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I had never known why our town needed a daily paper. Literally nothing happened, unless you counted the farm that was rapidly growing at the senior center or the fact that the raccoons were back and raiding the trash cans behind the café.
But that wasn’t even news.
Johanna fed them to get her café on the front page.
That, my friends, is excellent marketing.
I needed a break before my eyes went square.
I scratched Gen behind the ears, resulting in her offering me an elusive purr, and reached for my phone. Colton hadn’t texted me again, thank God, but I did have a missed call from my grandmother.
That was never good.
I hit the ‘call’ button on the screen and put it on speaker. I was pretty sure that her voicemail was about to kick in, but the line clicked on and I heard a very echoey, “Hello? Hello? Stanley, is that you?”
Stanley?
“Grandma, it’s Tori. Who’s Stanley?”
“My doctor,” she replied. “Tori? Are you there?”
“Yes, Grandma, I’m here. What’s wrong? Do you need anything?” I bumped the fridge door closed with my hip. “Did something happen?”
“Yes. Randy stole my liquor.”
I paused. “And what do you want me to do about that at three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon?”
“Get me more liquor.”
“I am not running around town to get you alcohol,” I said firmly. “I have work to do and I am not your lackey.”
“Wrong. I used to wipe your butt. You are my lackey.”
“That doesn’t make me your slave.”
“You can’t blame an old woman for trying,” she muttered. “Fine. Can you bring some this week? And some corn for the chickens?”
“Grandma.”
“Fine. Just the liquor.”
“I can’t keep smuggling you alcohol. They’ll ban me from coming.”
“Didn’t you once put vodka in a water bottle so your mother didn’t know you’d stolen some?”
I licked my lips. “I was nineteen. Totally different scenario.”
“So smuggle me vodka in in a water bottle.”
“Grandma. I am not doing that.” I sat back down at the table. “Now do you have a serious request to make for Monday, or are we done here?”
“Yes. I’d like some Nutter Butters, a bag of Cheetos, some frozen peas, some Pop Tarts, and some real coffee. And a bra.”
I wish I’d never asked.
“Frozen peas. What are you going to do with frozen—wait, are they for the chickens? Or the ducks?”
“See you Monday. Don’t forget the vodka water.”
I opened my mouth to argue with her, but the line was already dead.
Goddamn it. The woman was going to kill me.
Shaking my head, I put my phone back down and turned back to my laptop.
So much for that break.
***
“Okay, hear me out.” Piper pointed to the counter. “Daffodils.”
London blinked at her. “Where are you going to find daffodils in August?”
“Fake daffodils.”
“They don’t have the charm of fresh flowers. Or the scent,” I pointed out. “And no, you cannot spritz them with perfume.”
“Ugh.” She leaned against the counter. “I’m nearly ready to open, I just need the design stuff done and then I can go, but I need to make it pretty.”
“Well, now you’ve finally decided on your logo, I can get everything done.” I swung my legs under the table. “And it is pretty. You just need the finishing touches, that’s all. I’m sure if you spoke to Bethany at the flower shop you could set up a weekly delivery of fresh flowers.”
“Oh, I need an assistant.” She huffed, sagging down. “I’m not sure I can do everything by myself. Are you sure you can’t work for me?”
London shook her head. “Sorry, Pi. I can’t be here when you need. At least with the paper I can work from home.”
Piper sighed again and dropped onto one of the stools. “I really didn’t think this through. Who am I kidding? I can’t run a business. I can’t even run a race, for God’s sake.”
I bit back a laugh. “Why don’t you ask Felicity?”
“Felicity?” she frowned. “Who’s that?”
“Johanna’s daughter,” I reminded her. “She works with her at the café. Johanna was going to buy this place for her.”
Piper wrinkled her face up. “Won’t that be awkward?”
“Yes.” London reached over for a cupcake and stuck her pinky finger in the frosting.
“No, it won’t be awkward,” I reassured her. “I doubt Felicity will be making many things for the café now, and she ultimately wants to bake, not own the café. You could at least speak to Johanna and see if she’d share her with you part-time.”
Piper tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want her to feel like I’m taking her daughter from her. Especially since I kind of swiped the bakery out from under her.”
“It was technically closed bidding,” I reminded her. “Just because Johanna had the wrong information and didn’t get her bid in doesn’t mean you swiped it.”
Seriously. Despite what she said to us, Johanna hadn’t actually made the bidding deadline. Piper had, and she’d won, fair and square.
