Page 20 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store
I don’t know, I still feel kinda ridiculous about it. Also we need to figure out some suspects.
Suspects?
Yeah, like who is leaving them and why.
He rolled over onto his back, a smile on his face. He liked talking to Hazel. He liked that he got to.
I didn’t realize there would be a mystery-solving component to this arrangement.
Don’t call it an arrangement. That sounds weird.
Okay. What should I call it? Hazel and Noah’s Summer of Fun!
No.
HANSOF for short
Definitely not.
HANSOF!!
Summer is nearly over anyway
Yeah but ‘Hazel and Noah’s two months before her thirtieth birthday of fun’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?
The best summer you’ve ever had.
He was making big promises here, but he had to. Go big or go home, right? And if this was his one shot with Hazel he sure as hell was going to take it. Whatever the bizarre circumstances that got them here.
Oh yeah?
Guaranteed.
Wow.
I’m very good at fun, Hazel.
He thought of Hazel’s wine-flavored lips. She was very good at fun too, whether she knew it or not.
I believe it.
Good, see you at the carnival.
Right, see you then.
HANSOF!!
That’s enough of that.
Right. Goodbye, Hazel.
Bye, Noah.
* * *
Noah had never attended the Dream Harbor PTA presents A Midsummer Night’s Carnival before. It hadn’t felt like the sort of thing a single man should attend by himself. He imagined it would be filled mostly with small children, dragging their parents along to play a few games and stay up past their bedtimes, and not much else. A small, school-run affair for kids to celebrate their freedom before school started up again. Not something anyone else attended.
