I looked back at Griffin. It was the first question he had ever asked me. I’d been making his sandwiches and trying to pry smiles out of him for years, but this was the first thing he’d ever actually inquired about. I had a hunch it was a self-protection thing. If he didn’t ask questions of anyone, maybe they’d return the favor. “Will’s at football practice. Mia has gymnastics. And Ava is hanging with Kenna at her office. I was just on my way to pick her up, actually.” I threw a glare at my SUV, mentally cursing it six ways from Sunday.

Griffin nodded. “Busy family.”

“Two-thirds of the tiny terrors really like their activities.”

“How’d they earn that name?”

Griffin’s lips twitched on the question. God, I was a sucker for that flicker of movement. I cleared my throat, forcing my gaze away from his mouth. “I started calling Will a tiny terror from the day my mom brought him home from the hospital, and he kept me up half the night. The nickname just kind of stuck.”

“How do they feel about it?”

I turned to face Griffin fully. “What’s with all the questions all of a sudden?”

He gave a careless shrug. “We’ve got time to kill.”

I stole a quick glance at the hood of my vehicle. Smoke still seeped out a bit. “Fine. Question for a question.” Griffin stayed silent for a moment, and I raised a brow in challenge.

“Fair’s fair, I guess.”

I did my best to hide my grin. There were only about a million things I wanted to know about the mysterious man who ventured into my store a few times a week. But I knew I had to choose carefully. If I got too personal too quickly, he’d shut this down in a flash. “What’s your favorite vegetable?”

Griffin blinked a few times. “That’s what you’re going with?”

I shrugged. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Corn, I guess.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Corn barely counts as a vegetable.”

Griffin’s eyes narrowed. “It’s a vegetable.”

“Fine. Give me another one.”

He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Asparagus. That counts as two questions, by the way.”

I was suddenly thinking of all the ways I could work asparagus into the menu at The General Store, planning on researching recipes, pulling out old favorites. I gave myself a mental shake. I did not need to be planning anything around this man. “All right. Your turn. Ask away.”

“How old were you when you got custody of your siblings?”