Page 19 of Alice & Meg

“Did she just say mayo?”

Nikki wrinkled her nose. “Maybe banana bread is something different where she’s from.”

“I’m from Rockton, Nikki, not Mars,” Meg called.

“Maybe we should trust her?” I laughed. “I mean, she seems to know what she is talking about.” I liked to bake and cook, but it wasn’t something that I was obsessed with. If someone else offered to cook or bake me something, they could go right ahead. I loved to eat, and I loved it even more when someone else made it.

“I mean, I’m down for anything.” Nikki pushed the cart and followed Meg down the aisle. “So, how does one go about thinking that adding mayo to their banana bread will be delicious?” she asked Meg.

Meg grabbed a small container of mayo and dropped it into the cart. “Uh, well, I use it in my chocolate cake to make it moist, so I figured it would do the trick in my banana bread.”

“Mayo in your chocolate cake?” I asked. “Now you have to be pulling our leg.”

Meg laughed and shook her head. “I am dead serious.”

“I got the chocolate chips.” Lennox held a bag of chocolate chips over her head and jogged down the aisle. “I got the dark chocolate ones.”

“Do you know Meg puts mayo in her chocolate cake and banana bread?” I asked her.

Lennox shrugged. “Umm, no, but I really wouldn’t know much about what goes in either. Since Jonas and I got together, Meg has been doing most of the cooking. I can’t help but say I’ve gotten lazy in the kitchen because all I need to do is go to the clubhouse, and I’ve got a full meal waiting for me.”

“Why don’t we have a Meg at our clubhouse?” Nikki asked.

“We have a Carnie,” I laughed.

“Oh, yeah,” Nikki giggled. “She totally kicks ass in the kitchen.”

“I think that’s it.” Meg looked in the cart and scrunched her nose. “Except we need something to bake the bread in. You guys head to the checkout, and I’ll grab the tin pans.”

Meg took off, and we headed to the checkout with Lennox. “So, was Snapper joking when he said you guys met when he was in prison?” I asked.

“Alice,” Nikki scolded. “You can’t just ask someone if their husband was in prison or not.”

“Uh, why not?” I laughed. “I mean, it’s not like I randomly asked. They mentioned it in front of us.”

Lennox waved her hand at Nikki. “It’s okay. We did bring it up. It’s pretty normal to us, and we forget that most people haven’t been in prison.”

“Snapper seems pretty young. How long was he in prison for?”

We made it to the checkouts and got in line.

“A little less than six years. Involuntary manslaughter.”

The words were out of Lennox’s mouth like she was telling us about the weather.

“Oh, uh, nice.” Nikki cringed. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Lennox smiled. “I don’t think there is a right thing to say.”

I knew Nikki wanted to know the same thing I did. Who did Snapper kill?

“Hey,” Meg called. “You two look like you saw a ghost.”

Lennox started unloading the cart onto the belt. “I told them about Jonas.”

“Uh, what about Jonas?” Meg asked. She looked between Nikki and me. “His parents?”

I tipped my head to the side. “Uh, aren’t you his parents?” What was going on in the world right now? It seemed like Snapper was brimming with secrets.

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