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“I don’t say no to someone making coffee for me.”
“Cinnamon rolls coming up in five, four, three, two, one.” Isla appears wearing an apron and oven mitts, carrying a tray of cinnamon rolls drizzled with a glistening glaze.
We all help ourselves. “If this is the new look for Coco Key,I’m here for it,” I say, taking a bite. However, my teeth somehow don’t sink into what I’m expecting to be a soft and pillowy dough.
“So, what are we talking about? What’s risky?” Isla, beaming proudly with her fresh-from-the-oven treats, lifts and lowers her eyebrows.
“Strawberry Shortcake, my dental health is at risk right now,” Royal says, setting his cinnamon bun back on the tray.
She blanches. “What’s wrong?”
He says, “You tried. Let’s see where you went wrong.”
“Were they too sweet?”
Royal handles this gently, lovingly. “I don’t know because I couldn’t bite into it. They were, how to put this delicately, they weren’t delicate.”
“Hard as a rock, Isla,” I confirm.
She slouches and says, “Guys, I’m sorry. I followed Bean’s recipe exactly.”
Placing his hand around her waist, Royal leads his wife back inside.
I lick the glaze off the top then holler after them, “Glaze gets a ten out of ten though!”
“We could have Lally pack these in her purse if the crew aboard the Dark Seas gets rough. She can use them as weapons,” CJ says.
She snatches the cinnamon rock from his hand and squeezes. “Oh. That is hard. Isla’s gift isn’t baking, but she’ll get better.”
Thinking about Harley, which is an increasingly common experience with no more than sixty-second intervals between occurrences, I say, “I know someone who can help.” My gaze travels over to the abandoned Sip & Scoop. I think about how there’d often be a line outside with boaters docking for a scoop or a frosty beverage like the citrus ginger crush Harley had last night at the Driftwood restaurant.
“Who can help?” CJ asks.
I give my head a little shake, surfacing from thoughts about Harley. “Huh?”
“He’s asked you three times, brother. What’s up?” Magnus asks.
“Who asked me what?”
“Earth to Ryan. You said you know someone who can help.”
“Oh, I meant Isla in the kitchen, er, baking.”
“So not with this issue we have in our hands. Ornotin our hands. We need the other stone, the rest of the map, and the crown in our hands.” CJ exhales long like his hands are already full.
“What CJ is trying to say is the stuff with the will is heating up with whoever Captain J is.”
“Then what?”
“Then whatwhat?” CJ repeats.
“What happens after we get the last stone, the remainder of the map, and the crown?”
CJ and Magnus exchange a look.
“Then we’ll figure it out,” CJ says.
“That’s not much of a plan. In football, there’s a concept called follow-through. We know what to expect if X, Y, or Z happens.” My thoughts drift to the X’s and O’s from last night, especially the X’s.
