“I figured out how to make a heart-shaped omelet,” he answered dryly.
“Make it regular and then cut it to shape?” Boone asked knowingly.
“Yep.”
“My five-year old Olive will eat anything heart shaped or unicorn shaped.”
Reno winced. “You’re a better man than me if you can make eggs look like a unicorn.”
“The trick is to use a sausage link for the horn. You can stick it on any blob of eggs and call it a unicorn.”
Reno grinned and Boone grinned back.
“You like being a dad?” Reno asked.
“It’s fantastic. I love Charlotte so much it hurts, but I swear, I love the twins more. “
Reno stuck his head under the hood and asked without looking over at Boone, “How did you know you were cut out to be a father?”
“I didn’t. But there’s this switch in your brain that flips on. Suddenly, you realize you’d do anything for these tiny humans, go to the ends of the earth for them, die for them without batting an eyelash. It’s wild.”
“How do you know when the switch is flipped?”
“Oh, you’ll know. Trust me. One day the kid’s a mildly entertaining nuisance, and the next, the kid’s yours. Like yours. And all you want to do is make them happy and keep them safe and make sure nothing bad ever happens to them.”
Boone handed him a cup. Reno took a sip and immediately recognized coffee from the bakery. He glanced at Boone, who shrugged.
"Charlotte brought me a thermos from Grace’s place."
"Charlotte's making my morning rounds for me, is she?"
"She’s doing what she always does, which is checking on all the people she loves whether they want her to or not. You want the news she picked up, or do you want to stick to small talk?"
"News, please."
Boone sat on the upside-down crate he kept in this bay for exactly this kind of conversation.
"Mary was at the bakery when Charlotte stopped in, and she cold tell something was upsetting Mary. Charlotte got it out of her in about ninety seconds. Mary's sister, Eileen, works the front counter at the new fancy bakery over in Apple Pie Creek. The owner, who doesn’t work in the bakery, she just owns it, had a fit Saturday afternoon. Threw a chair at the back wall of the kitchen. Apparently, it’s not the first time the owner threw a tantrum."
Reno’s mental antennae went on full alert. Was the Apple Pie Creek bakery experiencing the same sort of harassment Buns ’N’ Roses was? Aloud, he asked, "Did Mary’s sister say what triggered the owner’s anger?"
"The McAllister wedding pictures made the Saturday edition of the Apple Pie Creek newspaper, and there was a big shot of Grace’s cake with a caption under it saying the guests raved that it was even more delicious than it looked. Apparently, the owner threw the newspaper at her head baker right before the chair went airborne."
“Mm,” Reno replied, his thoughts racing.
"How's Eileen doing?"
"According to Mary, she’s pretty upset. But she’s got rent to make and is helping put her fiancé through nursing school. She needs the paycheck and can’t quit the job. She says the baker who runs the store day to day is great. It’s just the owner who’s awful. But apparently, the owner’s not around much. She’s rich and likes to tell her rich friends she owns a bougie, Parisian-style pastry shop but doesn’t like actually doing any work to run it."
"Mary should tell her sister to keep her eyes open for anyone trying to vandalize the store or harass the employees."
Boone nodded. "Charlotte already told Mary that exact thing, and Mary said she’ll relay it to Eileen."
"Thanks."
“Any chance Charlotte asked Mary to keep her updated if Eileen does see anything weird around her shop?”
"She did. Charlotte looks out for her own, and she adores Grace. All the WoWS do. They worry about her, you know.”
