Page 23 of The Magical Bed & Breakfast

Clearly in her element, her thick dark hair pulled back in a long braid, she wielded a spatula, flipping pancakes with panache, before removing a pan of bacon from the oven. Nothing smelled better in the morning than bacon. He took a long whiff, breathing it in. She glanced up. “Tell me how you like your eggs.”

“I’m an over easy kind of guy.”

Kate flashed him a grin. “Is that right?”

He grinned back, noticing her eyes looked tired. “Everything okay?”

“Sure.” With one hand, she cracked two eggs into a pan to sizzle, before plating up the bacon and the pancakes with a scoop of blueberry preserves and a fine dusting of powdered sugar.

In moments, they were seated in the dining room, with Kate expertly pouring from a silver coffee urn.

“You have this all down to an art. It looks and smells amazing.”

“This I can do, but baking eludes me. I may need to outsource it. Or get lessons.”

“Don’t look at me. I’m a takeout kind of guy. The cooking gene did not make it to my generation. I think it skipped Seymour’s too.”

“Ah, so your mom…”

“No, not her either.” He knew he’d sounded harsh when Kate fell silent and busied herself with her silverware, no longer meeting his eyes. She hadn’t done anything wrong by mentioning his mom. Feeling like a heel but unwilling to explain, he changed the subject. “What’s your plan for today?”

“Painting a third-floor bathroom.”

“By yourself?”

“I need to cut costs somewhere. After that, I need to review my budget. Are you out and about today? I appreciate all the time you gave me yesterday, but you don’t need to give me more of your time. You must have plans for your visit.”

Rory nodded. “I do, but I could give you a hand with the painting.”

Kate shook her head. “Nope, I’ve got it.”

That left him free to confront his granddad about the tunnel entrance in Agate Point. How much would Seymour tell him? His alternately upfront and seemingly transparent mien juxtaposed with an unwillingness to share what he knew. Rory had a sneaking suspicion that neither the tunnel under the town nor the entrance into the family mansion would be a surprise to him. His granddad was a wily one, and he had an abundance of knowledge about Hazard’s history. How much would he be willing to share? How hard would Rory have to work to get to the truth?

What Rory really wanted was to do was more research. But perhaps he could enlist Seymour’s help and work in his questions at the same time. He could be sneaky, too. After all, he’d learned from the best.

“Do you mind if I take the tunnel this morning to Agate Point?”

Kate choked on a bite of bacon and blinked at him in surprise. “I don’t own it.”

“I know, but the entrance is in your basement.”

“I…it’s fine. I’m certainly not doing anything about it right away. And it is shorter since you don’t have a car.”

“Well, I do, actually, have a car,” Rory said, amused. “It’s just still at Seymour’s.”

“Ah, so it makes sense to use the tunnel.”

He nodded. “Also, I’d like to show the tunnel to Seymour, although I don’t expect him to be surprised. It’s odd, really, but makes a kind of sense.” Rory shook his head.

Kate nodded. “Do what you need to do. It’s your vacation, right? In a way.” She frowned, “What kind of work do you do?”

Rory hesitated. He was trying to keep his presence on the down low, but he didn’t like to lie to Kate. He decided on a half-truth. “I’m a musician.”

“Oh, what instrument do you play—besides the piano—or are you one of those people who can play anything?”

“I was classically trained on the piano, actually.”

“And you perform? Like, solos?”

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