Jesus. Not being able to figure her out immediately is giving Joy whiplash. Is she a two-faced demon or a sweet fairy angel? People contain multitudes, sure, but not that many.

“How about marble cake with buttercream frosting? I can also make raspberry ganache.”

Summer’s eyes widen. “That sounds fancy.”

“It’s mid-tier for me. Two layers? Three?”

Summer scrunches her nose. “Would three be too much?”

“No, as long as I remember to rotate the pans so the cakes can cook evenly it’ll be fine. Malcolm would never go on an extended trip with a kitchen that didn’t have a stand mixer.”

“So you can bake stuff?”

“No, so he can. Cooking makes him happy.” Joy wonders why Summer doesn’t know that but doesn’t linger on the thought. “This cake is for a special occasion. One-time-only exception. Vacation means vacation to me. Clear?”

Summer bounces on the tips of her toes, excitement overtaking her. “Since you’re making it, I’ll buy whatever you need.”

More whiplash.

Joy narrows her eyes. Now where in the hell did us go?

They traverse the store together, collecting all the ingredients and grabbing some candles. After breezing through the self-checkout line and loading up the trunk, they head back to the cabin.

“Can I ask you a question?” Joy tried for nonchalance, but her voice sounded higher than she’d like. Her nerves lose approximately all of their chill when she’s stressed or anxious. Malcolm always teases her about how many tells she has, saying she’d be a horrible poker player. He’s not wrong. Hopefully, Summer doesn’t know that—even though she seems to think she knows quite a bit.

Summer shifts in her seat so she’s partially facing Joy. “Shoot.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that Malcolm’s never mentioned you to me?” Joy glances at Summer to catch her reaction—there isn’t one. “I mean, he tells me everything, but not a single peep about you.”

“Um, maybe you should talk to him about that.”

“Oh, I will. But right now, I’m talking to you.”

“I see. Well. I don’t think it’s weird.” Summer shrugs. “Considering what happened with you and Caroline.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” She answers quickly, eyes wide and innocent as she could probably make them. “Malcolm told me what happened. I put two and two together and figured he wanted to be sure before he brought anyone else around you.”

Wait. What? “Me?”

“Yeah.” Summer nods. “You’re like his family. He wants to be sure new people won’t hurt you like she did.”