Page 14 of Who Pissed Off Ivy Dell?

Shit. I never cleared that with anyone. Maybe Petra wants a muffin this afternoon.

I keep walking past my casita and Josephine’s, around the corner to Petra’s. She’s going to get tired of seeing me on her doorstep.

As soon as I walk up, I hear the door bang on her hothouse around back. She sees me coming and shakes her head. I hold up the muffins covered in clear plastic wrap. “I come bearing baked goods.”

“I don’t take bribes.”

“Well, hopefully, I don’t need to bribe you. But I do need to confess something.”

“Do I need to sit down for this?”

“How upset would you be if I invited a friend to come visit me?”

“Are you asking for permission or forgiveness?”

“Ummmm . . .”

“Is this a male friend? Am I going to need to keep Stinger extra busy while your friend is here?”

“No. It’s a woman. And we are just friends. Zara really wants to see Ivydell. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“This is the thing that makes you worry? Inviting a friend to come visit? You don’t think twice about taking it upon yourself to repaint signs or about making plans for a website nobody asked for, but this has you worried.”

“This involves someone else’s feelings. I wouldn’t want Zara to get the impression she wasn’t welcome. She’d feel terrible, and so would I.”

Petra smiles. “It’s fine, Ivy. Your friend is welcome to come visit. How long is she staying?”

“Four days. She took a week off, but she insists on driving, so she’ll need two days for travel.”

“She’s welcome to stay in any of the unoccupied casitas you think she might like. Just let me know and we’ll get it ready for her. To be clear, by we, I mean you.”

“I assumed she’d just stay with me.”

“You and Stinger can go four days without each other?”

“I hadn’t thought about him in any of this. But Zara won’t care if I see Jensen while she’s here.”

“Think about that before you decide. Plus, she might like to have her own space. To get the whole experience.”

“That’s true. The next thing we know, she’ll probably be moving out here full-time, and I’ll be the only one going back home.”

Petra’s bright expression darkens. I don’t think she likes talking about me leaving.

“What kind of muffins are those?”

“They have cranberries, blueberries, pecans, sunflower seeds—”

“Just give me one. I’ll waste away over here waiting for you to read me the ingredients list.”

I unwrap the muffins and hand her one. “When I offered to help with the festival, I didn’t just mean with the overall prep work. If you need any help getting your stuff ready, you know where to find me.”

“You know how to distill tinctures?”

“No. But I can pour liquid through a funnel to fill bottles. Put labels on them. That kind of thing. And if you have the time and patience, I can probably learn how to do more.”

“If you’ve got the inclination to learn, you let me know. In the meantime, I’ll keep you in mind for bottling duties. Ask your friend if she’d like to stay in her own casita. I won’t charge her anything. Don’t go telling anybody else I said that.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

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