I jump in the shower and take my time, eventually wandering out to the kitchen to discover the snacks were just a compelling lure to rope me into slave labor. I spend three hours I'll never get back helping Mimi assemble and decorate the parade judges' gift baskets. As head of the town council she would present them tomorrow. We packed up lotions, bottles of seltzer, assorted gourmet foods, warm fleece jackets with a logo of the bridge on the shoulder, and hefty iTunes gift cards. These judges were really going to love Mimi.

As I was awkwardly trying to tie a bow out of some weird colored rope she played her hand.

“So you visited Pearl yesterday?”

“Uh... yep.”  Damn Emma!

“She is certainly getting on in years.” Mimi expertly finished her...

Please subscribe to keep reading.