She removed her yellow polka-dot apron. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.”
“Happy to man the fort.” He handed her the slice of peach pie. “You can count on me.” He didn’t look away.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
“This is a great time for you to go. It’s not as busy as it was.” He gave her a pleasant look of expectation, as if waiting for her to say something more.
“Kevin, customers are waiting to place their order.”
“Ah!” He stepped toward the window. “I love all the patriotic clothing. It’s encouraging to see—”
She escaped out the door. Meeting Eli at the camper’s end, she handed him his pie. “Fancy seeing you here. Were you hungry for pie?”
“Always. But I came to see you.”
She got lost in his soft brown eyes.Gah!“Better get started on that.” She nudged her chin toward his pie. “As you know, I take it as a personal insult when people don’t eat it right away and let the ice cream turn into plain old cream.”
He lowered his vision to his dessert and released a sound of appreciation at the sight of its golden-brown flaky crust and filling of glistening peaches. He picked up his biodegradable spork. “What about you? Are you hungry or thirsty? If you can get away for a minute, I’ll buy you food.”
“I am hungry, and I can get away for a minute, but I’ll buy my own food.”
“I’m buying,” he said, unperturbed.
“That’s not necessary—”
He lifted his pie plate. “You just gave me pie. Did you notice how graciously I accepted it, without arguing?”
She smiled. “Fine. Rumor has it that your friend Sam’s selling sliders over at Sugar Maple Kitchen. You can buy me a few of those.”
Side by side they ambled down streets closed to traffic.
Ten years ago,Travel + Leisurehad done a spread on Misty River, declaring it a hidden gem. Afterward, the town had become a not-so-hidden gem. The influx of tourists had brought an answering wave of businesses that had filled every previously empty retail space downtown. Almost all of those businesses had raised pop-up tents outside today, where they were selling their specialties, distributing freebies, or passing out flyers.
“Your pie is even better than I remembered,” Eli said, glancing at her.
“Thank you.” He’d always been an avid supporter of her business.
A family wearing matching flag T-shirts from Old Navy passed going the other direction. A girl with long pigtails holding an assortment of navy, white, and gold balloons ran down the street in front of them.
“You must’ve been in a good mood this morning,” Eli observed.
Her momentary confusion gave way to clarity. “Did you come to that conclusion based on my shoes?”
He made a sound of assent.
“Your deduction’s correct.”
Her parents and Theo and Lila and her other friends all knew that she was extremely loyal to her Vans and that she had enough of them that she could go two weeks straight without repeating a pair. But no one except Eli had noticed that she chose her Vans based on her state of mind. And then chose her outfit based on her Vans. This morning, she’d selected a red pair, then matched them with a white tee under overall shorts.
She tipped her knock-off Cartier sunglasses from her casual up-do down over her eyes. Designer sunglass styles appealed to her, but she only bought knock-offs because she was the owner of a pie shop, not a Swiss bank.
A green tent shaded the serving table Sam had set up in front of Sugar Maple Kitchen. He stood before a small barbecue that was releasing curls of beef-scented smoke.
To her way of thinking, Sam was a genius with food. His dishes were an inspiration to her—creative, healthy, fresh, and blow-your-mind tasty. He’d moved to Misty River four years ago and she still vividly recalled the very first item she’d purchased at his restaurant, a Paleo cinnamon roll. It had been a revelation to her and, when she’d polished it off, she’d sought Sam out and introduced herself. He was so talented that talking to him made her feel the same way she felt when talking to her pastor, slightly self-conscious and dazzled.
Eli and Sam exchanged greetings, then Penelope requested two sliders and a glass of iced tea. Eli pulled out his wallet and peeled off bills, which he passed to the female employee of The Kitchen manning the cash box.
Eli winked happily at Penelope.
