Garrett smirked. “I think it’s time Greg started pulling his weight.”
81
Meghan
“Oh my god, they are so cute!” Kate squealed when I showed up at the Gray Dove Bistro. It seemed like the whole town was there. Ida was handing out cookies with Vote for Meg on them.
“How did you like meeting your brothers?” Kate asked the Svensson sisters.
“They’re messy,” Annie said, screwing up her face.
“And loud,” her sister added.
“Are you going to be my little helpers today?” Hazel asked, as she and my sisters led the Svensson girls away. “Let me show you what we’re working on!”
Ida immediately commandeered my attention. “Meg, we need to talk about my medal.”
Good lord.I put on my politely interested face.
“I have the perfect thing for you to give me a medal for,” she boasted. “I have solved the compost problem!”
“It can’t go in the middle of town,” I warned her.
“I know,” she said, waving away my concerns. “Remember the guy I was telling you about?”
“It’s not the denture one, is it?” I winced.
“Yep! Told him he owed me. He said we can put the compost pile on some of his spare land. People can go out there and drop off their eggshells and coffee grounds. I’ve got the composting committee developing guidelines, and I got a whole pack of goats from Ernest.” She held out her arms proudly. “Doesn’t that warrant a medal?”
“I mean, sure,” I said, because at this point, what did it matter? “Assuming I’m officially the mayor in a few days, you can have a medal, Ida.”
“Yes!” She pumped a fist in the air.
“If I win,” I reminded her.
“You’ll win!” she said confidently. “I’ve been campaigning hard for you. Nothing beats free food!”
I went back to the kitchen. The Svensson sisters were hard at work, making more Vote for Meg cookies.
“Are they staying?” Hazel asked. “Because they’re little machines.”
“Are they living with us?” Rose asked me.
“I don’t know where they’re staying,” I said.
“Surely the Svenssons have enough room at their huge house,” Kate remarked.
I threw up my hands. “I have bigger problems. We don’t have anywhere to live,” I reminded Hazel.
“I want to stay with you,” Enola pleaded. “I don’t want to go back to that house. It’s a zoo. Can’t you tell Hunter to let us stay here? We can work in Hazel’s shop.”
“They are the cutest cookie makers ever!” Kate said as she took a video of the girls. “This is going on your campaign Instagram account,” she cooed. “It’s so adorable!”
“They almost have all the cookies frosted,” Hazel said in amazement. “I thought it was going to take all afternoon!”
“See?” Enola insisted. “We can be useful.”
“This was a special event,” I explained gently. “I don’t know if we really need a cookie assembly line that makes thousands of cookies an hour.”
