“Scheduling our entire spring,” she said, lowering her voice like the walls had ears. “You have no idea how many people in Mystic Hollow have cases they want solved. We’re going to be busy for the rest of our lives. We’ll be well into our hundreds and still be solving crimes!”
“I guess it’s nice that business is good!”
“But,” she emphasized, tapping her notebook. “I also scheduled downtime. I need to be with my kids, and they were nice enough to carve out some time from their busy lives to hang out with their old mom in the future.”
“That’s nice! I can’t wait until Travis moves here!”
“Mydreamis for my kids to move back.”
We grinned at each other, and something about it set me at ease. Carol arrived two minutes later, hair clipped into twin buns that looked like tiny animal ears, and a scarf so neon I wondered if it had its own battery pack. She plopped down next to Beth and started fussing with the menu, which was hilarious since she always ordered the same thing.
Deva swept through the room in a swirl of black linen and flour dust, a tray of fresh-out-of-the-oven buns held in one elegant hand. She deposited a plate in the center of our table, along with three sets of tongs and a little ramekin of apple butter.
“Try these,” she said, beaming at us before heading back to the kitchen.
Beth tore off a chunk. “She’s an actual angel,” she said, mouth already full.
Carol waited until both of us had served ourselves before taking a polite bite. “You know she’s been baking since three a.m.,” she said. “Her car was parked outside when I walked Arlo this morning. He wouldn’t stop sniffing her tires.”
“Arlo is in love with Deva,” Beth whispered, which was probably true.
I tried the bun. It was light, rich with honey, and had a tang that chased after each bite. I was still savoring when the front door opened again and let in a blast of cold. Wade Bourne paused on the threshold, arms loaded with two massive cardboard boxes, one marked LIVE FEEDERS in marker and the other, in smaller print, YOGURT & GRAIN, DO NOT MIX.
“Oh, yourboyfriendis here!” I teased Beth.
She turned bright red. Still new to this whole “romance” thing. But then, she dropped her cheek onto her hand and sighed. “Heissomething to look at though, isn’t he?”
I glanced in his direction. He walked with a careful shuffle, wearing the kind of clothes that only a professor would wear, probably because he had been one. His brown hair, grey at the temples, was a little messy, and his blue eyes were filled with excitement. When he reached the counter, he set his boxes down and checked the time on his phone. The barista, a new hire named Bryan, smiled politely but immediately started scanning for Deva.
I waved Wade over as soon as he looked our way. He shuffled to our table and sat.
“I thought you had a big morning,” Carol said. “Isn’t today the hatch day?”
His face lit up. “Yes. And yes. The crystal serpents finally laid, and I’ve got seven eggs at home. But Deva said she’d have my order ready by eight, and I can’t afford to leave them unattended for long.”
Carol cocked an eyebrow. “How are you incubating them?”
He launched into it, describing his aquarium setup with the kind of obsessive detail that made me appreciate, if not entirely share, his enthusiasm. He’d rigged a series of heat lamps and calibrated them to the exact color spectrum required for the eggs, which looked like enormous opals studded with glitter. Beth asked questions, teasing out specifics, but it was clear she already knew about most of it.
“I’m fostering them for a couple weeks,” Wade finished, “then releasing them near the falls, just past the old quarry. It’s the only place safe enough, and they should be able to re-establish their habitat. If they make it past the first two molts, they’re basically indestructible.”
Beth nodded, eyes soft. “He’s already named them. All seven.”
“That’s not weird,” he said, only a little defensive. “They respond to sound frequencies, so it helps if you repeat the same syllables.”
Carol and I exchanged grins. “You’re going to be a great dad,” I said, and Wade blushed from the collarbone up.
At that moment, Rose, the fairy server and part-time barista, bounced over with a tray balancing a triple espresso, two berry scones, and a mason jar of something frothy and green that Iwould not have put in my mouth on a dare. She flitted between chairs, dropping off items, the iridescent streaks in her hair catching the light.
“This is for you, Professor,” she said, setting the espresso before Wade. “Deva’s still prepping the bread, but she says hi.”
He sipped the espresso and closed his eyes in near-religious appreciation. “Tell her thank you,” he said.
Rose nodded, but instead of leaving, she turned to Carol and me. “You two going to Vale Provision after this? There’s a sale on bone meal and garden salts.”
Carol perked up. “I hadn’t heard about that. But yes, absolutely I want to check it out, when we’re done with our… errands.”
Ah, yes, our “errands.” Henry’s devastated face flashed in my mind, and the room became instantly colder. We had another day ahead of us to find Alice, save the wedding, and help my brother. After breakfast, we’d be completely focused.
