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extended a hand.
    She quickly accepted. “Kenna.” A blush rose across her perfect olive skin.
    Jeez. I hoisted the last tin and lid onto her counter. “Were you here when John Francis came in this afternoon?”
    She turned dark brown eyes on me. “He’s the one who...died?”
    Nate tilted his head like a six-foot puppy. “Yes. Do you remember if he was with anyone?”
    She wrung the material of her apron around her fingers. “Melanie. They sat at a corner table, and she was pretty upset. They drew a lot of attention. I already told the police all this.” She worked her bottom lip with her teeth. Her fingers turned white under the pressure of her twisted apron.
    I didn’t like the implication. “I’m sorry to ask you to repeat yourself. I know how frustrating that is. It’s just that John was a friend of mine, and I was with him when he got sick. The police suspect poison, and I can’t understand why someone would do this to him.”
    Her gaze darted to the back door multiple times before stopping on Nate.
    “Kenna?” His voice was so smooth I nearly didn’t recognize it. “What did John Francis order?”
    She wet her lips. “Same thing every time. Kale, berry and hemp smoothie. Greens salad with balsamic.”
    I curled my lip. Yuck. “He ordered that here?”
    “Yeah. Sometimes I think Lisa only keeps that stuff on hand for him. No one comes for smoothies since Fruit Jester joined the Faire.”
    The back door swung open and clattered shut.
    Kenna jumped.
    A willowy woman in her fifties dropped empty trash bins at her feet. “Kenna?”
    “Uh. This is Mina and Nate.” She swallowed. “This is my boss, Lisa.”
    I waved. “I’m Mia.” Not Mina.
    Lisa glared at Kenna. “Employees only in the kitchen, Kenna. Remember?”
    Nate smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Lisa. We were—”
    “Leaving.” She pointed to the door.
    “Leaving,” he repeated. He extended his hand to Kenna again. “If you want to get a cup of coffee sometime, let me know.”
    Her head bobbed.
    I led the way out. Safely back on the footpath, I swatted Nate. “Did you wink at her? And invite her to coffee?”
    “So?”
    “So?” I smiled. “That poor girl.”
    “That poor girl has my card now. I slipped it into her hand when we shook goodbye. Smart, huh?”
    “Oh, yes. Very smooth.”
    “Thanks. I think Kenna has more to say, and Lisa wasn’t going to let her.”
    I bumped into him playfully as we walked. “You think she’s pretty. Be careful, big boy. I bet she’s still in college. Or high school. If you guys go out, you should card her. Just in case.”
    “Please. She’s over eighteen. Obviously. Besides, what do you think I’m going to do with her? I invited her for coffee, not a bank heist.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Lisa seemed angry.”
    I laughed. “You’re like a subject-change Jedi. No transition necessary.”
    “The Force is strong in me.”
    “It is, and I agree about Lisa, but I can’t blame her. Grandma’s angry, too. Surly Wench and Guinevere’s Golden Beauty took major hits today.”
    Nate followed me around a set of wooden stocks and through an employee exit in the fence behind the ticket booth. “I hate to say it, but your grandma’s right to panic. A tragedy this big could ruin a business. My mom still won’t buy aspirin.”
    “I know.”
    We walked in silence across the field, where my car was a tiny pink spec in the distance.
    With media coverage, something like this could snowball in days and ruin the company Grandma spent decades creating.
    Nate opened his passenger door for me. “Penny for your thoughts?”
    “We need to find out what really happened to John.”
    * * *
    I parked on the street outside my parents’ three-bedroom ranch in the suburbs. Lights burned in every window. Voices rattled the glass.
    I let myself in on an intake of breath, compiling a mental list of people to talk to at the Faire tomorrow.
    “Finally!” Bree marched into the foyer, where I hung my cloak. “Where