That was only the second most interesting thing about their dinner. The first was finding Ben and Jenna sitting together at a table in the corner. Naturally, Connor invited himself to join them and gave Maddie no choice but to come along. He wasn’t about to miss out on the chance to annoy Ben.

Somehow they made it through getting menus and drinks and rounds of idle chitchat. They’d just ordered when Connor looked around the room and saw a few empty tables. Not many but three or four. “I see the crowds are back to normal.”

Jenna sighed. “I’m still worried that Whitaker is going to get on some sort of murder tour.”

“As the owner, you can say no. Put up no-trespassing signs. Let me shoot people, only as a warning, of course,” Ben said as he signaled the waiter to pour more water.

“I was waiting for you to bring up my ownership status.” She smiled at him. “It took days to get around to it.”

Connor looked at Maddie. She was already rolling her eyes. He could read her unspoken expression—she thought they were intruding. Connor sort of hoped so. He wouldn’t mind seeing Ben in action. Turned out he gave pretty good relationship advice, especially for a guy who wasn’t in one. And if the conversation with Jenna was any indication, Ben might not stay that way.

Ben continued talking to Jenna as if the other two weren’t there. “Well, I’ve been busy with all the crime solving.”

“He likes to throw that into a conversation whenever he can,” Maddie said, clearly not wanting to be ignored if it meant making Ben blush. Which he did.

Connor liked her style. “It’s his version of flirting.”

Ben finally looked at Connor. “When do you go back to D.C.? There’s a ferry tomorrow that will get you as far as Seattle.”

“That’s neighborly.” When Ben continued to stare, Connor took pity on him. “Not to disappoint you but I’m extending my vacation on Whitaker.”

“Until when?” Jenna sounded genuinely curious.

“January, at least. We’ll do a quick trip home for the holidays so Maddie can meet the parents. Then we’ll be back.” We and holiday . . . using those words together was new. When Connor mentioned it to his mom during a call this morning she didn’t say much. Three seconds later Hansen called with a million questions, insisting Mom wanted to know.

The family gossip tree worked that fast.

“More time with you. Lucky us.” Ben’s voice was loaded with sarcasm.

Connor guessed he was secretly excited to have him stick around. “I don’t have a date set yet but keep this up and I’ll be here until March.”

“No, not that long. The fourteenth.” Jenna dropped that little gem without any explanation.

Connor had no idea what that meant. “Excuse me?”