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I headed into town and parked at Nature’s Basket grocery. It was still early enough that there weren’t many people around. Theo and Luke had helped buy the supplies for the prank, spreading it out so it wouldn’t look suspicious. Now I just needed to grab more peanut butter and cookies without raising any eyebrows.
I grabbed a cart and added a few things so the squirrel crack supplies wouldn’t be obvious. Turning down the peanut butter aisle, I paused. Craig Martin was walking up the other way.
Marigold’s father.
For a second, our eyes met. Then he walked right by, as if he didn’t have a clue who I was.
Typical. He ignored me as hard as I’d ignored Marigold all those years.
That was going to get awkward later, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
I grabbed a bunch more peanut butter and tossed it in the cart. It was a lot more than one guy could possibly need, but I could go through the self-checkout to avoid questions.
The cookies were on another aisle, so I headed that way. I rounded the corner and stopped again.
Marigold.
It was as if the roof opened, allowing a single sunbeam to shine on her, making her glow with golden light. She was busy looking for something, so I waited, watching her. She was dressed in a pale blue wool coat and brown knee-high boots. Her hair was down around her shoulders and, for a second, I got lost in a fantasy of fisting my hands in all that hair while I—
“Zachary?”
I blinked. “Hey.”
The smile she gave me was friendly. Too friendly for my taste, but at least she wasn’t looking at me like I’d confused the hell out of her.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
“Just grabbing a few things. I saw your dad.”
“Really?” She glanced around. “I didn’t know he was here. Maybe I’ll see him on my way out.”
“Are you working today?”
“Yeah, I’m headed there after this. I like to keep snacks on hand for me and Stacey, but I don’t see the cookies she likes.”
“Do you have plans tonight?”
Her gaze snapped to me. “Why?”
“I thought we could hang out again.”
“As friends, like last night?”
One corner of my mouth lifted. “No. This time it would be a date.”
“You said you wouldn’t try to make it a date.”
I stepped closer, wishing the stupid cart wasn’t in my way. “No, I said I wouldn’t try to make last night a date. I didn’t say anything about today.”
She was trying to hide a smile. I could see it, dancing at the corners of her lips. She looked down and her expression changed, her eyebrows drawing together.
“Why do you have so much peanut butter?”
Uh-oh. Damn it, I couldn’t lie to her. But I couldn’t tell her the truth, either. “Gavin Bailey told me to get it.”
Dude, Z. That was a terrible answer.
“Why did Gavin Bailey tell you to buy that much peanut butter?”
