“I’m cutting back.” She offered a smile. “But I can have scones, so all is not lost. Plus, I must have burned off at least one scone’s worth of calories with all my dusting.” She broke the blueberry scone in half on her plate. “The cleaning staff comes through the public areas every day, but I try to do a deep dusting every weekend to help out. It gives me time to think, and if no one is around, I get to listen to music.”

“Like Dolly Parton and anything with twang.”

She laughed. “That’s right. It’s very restful after my day job.”

He took a bite of the scone. “Wait, you said you own this place. You have another job, as well?”

“Uh-huh. I’m a teacher. I inherited the B and B from my grandmother Regina a few years ago. Winona, my general manager, handles the day-to-day running of things. I pitch in when I can and get a few perks like knowing the menus in advance.”

“You’re busy.”

“I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing with my day.”

As he picked up his coffee, he realized that “sitting around and doing nothing” pretty much described his life these days. He wasn’t writing, he wasn’t performing and he didn’t have a weekend job, “just to help out.” Being around Dena was leaving him feeling a little useless.

“So you know what the snack is tonight,” he said, his voice teasing.

“I do. It’s mini pizzas, which don’t sound amazing, but they are. Ursula makes a killer pizza dough, and the sauce is homemade. There will be a selection of different flavors. Plain, pepperoni, mushroom.” She swallowed, then laughed. “Just thinking about them is making my mouth water. You have to come tonight and taste them.”

“How do you know I’m not here every night?”

“Because I usually am and I haven’t seen you. Plus I get a report of who shows up and who doesn’t.”

“You keep track of your guests.”

“I want to make sure they’re having a good time. We send every guest a survey, asking what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. If the Snacks and Wine hour isn’t their thing, that’s fine, but if they don’t like the food, the atmosphere or the music selection, then I need to know that so we can make some changes.”

She sounded earnest as she spoke, as if she meant what she was saying. Most people did, he reminded himself. They wanted to do a good job and make other people happy. He knew he liked hearing that one of his songs had touched someone deeply or been played at their wedding. He liked that his music was significant in people’s lives.

“You’re a good innkeeper,” he said lightly.