“Everything’s good,” Rose gave her standard answer. “If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t have it on the menu.”

“Do you have toast cups this morning?” Michelle asked her.

“I always have toast cups, honey. Do you want one?”

“Yes. I just love your toast cups. I tried to make them, but mine don’t turn out as good as yours do.”

Rose looked puzzled. “But you watched me make them the last time you were home from college. There’s no mystery about them.”

“I know, but I must have done something wrong.”

“Did you pre-cook the bacon?”

“Yes. And I drained it on a paper towel.”

“Did you use a three and a half inch cutter for the bread?”

Michelle nodded. “Yes, just the way you do.”

“And you buttered the muffin cups?”

“I did.”

“You put the shredded cheddar in the bottom right after you put the bread rounds in?”

“Yes, exactly the way you said I should.”

Rose looked puzzled. “Then I don’t understand it. That’s exactly what I do.”

“Maybe it’s because I have an electric stove. Your oven is gas, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but that shouldn’t make any difference. Did you preheat the oven to four hundred degrees?”

“Four hundred?!” Michelle looked surprised. “But I saw you turn your oven to three seventy-five!”

“That’s because my oven runs hot. You’ve got to know your oven, honey. If yours doesn’t run hot, you should set it for four hundred degrees. You won’t get the toast crisp enough if you don’t.”

“Got it,” Michelle said, looking pleased. “Thanks for clearing that up, Rose. When I get back to college, I’m going to try to make them again.”

“Good.” Rose smiled at her. “Do you still want one today?”

“Yes, I do. I just love them for breakfast.”

Rose turned to Hannah. “How about you?”

“I’ll have one, too. And then we’re going to have dessert.”

It was Rose’s turn to look surprised. “Dessert for breakfast?”

“Why not? There’s no rule that says you can’t have dessert for breakfast. And that reminds me . . . I have a question for you, Rose.”

“What’s that?”

“Did you have blackberry pie for sale last Thursday or Friday?”

“No.”

The answer had come so quickly, it made Hannah wonder if Rose had taken time to think about it. “But you have lots of different kinds of pies. It’s important. Are you sure you didn’t have blackberry pie?”

“I’m positive. And that’s because I never serve it. Some of the people who come here for pie are slobs. And if they drop a forkful of blackberry pie and I don’t notice it right away, it’ll stain my white countertop. It’s just like beets. I don’t serve beets, either.”

“Okay. Thanks, Rose.” Hannah mentally crossed Rose off her to-do list.