“Welcome,” she heard a voice call out. She stepped around a rack of postcards and spotted Ginny behind the cash register. “Oh, it’s you.” Ginny leaned against the counter and flashed her a knowing smile. “Xeni, hello.”
“Oh god. Here we go.”
“Babe!” Ginny yelled. “Get out here.” A big swinging door behind the counter flew open and out popped Maya sporting a green McInroy Farm apron.
“What—oh, hello.”
Xeni rolled her eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Did you happen to bring our sweet Mason home this morning?” Maya asked.
“I did. He’s upstairs right now.”
“You know, when he told me you guys were getting fake married for real, I thought it was just a legal formality and then yesterday I saw a certain someone had never left the property.”
“I was too tipsy to drive.” Which was a complete lie. She’d spent most of the night drinking the lemon-berry punch Liz had bought for the reception. The two beers she’d had over the course of the night weren’t enough to get her close to tipsy, but they didn’t need to know that.
“Mmmhmm,” Maya went on. “And then imagine my surprise when I called our darling Mason to see if you guys wanted to join us for game night and his response was a measly. ‘Can’t Come. Busy’.” The air quotes she used really added to the drama of it all.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xeni replied. She made her denial all the more convincing with a casual shrug of her shoulder. “I needed some work done over at my aunt’s house. You know, light plumbing, some electrical. He offered to help.” All night.
“Yeah, I bet he was over there checking the pipes,” Maya said under her breath.
“I’m just saying, if you two are going to be sleeping together, you can at least give us the juicy details. We might both be super gay, but we’re here for the gossip,” Ginny said.
“Seriously. It’s all been very platonic. Very boring.”
“Whatever, Xeni. Just admit you are participating in ho behavior. I’m not judging. I’m here for it,” Maya said. She leaned over the counter and held up her hand to give her a high five. Xeni rolled her eyes, but slapped her palm anyway.
“Is it ho behavior if we’re married?” she asked.
“I knew it!” Ginny said. “They’re doing it.”
Xeni looked up as the door to the kitchen pushed open again. Liz backed in, carrying a plate of biscuits. “Okay, I’m done. This kid keeps kick—oh. Hello, Xeni.” She set down the pastries and shot Xeni the same knowing smile.
“Come on. Let me have it,” Xeni replied.
“Oh no. If you’ve been here for more than four seconds I know these two have already tried to climb all up in your business. I mean, we all want to know if you and Mason are sleeping together. Aside from that, how are you?”
“I’m okay. Better, thank you.” She felt a bit of relief just saying the words out loud. There were still all kinds of emotions shoved below the surface, but she was starting to feel more like herself. “We’re gonna start packing up the house today.”
“If you need help hauling boxes tomorrow, let me know,” Liz said. “Silas can come over and help. He’s good at the heavy lifting.”
“I’ll let you guys know, thanks. I actually wanted to grab some jam and honey for my mom.”
“Oh please, step over to our tasting bar,” Ginny said as she motioned to the end of the counter with a flourish. They’d arranged a rather large assortment of items to taste. Xeni didn’t know where to start.
“Try the lavender honey,” Ginny suggested. “Or the Family Jam. Those are our best sellers.” She uncapped a cute little jar, then swirled a little wooden tasting stick in the thick dark red jam and handed it to Xeni. It was like a berry explosion on her tongue.
“Oh man, that’s good.”
“And try this.” Ginny moved further down the bar and dipped a fresh stick in one of the dozens of jars of honey.
The lavender flavor was downright sensual. “Jesus. Is everyone in this place a culinary master?”
Suddenly the air in the cannery grew still. Xeni took a step back as Liz, Ginny and Maya all converged on the edge of the counter.
“Did Mason cook for you?” Liz asked slowly.
