“Yep. That’s the maybe I’m stuck on too.”
“I’ll head out to the library tonight.”
“Don’t… No, don’t let this ruin your evening. Unless you think there’s a quick and easy way to spot a ghoul, then whatever you dig up can wait until morning.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
I turned into the Puffin Muffin’s gravel parking lot, avoiding most of the potholes. “Do you think you need to go out there? Family gift-wise?”
“No.”
“Then let’s pick this up tomorrow.”
“All right. Talk to Ryder.”
“I plan to.”
“Pick a date for the wedding at least.”
“Yep.”
“Delaney,” she said, then the background noise changed, and I thought she might have moved out of the room she’d been in with Bathin.
“Yeah?” I turned off the engine, and paused with one hand on the door.
“I know why Ryder’s working so hard to make the wedding perfect.”
“Yeah?” My heart was beating a little hard. This was part of what both baffled me and stressed me out: Why was he working on it as if it were some giant production? What kind of expectations did he have for this event?
“Because if he left it up to you, you’d overthink it and be flying to Antarctica to try and find flowers.”
“Hilarious.” I hung up on her laughter. Then, to absolutely no one: “I do not overthink things. Do I? No. Okay, maybe sometimes. Or maybe a lot of times. But only in certain circumstances. Which is normal, isn’t it?”
I got out of the Jeep and strolled into the bakery. The place was mostly empty, which was a rarity for the shop, but we were rolling into dinner time and the bakery, which did the bulk of its business in the morning, would be closing soon.
Gale was working the counter and gave me a wide smile. “Hi, Delaney! What can I get you?” Gale was human and had been working at the bakery since she’d retired from teaching.
“I’m not going to ask what’s good,” I said, “because I know it’s all good. So what’s left?”
She leaned back and ducked a bit to scan the display case. “A few caramel snickerdoodle cookies, some of those mini fruit tarts, and three, no two kinds of brownies. We also have some refrigerated pie left. Um…I think a cheesecake, a key lime and a chocolate mocha silk.”
“Better get me the pie. Let’s do key lime.”
“Special night?” she asked.
“Nope. This is an apology pie.”
“Well, key lime is a good choice. Coffee to go?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Aw, but apology, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, why not? How about a nice dark roast. Make it two. And strong.”
“Drop in a shot of espresso?
“Perfect.”
