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He finished his coffee, then stood. A trip into town would kill some time, and he could pick up something from the grocery store to hold him over until breakfast.
Thirty minutes later, Mathias was in the bakery section weighing his pastry choices. Blueberry muffins or apple fritters. Neither of them looked particularly good. But the smell of spiced apples was tempting.
“I wouldn’t recommend either of them.”
Mathias turned to see Rachel right behind him. “Wow. Milo was right. You are hard to get rid of.”
“Good morning to you, too.”
He put the pastries down. “Is there an actual bakery in town?”
“No. Those are made in White City. Probably yesterday.”
“I guess I’ll have a banana or something, then.”
“The coffee shop makes a wonderful cinnamon roll.”
“Hmm. I like cinnamon rolls.”
“They generally sell out on the weekends. But I have an in. They save one for me every Sunday.”
He folded his arms. “Well, I guess you’ll have a good breakfast, then.”
“Even though you beat me yesterday, I might consider sharing my cinnamon roll with you.”
“What’s it going to cost me?”
“Just some friendly conversation.”
“I am pretty hungry.” Not to mention, wildly curious about this woman Milo had warned him to steer clear of.
She took his arm. “Let’s go.”
They left the grocery store and went to the parking lot. “So, where are we going?”
“A half-mile down on the right.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
They parked next to each other in the coffee shop lot, then headed for the door. Mathias opened the door for Rachel, and she went in and smiled at the woman behind the counter, who returned it despite the restaurant being full of chattering customers happily enjoying their breakfast. The smell of strong coffee, sweet pastries, and bacon wafted from the kitchen, and Mathias took a deep breath.
“Morning, Ellen.”
“Ms. Rachel. Are you picking up or eating here?”
Rachel glanced at Mathias. “We’d like a table, please.”
“Right this way.” She led them to a table. “Coffee?”
They both said, “Yes,” at the same time. Then Rachel said, “And can you cut my cinnamon roll in half and bring it on two plates?”
“I’ll be right back.”
Rachel smiled across the table at Mathias. “When are you leaving?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
“When are you leaving town?”
