“We need a plan of attack.”
Autumn looked with affectionate forbearance across the table at her best friend and thought of how many times in the past twenty-five years he’d said exactly that. “It’s shopping for birthday presents, Judd, not a war.”
“Same difference. There are people.” His sharp blue eyes narrowed on the word.
She smiled into her coffee. “You’re just grumpy because you haven’t recovered from FountainFest and all those extra shifts you’ve been pulling.”
“Hell yes. Ergo, I want to get through this whole process as quickly as possible.” He inhaled a quarter of his tall stack of pancakes in about three bites, as if to prove the point.
“We could have done this sooner if you weren’t working all the time,” she chided.
“Couldn’t be helped. Chief Curry’s been leaning on me pret
