I’m halfway across the street with Hadley before I realize Jasper never said where he was starting. I shoot a quick glance over my shoulder and find him standing where the group was a moment ago, his gaze still roaming up and down the street. Hadley is already a few steps ahead of me, so I call out that I’ll meet her in a minute, and I return to the sidewalk where her brother is.
Jasper’s slight frown clears as he sees me approaching. It returns when I skip the preamble to ask, “Your therapist has encouraged you to step outside your comfort zone, right?”
“Uhh, yes, she has…”
“I’m guessing this whole situation is outside your comfort zone.” I sweep my arm out to encompass everything around us. “So many people, so much action. You get a gold star for being here and being willing to participate…which is something my friends and I say to each other, but I realize might sound patronizing to you. I swear I mean it in the least patronizing way possible.”
Jasper’s lips twitch at my rambling. “Thank you?”
“Now, since you’re already stepping outside your comfort zone just by being here, why don’t youreallylive dangerously and have dessert first with Hadley and me?”
I expect him to decline. To say it’s irresponsible or highly irregular or something else that sounds highbrow and, well, Jasper-like. But he simply inclines his head toward the street. “Lead the way.”
Hadley is waiting to the side of the booth with the purple awning, holding two small containers of pumpkin cheesecake and a pair of tiny wooden spoons. “I went ahead and got both of ours,” she says to me as we approach. Then to her brother, “Still can’t decide where to start?”
“Willow has convinced me to start with dessert,” Jasper says.
Hadley’s mouth drops open. Actuallydrops openlike a nutcracker with a hinged jaw. It’s one of the most comical things I’ve ever seen. She snaps her mouth shut and thrusts one of the cheesecake cups at Jasper, then hands the other to me. “I’ll get myself another one. This one’s my treat.” As she turns back to the booth, I hear her murmur, “Jasper starting with dessert. Never thought I’d see the day.”
We drift back over to our designated meeting spot where Ivy and Hugh are already waiting. Gwen and Evan come along next. Evan is carrying a small cup of soup with a slice of crusty bread balanced on top, while Gwen looks at something on her phone.
“Did you decide against the soup?” I ask when they join us.
Evan makes a little snorting sound as he takes a bite of his bread. Gwen side-eyes him, but she can’t hide her own amusement. “I already ate it,” she says.
“Inhaled it,” Evan mumbles around a mouthful of bread.
She elbows him playfully in the chest. “Okay,inhaledit. I was running around doing stuff and then shopping with Jasper this morning, so I forgot to have breakfast. Plus you know I just love food.”
I match her easy shrug with one of my own. “It’s one of the many reasons we’re friends.”
“Has anyone seen Lina?” Hadley asks as she polishes off the rest of her cheesecake. I’ve been savoring mine, turning over in my mind how I’d put my own spin on mini pumpkin cheesecakes if I were to make them for Cravings.
“She just texted me,” Gwen says, holding up her phone. “She ran into Piper and wanted to take the opportunity to pick her brain about a potential event at the bookstore. She said she’ll meet up with us later.”
“Which means we now have an odd number for pairs,” Evan says.
“Pairs?” Jasper asks.
“We thought it would be fun to split into teams of two and do a scavenger hunt,” Gwen says. “I found the idea on Pinterest and tailored it to our group. Everyone gets the same list and you go off with your partner and take photographic evidence of your findings. The winning team will have their dinner tonight paid for by Evan and me.”
I perk up at that. The idea of an adult scavenger hunt was already appealing, but the idea of a free dinner…
“I used an app that has a random pair generator to choose the twosomes, but Lina being gone means one team will have three instead of two.”
We assure Gwen we’re fine with that, so she reads off the list: “Evan is with Hugh, Ivy is with me, Jasper and Willow are together, and Hadley, you were paired with Lina.”
“Does it make me a bad person if I’m glad Lina pulled her usual crap and wandered off?” Hadley asks, drawing laughter from everyone except Jasper, who gives his sister a look of disapproval. “Can I join Evan and Hugh’s team? I’m heading to Scotland for a job soon and I’d love to pick the brain of an actual Scotsman.”
“Aye, lass, we’d be happy to have ye on our team,” Hugh says in an overexaggerated burr.
Gwen taps away on her cell; a few seconds later, a chorus of beeps and buzzes sound from all our phones. “I just sent each of you the scavenger hunt list,” she says. “Find the items, take a picture, and then check them off on the list. You’ll notice there are a bunch of random items, and there’s also a nod to each of you somewhere on the list.” She gives an excited little bounce. “Okay, go forth and have fun! Eat a bunch of good food, get to know your partner better, and try to find as many items from your list as you can.”
I move to stand beside Jasper while the others break off into their designated pairs. As everyone scatters, Gwen catches my attention and tilts her head down the street. “One of the items on the list is ‘seasonal beverage’ and I just spotted a cider stand owned by the farm we’re going to next weekend. Will you come with us and then we’ll split up?”
Jasper and I follow Gwen and Ivy to the booth for Nansom Farms—a huge farm and market situated in the county next to Bellevue—where a young woman with light-brown skin is serving cups of hot and cold apple cider. While the family of five in front of us collect their cups, Gwen asks what we want, then puts in our order for four hot ciders.
As the young woman ladles the steaming liquid into thick paper cups, Gwen says, “We’re planning a group trip to the farm next weekend.”
