Then, as quickly as he had sat down, he stood back up. “I’d love to stay and eat, but I came as soon as I saw your text, and I haven’t had a chance to shower yet. I also ran here, so I’m kind of sweaty.” Now it was his turn to blush. “Can we reschedule dinner for another day, and I promise I’ll smell nicer and look better then?”

You came straight from backpacking? Just to see me? Am I that important to you? And you look nice already! I had a thousand things to say, but instead I just smiled and nodded.

As soon as the door closed behind Colin, Jeanie and Marina raced over to the table with trays of food.

“Was that him?” Jeanie demanded.

“Why did he leave?” Marina asked. “Did everything go okay?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. I felt a silly grin spreading across my face. “I think he ran here just to see me!”

Jeanie raised a drumstick in the air. “Cheers to Allie’s crush!” she declared.

Laughing, I picked up a drumstick of my own and tapped it against Jeanie’s. Then I smiled at both of them. “And cheers to awesome new friends!”

CHAPTER TWELVE TAMIKO’ S BACK AND ALL IS WELL!

“Blackberry Lavender? Is that like the flower? You eat flowers?” Anika was laughing.

Tamiko nodded. “Yes, sometimes we have nasturtium petals, or candied violets to put on top. And Mrs. Shear is working on a rosebud flavor as we speak!”

Anika was shaking her head in wonder, and I laughed. “Give her a taste, Tamiko!” I suggested.

“I’m trying the Cereal Milk,” Ms. Gallo was saying. “What a funny concept. I’m not into sweet cereal, so this will be an eye-opener for me.”

My whole writing class was at Molly’s, and Tamiko and Sierra were bustling around behind the counter to fill all the orders. Tamiko had returned only the day before, and though she’d been jet-lagged, she’d insisted on coming to work that day because our social media presence was “floundering” and she was sure we needed a new special, especially with the summer rush.

When Tamiko had arrived back in the shop, she’d done a double take at the chalkboard with my book pairing (and Mrs. O’Brien’s contact info for book sales, which my mom had approved). Since the chalkboard was usually where her specials went, Tamiko was rightly taken aback for a minute. But without missing a beat, she said, “That is so cool, Ali-li! Will you please ask your mom for a new chalkboard for our specials?”

Soon she was concocting Japanese-inspired specials and photographing and posting them to social media and our website. My mom emerged from the back office. “We missed you, darling!” she said.

“I have presents for you all, and I can give them to you now that everyone’s here.”