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Dena turned to Shaye. “He had two daughters, and he didn’t want anyone taking advantage of us.”

“He sounds like a great guy.”

“He is.”

Shaye thought about Lawson. He was the only age-appropriate man she knew in town, and she was plenty interested in him walking up and kissing her, but so far he’d only helped her with the Mustang.

“I’m giving up on men,” Dena said with a sigh. “I’ve tried blind dates, double dates and a couple of different online-dating apps. I can’t seem to find the right guy anywhere.”

Paisley hugged her friend. “You have done more than your share of trying. I don’t get it. If I were a guy, I’d date you in a hot minute.”

Dena laughed. “Thank you.” She looked at her watch. “Okay, I have to get back to work.”

“Me, too.” Paisley wiped her hands on a napkin. “I have a meeting with a very emotionally delicate bride this afternoon. When she cries, the sound is so heartbreaking I find myself tearing up in sympathy. I don’t know how she does it, but I’m really impressed by her abilities. No matter what it is, after the tears she gets her way.”

“I’m not sure that’s a positive characteristic,” Shaye said cautiously.

“Only for her. For everyone else, it totally sucks.”

They all laughed.

“We need to do something together,” Dena said, hugging Shaye. “There’s going to be a day of service coming up. Let’s plan on getting together for that.”

“That would be nice,” Shaye said.

Paisley hugged her as well, then both women left. Shaye served a couple more customers. At three, she packed up the cart and wheeled it back to the store.

Paisley and Dena were really nice, she thought as she pushed the cart. So friendly and welcoming. She appreciated the overtures of friendship. She wasn’t sure what a day of service was, but she could imagine and was happy to be included.

She went past the store, through a small alley that led to the back where she used the security pad to unlock the door. She pushed the cart into place, then began unloading the handful of pies she still had left.

Once they were on the warming shelves, she plugged in her point-of-sale device so it would upload the details of the sales. As she wasn’t allowed to accept cash, there was no till to reconcile. Any tips she received were hers to keep.

She pulled out the shelves from the cart and carried them to the industrial dishwasher in the back room. After stacking them inside, she wiped down the cart, then resupplied it with bakery tissue and napkins so it was ready for the next day.

As she worked, she thought about what Paisley had said about the tree-lighting ceremony. Lawson had mentioned it the first day they’d met, when he’d listed all the Christmas in July activities. Maybe he would ask her to go with him.

Or not, she thought with a sigh. Most afternoons he swung by to buy a few pies and chat with her, and more often than not, he showed up to help her with the car, but he hadn’t asked her out. Not since their dinner at Navidad Mexican Café. She had no idea why he wasn’t suggesting something more datelike than working on the car. Not that she didn’t enjoy his company, because she did. A lot. He was likable and knowledgeable and smart and funny. He always had great stories about his family or being in the military. He talked about the people he’d met and the places he’d been. The only subject he didn’t touch on was his time in Afghanistan.

They were learning more about each other every day, but he wasn’t asking her out, and she didn’t know why. Yes, she was leaving at the end of the month, but until then they could—

She mentally paused, not sure what they could do. Get more seriously involved? Become lovers? That was a big step, especially with her plan to leave. Technically Seattle wasn’t that far, so maybe they could make a long-distance thing work. Or—

“How’s it going?”

She turned and saw Toby standing in the doorway to the back room.

She smiled at her boss. “Good. I’m sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t sell out today.”

He grinned. “How many pies did you bring back?”

“Three.”

He chuckled. “Okay, we’ll live with the pain.”

“Yes, try to get over it. I’ve increased the amount I take out by more than double what I had last week. I think word is spreading about how good the product is. Plus, it’s kind of unique.” She held up a hand. “I’m not dissing the other vendors. It’s just you can get a hot dog anywhere, but a hand pie is more special.”

“I like to think so.” He leaned against the doorframe. “How are you enjoying the work?”