“I’m the shiny new object. They’ll be talking aboutusfor quite some time.” My voice sours. I’m used to living in a big city where I can walk down the street daily without running into anyone I know. Now here I am, in small-town suburbia, and everyone knows each other.
“Fine. Lori owns the bakery with her husband, Gerald. High school sweethearts. They graduated here in this very town thirty years ago.”
“Perfecting breads and pastries.”
“The very ones in that counter over there.”
I look behind me at the pies and cakes once more, their lure stronger now.
“You’re drooling.”
I swipe at my mouth, finding not a droplet of saliva. “Tell me more while we wait.” Lark picking up on all the gossip while being locked in a classroom is what I like to call her teen superpower…unless she somehow got Seraphina to spill all her secrets—another superpower. Adults find Lark easy to talk to, and they end up spilling everything.
“Right, so Lori’s grandparents established the bakery, and they have one daughter who graduated last year and is now in college. I didn’t find out which college, but I know it’s in the state.” Her little face wrinkles up in disgust at missing what, to her, seems like a precious piece of information.
“That might be easy to figure out, depending on which colleges are in the state and how long she takes to get home.”
“You’re very right, Mom.” She chews on another fry just as Darcy brings us two milkshakes in tall glasses.
“Oh, that looks like a sugar high I’m going to have to work off later.” I grab the glass, giving Darcy a thankful smile. “Thank you, you divine creature.”
“That’s a new one, but you’re welcome.” She shakes her head before walking away. I grab a fry and run it through the vanilla milkshake. “It’s perfectly blended to a smooth texture. That’s a hard feat to accomplish.”
“It’s delicious.” She sips her chocolate one before carrying on. “There’s a rock wall the townspeople use as a movie projector.”
“You are going to have to give me more details about that.” It sounds so intriguing, I almost want to head there now.
“Yep, there’s a parking lot and a snack bar. The movies are older because it costs money to get a new one in, but I think we should check it out.”
“Saffron offered us her car.”
“There’s a movie playing tonight,” she says hopefully. “Every Tuesday and Friday at six.”
“That is a very strong possibility,” I reply, but then I realize the time. “Why six? That’s so early.”
“It’s autumn, and the sun goes down early.”
“You mean the town closes early.”
“That too.”
Darcy brings us two burgers that look absolutely mouthwatering. With a smug smile, she sets them down and walks away.
“It’s a good thing you got a job.” Without hesitation, she dives into her burger, cheese plopping onto the plate as she digs in with the fierce abandon of a hungry velociraptor.
“Why? Because I’m a terrible cook and there are a total of…” I grunt in annoyance at not knowing how many restaurants are in this town.
“Three, there are three restaurants.”
“How did you know what I was going to say?” She just gives me that teen look that she perfected at the age of three. Sneaky human. “Oh!” I shout, earning the townspeople’s curious gazes. “I learned something.”
“It’s about the asparagus festival, isn’t it?”
I deflate, she’s like a miniature Sherlock Holmes, and I’m not even Watson, but the maid… What was her name? “I really thought I would have one on you.”
“The festival is mid-April, and it’s a BYOB situation.”
I pause with a fry to my mouth. “I don’t think that means what you think it means.”
