"We can't buy her a present if she's with us," I said reasonably.
Her eyes brightened. "Oh, that's right."
"What should we get?" I asked, hoping to distract her.
We passed the jewelry shop.
"Jewelry?" Sofia asked.
I pursed my lips. "That might be a bit too much."
"A book?" Sofia asked when we passed a sign that read Belle's Books.
Inside, it was dark, and I couldn't make out any shelves. It was like the first thing that the owner bought was the sign. "I don't think the bookstore is open yet."
"A puzzle?"
This must be the shop owner who didn't like lingerie sold on the same street. "I don't know if she likes puzzles."
Her shoulders lowered. "I don't know either."
I'd been with Eve for awhile, but I'd never been to her place. She was good with kids, loved her job, but did she have any hobbies? Did she like to read or wear jewelry? There was so much I didn't know. "Do you know what she likes?"
"Pancakes and bacon," Sofia said simply.
"So that's your answer. We should buy her pancakes?" I asked.
Sofia rolled her eyes. "You should make her breakfast. That's a nice gift."
"I can't put a bow on that," I said, wondering what I was going to do about a gift.
"You don't have to wrap every present. You could get her a weekend away. That way, you could spend the weekend with her."
I paused in the middle of the street. "Are you saying that you wouldn't mind if I left you with Grandma and Grandpa while I spent a weekend with Eve?"
She nodded. "I love being with them."
I'm sure part of that was that they were permissive when it came to her. They wanted to spoil their only grandchild. Thatwas okay every once in a while, and it would be nice to get away for a weekend. "That's actually a good idea."
She gave me a look. "But you can't take her to Mistletoe Inn."
"Of course not. She owns it. I'd want to take her away from this." Then I frowned. Would she want that? Or would she need to stick around to deal with construction and repairs?
Sofia nodded. "You have to find a place."
I could do a search for bed-and-breakfasts within a couple hours' drive. I wouldn't want to be too far away in case Sofia needed me or something happened. It would be good to get away. I hadn't done that since Marla died. And maybe Sofia was finally feeling ready for something like that.
We went into the puzzle store, which was packed with boxes. It was so well-stocked it was hard to see what anything was. And there were other things for sale which were not puzzles, like socks, silly mugs, and tea towels with caustic sayings on them. The shop was a little busy for my taste. But we were able to find my dad a scenic one-thousand-piece puzzle.
Sofia convinced me to stop for lunch at Merry's Diner. Once we were seated in a booth, Sofia said, "We should invite Eve."
"She's probably busy." I pulled out my phone and shot her a text. She responded right away.
Eve: I wish I could, but I have so much to do here.
Maddox: Will we see you tonight?
Eve: Definitely.
