And tipsy enough, apparently, to get herself locked in the fridge in the process.

It was a town tradition—the flower-throwing thing, not the getting-locked-in-the-fridge thing. The idea was that if you went to the beach under a full moon and threw a moonflower into the water and made a wish, it would come true. All the merchants on Main Street grew moonflowers in gardens and pots. Every fence or post was host to the climbing vines. It was almost too much—was this a town or a movie set of a town? But Eve had to admit that strolling Main Street in the evening, when the night-blooming flowers were open, had always been magical. It had seemed easy enough, back then, to believe that the flowers had wish-granting properties—as a fairy-tale enthusiast, Eve had always been on the lookout for magic.

“There’s another key, right?” Eve asked. She watched in real time as Maya’s mirth turned to horror. It seemed to happen in slow motion, her tendency toward the theatrical magnified by her inebriation as she transitioned from one emotional extreme to another. “You don’t have another key?” This was not good. “Why is this case even locked, anyway?

“An amaryllis is not a cheap flower.” Maya, rummaging around in a drawer behind the cash register, answered Eve’s unspoken question.

Amaryllis? Weren’t they here for moonflowers?

“And my father does a fair bit of business in rare orchids,” Maya went on. “So at any given time, he’s got several grand worth of flowers in there.”

That struck Eve as funny—so maybe she was doing the tipsy, emotional-back-and-forth thing, too. “You gotta beware of those organized orchid crime rings.”

Maya sputtered with laughter as she yanked open another drawer. “I’m almost certain my dad doesn’t keep a key here overnight.” She looked up. “Because, you know, you can’t leave a key just lying around on account of the organized orchid crime rings.” They both giggled some more, but then Maya sobered—metaphorically only. She lurched toward the case and bumped her head on the glass.

“Ow!” Eve yelped in solidarity.

“I’m okay!” Maya held her hands up like she was being robbed. By a member of an organized orchid crime ring, perhaps? The prospect made Eve crack up anew.

“Okay,” Maya said through her laughter even as she rubbed her head. “I’m gonna have to go to my parents’ house and wake them up. I’ll have to take a taxi, though, or find someone to drive me.”

“How long is that going to take?” Eve suddenly registered how cold it was inside the refrigerator.

“Hello?”

Oh no. No. She knew that voice. What was up with this guy? Was he everywhere?

Well, he was the chief of police, so maybe?

He Who Shall Not Be Named.

But no. She was using his real name now.