Lizzy nodded sympathetically. While the Bennet sisters had all practically grown up in the bakery, Kitty was the only one who seemingly hadn’t inherited the baking gene. Unfortunately, she was also the only one who seemed to have any real business sense.
Lizzy added milk to her cereal and gave Kitty an encouraging smile. “Next time you’ll nail it.” Then she took her cereal bowl and a spoon and headed out of the room.
As she passed the couch, Lydia’s head popped up, ignoring her call for a brief moment to ask, “What time are we leaving?”
“Wow, I’ve never seen you so eager to spend Saturday night at the Lodge,” Lizzy said, working to convey her sarcasm around a mouthful of cereal. “Looking to stalk this Charlie guy or do you just have a hankering for Tater Tots?”
Lydia rolled her eyes.
“Oh!” Kitty perked up. “I’m in, too! I want to see if Annabelle Pierce is really here.”
“I have to go and pass out some pamphlets,” Mary added from the kitchen table.
Lizzy sighed. “Fine. We’ll head out when Jane gets home.”
Mrs. Bennet snapped her fingers, the universal Bennet sign to shut up, and the sisters complied, with Lizzy disappearing upstairs as her mother returned to her call.
Lizzy was lying in her usual spot—the flat bit of roof just outside her open window—with her empty cereal bowl beside her and was halfway through chapter 18 ofThe Court of the Serpent Kingwhen she heard Jane’s familiar knock on her bedroom door.
She dog-eared her page, then copied the same knock against the windowsill. Their lifelong cue.
Jane entered quietly, closing the door behind her, and walked across the small room lined with travel posters, dodging clothes strewn across the floor, until she reached the open window.
“God, I’m exhausted,” she said with a groan as she climbed through and landed beside Lizzy. “Do you know how hard it is to get Play-Doh out of carpet?”
“No, but now you have to tell me,” Lizzy said.
“Hours. Those first graders really rub it in there.”
“You live life in the fast lane, Jane.”
“Always,” her sister said with a smile. “What did you do today?”
“Sourdough proofing.”
“Whoa.” Jane laughed softly to herself.
“Do I know how to have a good time, or what?”
“Slow down already.”
“I’m out of control,” Lizzy said through her grin, letting her gaze wander up to the stars overhead.
Jane nodded to the book sitting between them. “Well? What do you think of Lord Magnus Beaumont?”
Lizzy sighed dramatically. “Six foot five, black hair and green eyes. Yes, he has a weird fascination with reptiles, but I think I could change him.”
“I knew you’d love him. Now hurry up and finish so I can give you the sequel.”
“Are there dragons?”
“Somany dragons.”
Lizzy laughed. Ever since they’d stolen a copy ofOutlanderfrom the bakery’s lost and found in middle school, the two sisters had been trading romance books back and forth. But while Lizzy usually liked more straightforward rom-coms, Jane had slowly gotten her hooked on romantasy. It wasn’t a surprise—her sister had always loved fantasy and science fiction, so much so that she was bullied relentlessly through grade school. It surprised most people who met her now, but that was only because they weren’t privy to those years when Jane hid her acne and braces behind the stacks at Atomic Comics. As much as she had grown into her looks, Lizzy knew that Jane still saw herself as that awkward teenager who wroteLord of the Ringsfan fiction in her spare time.
“Speaking of dragons, you might want to avoid Mom before she makes you wear a pair of her leggings to the Lodge tonight,” Lizzy said.
In the darkness beside her, Jane groaned. “Are we really doing the Lodge tonight?”
