and brain teasers.”
“I know.” Pepper had always tried to get Tuesday interested in theNew York Timescryptic crosswords to no avail. “There’s a twisted logic to it. But don’t get your hopes up. There will be references to local folklore that we don’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tuesday said. “You have the brains, and don’t forget my secret weapon.”
“An encyclopedic knowledge of show tunes?”
Tuesday stuck out her tongue. “I’m scrappy.”
Pepper shook her head, realization dawning. “We do have a secret weapon. Rhett.”
Her sister clasped the paper to her heart. “Your secret, oh-so-sexy boyfriend?”
“Stop. He’s my next-door neighbor.”
“What he is is yum.” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and feigned a swoon. “Call me peanut butter and jealous.”
“Listen. You can’t breathe so much as a word about Rhett and me to anyone,” Pepper ordered in a menacing tone. “Wait, on second thought, don’t mention Rhett at all. In fact, don’t speak, full stop. I’ll tell people you’re visiting from Helsinki and only know Finnish.”
“I do love secret drama, but you are both grown, consenting adults. Why the secrecy?” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Holy shit, Pepper. You are kidding me.” She leaned close and frowned. “Is he married? I can accept a lot, but not that. That’s a terrible idea. You have to break this off immed—”
“No! Who do you think I am? Of course Rhett isn’t married,” Pepper hissed, sitting to inhale the coffee in her cup. This was going to be a three-cup morning. “But you don’t know this town. Everyone is in everyone’s business.”
“Who cares? Look at him. I’d want to walk around getting high-fives at the corner store.”
Pepper shook her head. “A few years ago he was jilted the day of his wedding. The whole town bore witness. The emotional fallout and gossip shut him down.”
Tuesday wrinkled her nose. “First, who would ever leave all that A-grade cuteness? And second, who gets jilted at the altar? That stuff only happens in movies.”
“And Everland. This place, you don’t even know. There is a couple here with a pet pig. And a neighbor with a pink Cadillac who creeps around with binoculars and runs a gossip blog. And competitive Scrabble games in the park? And pirate treasure and—”
“Okay, okay, jeez, I get the picture. And circle back to the pirate treasure? Like what amount are we talking about? Scrooge McDuck level riches, doing backstrokes through golden coins?”
“I guess.” She smiled.DuckTaleshad been one of their favorite programs as kids. “But I’m serious. No one needs to know about Rhett and me. This is a fling. The last thing he wants or needs is to be the center of more town drama.”
“You don’t do flings. It’s not part of your DNA.”
She bristled. “How do you know?”
“Let’s see.” Tuesday tapped her chin. “Besides the fact you’ve been my big sister and best friend, since, hmm, let’s see, my whole life?”
“Who says I have to be the same person every single day?” She ripped out her hair elastic and slipped it around her wrist. “The one who prefers vanilla to chocolate—”
