bright smile as he held the door open for me.
He chuckled. “Not what I said, but you’ve always followed your own star. Just text me when you go and when you’re out of there. If I don’t get a text, I’ll come find you and embarrass you in front of your friends.”
“Now I sound like I have a curfew.” I waved to Carrie and pointed to our booth. Instead of the smile and nod, I got a curt nod.
“Wow. What did you do to make Carrie mad? And can I sit somewhere besides with you?”
“Way to be supportive. And it wasn’t me; Toby called her ‘princess.’” I gently pushed him into the booth and sat on the other side. “Well, and Evie had dinner with Doc. But it was just about the murder. And I thought Carrie was over that. Just don’t abandon me.”
“Okay. I guess I have to stay with you.” He glanced over the menu. “Stuffed meat loaf it is.”
“Of course that’s what you’d choose; it’s Wednesday.” I laughed at I put the menu away. “I’m just as bad. I’m having my stress meal: fish and chips with a vanilla shake. It’s a good thing stress increases my metabolism.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are.” Greg smiled, and for the millionth time I realized why I’d fallen in love with him.
By the time we’d finished lunch and he’d walked me home, I realized I didn’t want to risk running today either. Or at least not until Greg had figured out what was up with our new friend Neal. I grabbed the book I’d been reading and, with a glass of iced tea, took Emma out into the yard to play. She had a system of checking the entire fence line so she could make sure there weren’t any roving rabbits in her yard. She loved the process almost as much as running with me.
The light was fading when I finished the book. Toby pulled his truck into the driveway and Emma ran to meet him. He waved and nodded to the gate, his way of asking if he could come visit. Even though he basically lived in my backyard, I hardly ever saw him around. Which was a testament to how much he worked.
“Hey, Jill, how are you?” Toby sat on the steps, leaning against the railing so he could watch me, and started playing ball with Emma.
“Greg told you, huh?” I closed the book and set it on my lap.
“He mentioned it. There’s no way anyone’s getting into that register without a key. You’re not worried about Neal trying again, are you?” Toby threw the ball over the hill in the backyard.
“Maybe a little. Not on my shift. I think he knows I didn’t believe his story about why he was behind the counter. But Aunt Jackie? I’d hate it if something happened and we knew he was a problem and didn’t do anything.” I blurted out the one worry that had been bugging me all day. “What would my aunt do if she caught Neal trying to steal from us? She wouldn’t be so forgiving. And he might overreact.”
“Harrold’s been coming to work with her for the last week. He sits at the table and works crosswords. Then they go home together after her shift. I figured you knew.” Toby shrugged. “Harrold’s not much of a bodyguard, but she’s never alone in the shop. I think that makes him feel better.”
“I’m going to lose my closer soon. I knew when they got married things would change.”
Toby shook his head. “I don’t think so. Both of them seem to like the situation. It gets them out and around people. Some of Harrold’s friends have started coming by at night just to chat. It’s kind of nice having an older group hanging around. It used to be a teenage crowd at night. Mostly because your aunt doesn’t make them buy something, like Lille does.”
I felt blindsided. I didn’t realize much about what was happening during my aunt’s shifts. I should have known this was happening. “I guess maybe I need to talk to my aunt more.”
Toby shook his head. “No, you don’t. The two of you were close before she was married. Now she and Harrold are figuring out these things together. She doesn’t need you hovering.”
“You’re saying the bird has left the nest?” I chuckled as I realized he was right. My aunt and her new husband needed to figure out things on their own. I didn’t