Page 15 of Throw Away the Key
“She doesn’t strike me as the easily wooed type. Wanna come with me and help me pick out the things that might be best?” Emma hooked a finger toward the spot where Granny stood sipping an iced chai with oat milk–she had it one time and was completely hooked.
“Okay!” Zora's face lit up as they strolled to the kiosk.
“Brian,” Emma called across the room in a flirty tone. “I hope y'all are stocked up because I need some goodies.”
Brian smiled bashfully. “Well, if we don't have it, Kerri's planning to drop off some more pastries later, so just tell me what you want and we can get it.
“Even better.” Zora rubbed her hands together. “This is gonna be fun.”
Emma pushed her playfully and cackled. “These ain’t for you, heffa!”
Zora pouted. “You right.”
“I mean, you can have something too. But help me build a box of goodies that says something like ‘thanks for helping me out.’”
“Nah, you need one that says ‘help me help you… outta them clothes.’” Zora burst out laughing and Granny tittered bashfully. Brian looked like he wanted to fade into the background.
Emma pursed her lips as she rolled her eyes. “I really hate you sometimes.”
“Same, bookie.”
CHAPTER NINE
Kerri wasn't able to come by the bookstore after all, so Emma and Granny went to the bakery after the bookstore closed. Zora had to get home for a special date night with Reid, but she rattled off a list of her favorites just in case the bakery hadn’t sold out.
The evening air cooled and Emma tugged at her cardigan. Granny looped her arm in Emma’s as they strolled down the street.
“Do you know what she likes?” Granny asked.
“I really don't, actually,” Emma poked her lips out as she thought. “Well, I know she likes cheese and honey…”
Granny raised an eyebrow. “That's not a whole lot to go on, my love. We don't know if she has any allergies or–”
“Oh my god, she might have allergies! What if I kill her?” Emma exclaimed. In her mind’s eye, she pictured Sadie being carted away in an ambulance after feeding her baked goods. “Should I text her and ask her if she has any food restrictions?”
“If you asked her, would she discourage you from doing this?”
Emma’s mind raced. “Probably… but–”
Granny could always sense when Emma was about to teeter into panic. She placed a gentle hand on Emma’s arm. “Okay, let’s calm down first… you can get a sampling of things and if she can't eat something, she'll tell you, right?”
Emma took a beat. “Yeah, true. Well, what should we get?”
Once they stepped inside, they eyed the cases of confections and baked goods, scents of butter and chocolate wafting in the air and mixing with dark roast coffee. Stacy, one of the baristas greeted them as they walked in, a smudge of flour dusting her cheek. “Hey, Emma, Ms. Marion. What brings you by?”
“Hey, Stace, I want to get a box of goodies for someone as a thank you gift. I’m not sure what she likes though, so let’s do a small assortment.”
“Okay. What size box are we looking to fill?” Stacy pointed to different sized boxes arranged on top of one of the glass cases and grabbed a pair of tongs.
“Maybe this medium one?” Emma pointed to a square pink box.
“Any thoughts on what you might want to include?”
“Definitely a handful of the madeleines.” Kerri’s madeleine cookies were otherworldly–Emma and Zora feasted on the lemon butter ones every afternoon. “The lemon ones. And let's do the matcha too. Do one of the guava and cream cheese tarts. And maybe do the ham and gruyere croissant for something savory.”
Stacy began opening different cases to gather treats, carefully placing the madeleines around the tart and setting the croissant on its side. “Okay, you’ve got space for one more thing.”
Emma tapped her chin thoughtfully and turned to Ms. Marion. “I feel like we should do one thing that has chocolate.”
