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“The ghost mobile?”

“Yeah.”

I shrugged. “I guess I could if I wanted to. It’s actually really fun to drive. It’s a 1959 Cadillac ambulance hearse.”

“It sounds drafty.”

“It’s not,” I said, lining up ketchup jars on the counter. “It’s like driving a boat. They’ve both been restored. They use them in parades a lot. Right now they’re both decked out for Christmas.”

I reached under the counter and pulled out a honey bear. “See this?” I said, wiggling it. “My family’s side hustle.”

He looked up from his tray. “Do you guys actually have bees? I thought they just remove them.”

“Oh no, we keep bees. We have a whole line of honey products. My grandma felt like it was a waste to just destroy the colonies, so we started beekeeping back in the seventies. We produce fifteen percent of all the honey in Minnesota.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah,” I said, putting the honey back.

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t find something you liked with all the business diversification,” he said.

It would have been convenient, that’s for sure.

He went back to collecting salt and pepper shakers. “Your family seems kind of cool.”

His family seemed cool too. The bet aside, he seemed to like his brothers. And his grandmother was funny.

Laci came back out from her break. “Your turn,” she said, eyeing Matty and his tray. “Take your lunch.”

“Okay.” I undid my apron. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“Anything else you want me to do while you’re gone?” Matty asked.

“Can he roll my silverware?” Laci asked under her breath.

“Ask him. He’s bored.”

“You got this man working,” she said, looking him up and down.

“He wanted to.” I shrugged.

I’d probably get in trouble if the owners knew I was letting a customer fill sugar caddies, but they were also too cheap to spring for a busboy and if it wasn’t for me being willing to work Jen’s shift, they wouldn’t have enough servers tonight, so I was going to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

We were always understaffed and overworked here. I could probably find a better restaurant, but I’d fallen in love with the regulars and I liked working with Laci. Also, I didn’t really embrace change very well.

If I did, I would have left Tate months before I had.

I would have left the family business years before I did too.

It took me a long time to come to terms with leaving Ghosts-Bee-Gone. I felt guilty and pressured. But at the end of the day, it was the right thing. Plus, there were only two ghost mobiles, now my brothers would get them and Dad wouldn’t have to stress about getting me one.

I sat with my feet up in the back while I took my break. They always started to hurt at hour seven—and I had seven more hours to go.

I took the time to do a deep dive on Matty.

I’d watched ten more of his videos, and I liked him more after every single one. He knew how to work the crowd and he always looked like he was having as much fun as they were.

The video I was watching ended and the next one in the playlist started. Matty doing a Christmas party performance from last year. He had on a blinking Christmas light necklace over his bare chest and he was playing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”—directly to a woman in a Santa hat with stars in her eyes. He was a good sport and had a good sense of humor. I could see how he could get roped into a bet where he’d have to wear a Zombie Santa costume in a pancake restaurant for a day.