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Suspecting that by “us,” she meant, “me,” Hunter nodded. “I would love to.”
Thirty seconds later, he was seated at a table while Mrs. Higgins poured the tea and loaded a plate with a huge slice of cake and five cookies.
“Would you join me?” He indicated the empty seat across from him. “I hate to eat alone.”
“Of course.” Smoothing down her floral apron, she sat across from him. “I’m delighted you’re staying for so long. Oh, I meant to tell you I have a room upstairs available, if you’d like to move. The Zinnia Room, overlooking the back garden. My dear Hank, God rest his soul, came up with the idea of calling it the Zinnia Room because zinnias are my favorite flower. He always used to line the front walk with zinnias for me in the summer.”
She rested her chin in her hand, a wistful look crossing her face.
“Thank you, but the Rosebud Room is fine.” He took a sip of the overly sweet tea and tried not to wince.
“Oh, but the TV.” She shook her head, as if reminding herself that the TV in his room didn’t work. “I’ll have Jim bring you the TV from the Zinnia Room, at least.”
“That’s not necessary. I don’t watch TV.”
“Too busy working, hmm?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, you just let me know if you change your mind.” She reached over to pat his arm. “I hope you don’t work so much that you have no time to enjoy our little town.”
“I plan to look around.” He ate a few bites of a cookie. “I’ve heard a lot about the Spanish mission. Is that near the Mariposa district?”
“It’s a couple of miles away, but it’s a lovely walk.” She picked up the teapot and filled his already full cup to the brim. “If you’re in that part of town, be sure to stop at Ruby’s Kitchen. Hank and I used to have a regular date night there every Friday. He had steak, and I always had their chicken pot pie. Then we’d go over to a movie at the Vitaphone, then when we’d treat ourselves to hot fudge sundaes at—”
Hunter cleared his throat. “Isn’t the Vitaphone on Mariposa Street?”
“Yes.” She pushed the plate of cookies closer to him. “Unfortunately, there’s not much to see on Mariposa Street anymore, but some of the old architecture is lovely.”
“Do you know anything about the cat café there?”
“Oh, of course. If you’re a cat lover, you must visit Meow and Then. It’s actually one of the few cat cafés in the entire United States. Aria has a great passion for helping animals.”
Of course she does. That’s why she was chasing an overweight cat through a storm.
“Aria?” He lifted his eyebrows inquiringly.
“Aria Prescott, the owner,” Mrs. Higgins explained. “Lovely girl. Her family has lived here for years. I even remember when Eleanor and Gordon first moved to Bliss Cove.”
Jackpot.
Hunter took a bite of cake. “This is delicious. Doesn’t Eleanor own a bakery in town?”
“Sugar Joy, yes. I’m not surprised you’ve heard of it.” She gave a little laugh. “Eleanor supplies all the baked goods for most town events. It’s not a Bliss Cove party if Sugar Joy isn’t involved.”
“It sounds like a town institution.”
“Oh, it is. It’s hard to believe Eleanor ever considered closing it down, but she did.” A frown curved her mouth. “She and her girls had a rough time after Gordon Prescott passed away. She came close to shutting down Sugar Joy, but they pulled through and have been doing very well this past year.”
Hunter’s shoulders tensed. “What happened to Gordon Prescott?”
“Car accident.” Mrs. Higgins clicked her tongue and shook her head sadly. “Terrible, and so unexpected. Over a year and a half now. He was a professor at UC Santa Cruz for years…Greek and Latin languages or something like that…but he’d retired. Eleanor and the girls were devastated, of course. Callie…she’s the oldest...was a rock in the aftermath, taking care of all the details and plans. Thankfully they had help at the bakery, a lovely young woman named Kate, and Rory moved back from San Jose to help out. She’s one of those high-tech computer programmers or whatever, and her coming back was huge. Bit of a surprise that she’s still here after all this time.”
“What about Aria?”
“I’m not sure.” Her forehead creased. “She moved away for a while after her father passed. We were so glad when she came back. She was always such a ray of sunshine. I was delighted when she opened the cat café. It’s soher, you know?”
Yeah, he knew. Aria radiated an overall pleasure for life, so surrounding herself with people and animals would come naturally.
