Page 133 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

“Hmm, let’s see what my sister did now.”

Monty laughs. “Why do you assume—”

But he’s interrupted by a loud mooo and it becomes obvious what their spat is about when Daisy pops out between my sister and her best friend.

“Pets can’t come to town meetings,” I hear Rayna saying.

“Daisy is not a pet,” Tally argues back. “She’s a member of our family.”

“Daisy is a cow,” Rayna states calmly, but when she sees me, she points toward the small animal. “Penny, can you talk some sense into your sister? Cows can’t come into the town meeting.”

It’s clear Rayna’s patience is waning, but honestly, this is why I come to these meetings.

“I’m not sure why Daisy would be any more disruptive than anyone else,” I say with a shrug.

Rayna grits her teeth. “The cow keeps mooing.”

“Everyone interrupts when people are talking,” I counter.

Rayna turns up her nose. “And she smells.”

Rosie covers Daisy’s oversized ears as I bat away that complaint. “So does Stew.”

Rayna sighs. “She’ll probably try eating the flowers.”

“Mrs. Bennet’s grandson ate three marbles at the last town meeting.” Tally crosses her arms. “And Mindy ate all the brownies.”

“She’s a cow!” Rayna says shrilly.

“Sorry, Mrs. McGovern,” Monty interrupts as he curls an arm around her shoulders to guide her inside. “We can’t win ’em all. But how about you—”

I don’t hear the rest of his sentence as he disappears inside.

“I love that man of yours.” Tally smirks triumphantly. “He’s so helpful.”

I shake the two metal mugs in my hand. “And he made us drinks.”

Rosie reaches into her teal leather bag and produces cups. “And I brought our mugs!” She angles the bag so I can see the unopened bottle of Fireball inside. “And backup.”

The hall is complete pandemonium when we enter. Which, honestly, isn’t surprising. Poor Fletcher is standing up front at the lectern, furiously writing down whatever Babs is saying to him. I’m guessing it’s her requested changes to the agenda tonight.

In the right-hand corner of the room, I spot my mother chatting with Mindy and Ruby while Eli sits up onstage with his elbows on his knees, hands folded together nervously, a forlorn look on his face. I wonder what that’s about?

“What’s Eli doing onstage?” Tally mutters as we take our usual seats in the front row. I thought maybe she’d try to sit us in a corner since she has Daisy, but she just takes the seat front and center, moving the one next to her out of the way to make space for her pet.

Daisy’s a pretty cow, with her brown and white hair styled to perfection, but she’s still a damn cow. She’s also not great at listening, and when she spots the cookies set up with the coffee and water at the back of the room, she starts tugging on her leash in that direction.

Rosie hands me the mugs. “You pour, I’ll spill.”

I fill each of our mugs with prosecco as Rosie explains that, tonight, the town is voting on the new name for the Ice Cream Barn. As a new business, it wasn’t grandfathered in and Eli needs a name that matches the rest of the town businesses, alliteration and all.

“So what are the options?” I muse, staring up at the man as he wrings his hands together. Poor guy. I’m lucky that bonfires really were my bliss, so naming my store was easy.

“Pretty sure that’s what Babs is going on about up there,” Rosie says, tipping her mug toward the mayor. She waggles her fingers in greeting when Fletcher looks up, pure exasperation written in every line of his face, and his jaw flexes at the sight.

I’m laughing at her antics as Monty lowers himself into the seat beside me and lets out a beleaguered sigh.

“So there’s this whole thing about relationships,” he starts. “I save you, you save me.”