Once she heard the bathroom door close, Bridget opened up the laptop again. On it was—what exactly? It wasn’t fan fiction, although it was set in a world where readers of Swords and Shadows would have felt at home. It featured a girl who was a little bit like Jancy. And a lot more like Bridget, at least the Bridget she would like to be. While this girl didn’t have any magical powers, she did have courage, intelligence, and the ability to think on her feet. She managed to write a few more paragraphs before the shower stopped.

Bob had finally responded to her additions to the database with a brief thank-you. Usually he was more chatty—they could go back and forth on heraldry for hours—and she hoped it was a sign that he was finally working.

Thirty minutes later, Bridget and her Dad were seated at Marco’s. The air was filled with the comforting smell of pancakes, fried potatoes, and coffee. Overhead, dozens of colorful umbrellas hung upside down from the ceiling, the way they had for as long as Bridget could remember. Now she wondered if anyone ever dusted inside them.

When the waitress came by, her dad said, “We’ll both have coffee. And I’ll have the chilaquiles. My daughter will have the breakfast skillet with cheddar and the eggs over easy, with whole wheat toast.” Since that was what Bridget ordered every Saturday, he didn’t even need to check in with her.

“Actually, I want to try something else,” Bridget said, surprising herself, her dad, and even the waitress. She loved the breakfast skillet, which had potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, and lots and lots of garlic. Loved it so much that she never took the risk of trying anything else. What if it wasn’t as good? What if she made the wrong choice?

But even though Ajay wasn’t here, he’d somehow taken up residence in her head, pushing at her corners, encouraging her to try new things. “I think I’ll have the pancakes with huckleberries and the huckleberry syrup.”

“Okay, you heard the young lady,” her dad said with a grin. “Pancakes with huckleberries, and make it a double.” After the waitress left, he raised a quizzical eyebrow. “No breakfast skillet?”

“I’ve started eating lunch with this guy at school. Ajay Kapoor. He makes his own lunches and shares them with me. He cooks all this Indian food. Some of it’s a little weird, but mostly it’s amazing. It’s made me think I should take more chances.”

Her dad’s smile was replaced with a more anxious expression. “Is this someone you’re dating, Bridge?” When he’d started traveling more, he’d set down a long list of rules, including not having romantic partners over to the house. Which at the time had definitely been hypothetical.