Page 36 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

Iris had her tight by the hand as they made their way through the stalls. If she’d had a leash, she totally would have used it. She didn’t trust this kid for a second. Not after her little sleepwalking episode.

‘Can we get strawberries?’ Olive asked.

‘Not in season yet,’ Archer said, and Olive frowned.

‘We’ll get something else that’s just as good,’ Iris assured her, even though looking around she saw mostly lettuce and other greenery she was sure Olive would immediately reject.

‘Pretty good selection,’ Archer said, perusing each table as they walked.

‘We might not be Paris, but we do know how to have a farmers’ market,’ Iris said dryly and Archer rolled his eyes.

‘So, what are you going to get?’ she asked.

‘I like to take a lap first and just see what everyone is offering.’

‘Sure, makes sense,’ Iris said, spotting and waving to a few of her students.

‘Arugula looks good,’ Archer said, his forehead creased in thought. It was similar to watching him cook. He was in chef mode. Iris bit down on a smile. Way too many neighbors out here today, and the last thing she needed was to set off the rumor mill by gazing at her boss with a goofy grin on her face.

‘PUPPIES!!’ Olive’s screech stopped Iris in her tracks and nearly gave her a heart attack. She looked up to see Kira, Bennett and half of their pack in tow. ‘Let’s go see them!!’ Olive tugged Iris along behind her through the crowd.

‘You brought Elizabeth and Benny to the farmer’s market?’ Iris asked Kira as they approached.

Kira smiled, patting the big dogs on their heads. ‘They’re very well behaved.’

Bennett laughed. ‘Yeah, Benny only snatched one peanut-butter cookie from Annie’s booth.’

‘That was a misunderstanding,’ Kira said. ‘And we paid for it.’

‘Can I pet the puppies?’ Olive asked, eyes wide. Elizabeth, Bennett’s biggest dog, was nearly her height, and she gazed at Olive, her tongue lolling out of her mouth.

‘Sure,’ Kira said, squatting down to Olive’s level. ‘She likes it when you scratch right here.’ She demonstrated by scratching between the dog’s ears, and Olive followed suit, her face lighting up when the dog nudged closer to her.

Iris smiled and looked up to glance at Archer, but apparently they’d lost him.

‘I was going to introduce you to Archer,’ she said. ‘But he’s wandered off.’

Bennett laughed. ‘How are things going with the new gig?’

Iris shrugged. ‘It’s fine.’

‘Oh, and how’s life with the chef?’ Kira asked, standing back up with a knowing smirk on her face.

‘Also fine.’

Fine, as in she spent way too much time thinking about howfinehe was.

Kira’s smirk grew.

But luckily, Olive had moved on to petting Benny and was now getting full-face licks and her delighted giggles attracted Kira’s attention.

‘Oh, he likes you!’ she said, and Olive beamed.

‘She probably tastes like maple syrup,’ Iris said with a laugh.

‘Well, that is the way to Benny’s heart.’

‘Iris, can we get a dog?’