Page 28 of The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook

Robyn snapped her gaze back to him, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “You did?”

“Junior year,” Tyler said slowly. “Fall semester.”

Robyn blinked. “I was spring semester.”

They stared at one another, a crease forming between her eyebrows, and he wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was—what if they’d met all those years ago?

Then Robyn laughed softly. “So, we missed each other by… months.”

“Months,” Tyler echoed, and it hit him in a strangely emotional place.

He was about to say something when a sound upstairs cut through the moment.

A door opened, followed by light and quick footsteps. Then a small voice, muffled through the hallway, called out, “Mochi! You’re gonna trip me!”

Tyler’s whole body went alert.

Robyn’s eyes widened, and she went perfectly still too, coffee mug hovering halfway to her mouth. She looked about the room, as if searching for the closest exit.

Tyler pointed toward the side door, the one they’d used last night.

Robyn was already on the move.

Tyler met her at the landing and angled his body to block the kitchen from view, keeping his tone low.

Robyn moved to hand the coffee mug back to him.

“No, take it to go. It’s evidence,” he murmured.

Robyn lifted the mug, eyes sparkling despite the urgency. “Copy that,” she whispered.

Tyler didn’t think Emma would notice the second mug of coffee on the counter, but with her, he never knew. She’d surprised him more than once with how observant she was.

Robyn stepped onto the back porch, then turned back toward him. Her hair was still a little messy, her cheeks still pink, and the sight of her standing there in his doorway with his college mug in her hands made the heat in his chest bloom.

“I’ll see you at the bookstore,” she whispered. Tyler’s shift started a couple of hours after the store opened.

He nodded. “We’ll pick up the clue hunt. One of us watches the counter, one of us digs through the history section.”

Robyn’s smile tipped into something softer. “Deal.”

He kissed her, quick. She gave him one last look, then slipped down the steps.

Tyler stayed in the doorway and watched her cross the small yard, coffee in hand, moving fast.

Halfway down the sidewalk, a figure came into view: Anita, Zach’s mom, powerwalking past in her bright purple windbreaker, a hot-pink headband holding back her pixie cut.

Anita’s gaze flicked to Robyn.

Then to Tyler.

Then to the coffee mug.

Her smile spread with the satisfaction of someone who had just been handed a winning lottery ticket.

“Well,” Anita called, voice carrying cheerfully through the morning air. “Look at you two, up early and… well rested.”

Robyn’s face went crimson. She gave a polite little wave with the mug like she was holding a flag of surrender and quickened her pace.