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So I pulled on my favorite ratty polka-dot bathrobe and padded down to the kitchen, where I found Nan at the sink, rinsing some mixed berries in a colander.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” she sang out. “I’ll have you know, ten o’clock has already come and gone.”

“Sorry,” I said around a yawn. “I don’t know why, but I’ve just been so exhausted lately.”

Nan finished with the berries and patted her hands dry.“There’s some vanilla yogurt in the fridge and granola in the cabinet, if you’d like to help yourself to a parfait.”

“Right now I just need coffee,” I mumbled, removing my French press from the dishwasher and setting to work. This was the latest in my attempts at satisfying my caffeine cravings without having to rely on an electric coffee maker. It took a bit more work, but I’d started to prefer the taste of the fresher brew that this process yielded.

“Any big plans for today?” I asked while I waited for the water to heat up.

Nan popped a particularly plump raspberry into her mouth and sighed with pleasure.“Grant and I are going to take the ferry out to Caraway Island and do some window shopping.”

I’d never quite understood the older generation’s obsession with window shopping. Was it really shopping if you went knowing you wouldn’t be buying anything? I was pretty frugal with my money, but even I couldn’t see the appeal of that activity.

“Sounds like a nice, relaxing day,” I said with my lips pressed into a tight smile.

“Oh, my dear grandchild, it’s boring, and you know it.” Nan winked at me, and we both giggled.

“Then why are you doing it?”

“That’s how love works sometimes, sweetie. I agree to one of Grant’s activities knowing that next time I’ll get to make the plans for the day.”

Nan and Mr. Gable, the owner of the local jewelry shop and head of the downtown commerce committee, had been dating since the holidays, and they made the sweetest couple, too.

Nan’s chihuahua Paisley had recently become good friends with Grant’s rabbit, E.B.—short for Easter Bunny. At first the little thing was terrified of our pets, but even she could see that sweet Paisley would never harm a soul. Octo-Cat, on the other hand, give him opposable thumbs and he would have gladly used them to assist in making rabbit stew.

“Charles said something like that last night, too,” I mumbled, searching through the cupboards to select a coffee mug. Call me superstitious, but I tended to believe that the choice of coffee cup could impact one’s entire day. I bypassed the #1 Private Investigator mug Charles had gifted me for Valentine’s Day in favor of a fun color-changing mug inspired by one of my favorite book series. Every time I used it, I made another solemn promise that I would be up to no good. And that always made me smile.

I took a slow glorious sip of mid-morning bliss just as a knock sounded on the front door. I turned to Nan, but she simply shrugged and returned to fiddling with the berries.

So I went to answer the door, bleary-eyed, in a ratty bathrobe, and with zero percent blood-coffee ratio.

And there on the other side of the door stood Charles, wearing cargo khaki shorts and a fitted T-shirt with sports sunglasses pushed up into his hair. Honestly, I hardly recognized him outside of his usual monkey suit.

He glanced over my shoulder with his brows pinched together.“Didn’t you tell her?”

“No,” Nan answered. I hadn’t even heard her creep up behind me. “You said you wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll go grab her bag for you.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, turning to look from Charles to my grandmother, hoping that one might provide me with an explanation.

Nan walked away, raising a hand over her shoulder as she went.

I turned back toward my boyfriend, who stared at me with wide eyes and an even wider smile.“We’re going on a surprise getaway,” he announced, grabbing my hands and giving them a good squeeze.

“But I just got back from getting away,” I said with a frown. I hated to be a downer; however, my last vacation was anything but relaxing. Between driving cross-country, winding up in a car accident, and finding out Nan had been blabbing my secrets to anyone who would listen, I was just plain exhausted.

“This time it will be just you and me going out for a long and quiet weekend,” he explained, before leaning into whisper, “No pets.”

This drew a happy sigh from me. I loved my animals dearly, but I could never fully relax in their presence knowing I had to work hard at not exposing my secret in front of the wrong person. Even though they knew very well that I couldn’t talk to them in front of people who didn’t already know about my ability, that didn’t stop them from chattering on and filling my head with constant noise. The worst part was when I had to try to follow two separate lines of conversation. It made my brain tired.

A weekend away could be just the trick