CHAPTER 49Twilight was about to turn to darkness as Mara stepped from her car after pulling up to the right of Ping’s Camry behind the warehouse. A plume of steam billowed in front of her face as she exhaled and looked up into the night sky, amazed to see the stars so clearly. The usual layer of clouds had rolled away late in the afternoon, and the evening was getting chilly with no insulation in the sky.
Ping popped up between the cars, slammed his door closed without comment and walked toward the back of the warehouse. He’d spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen making pumpkin pies, while Mara worked the front of the bakery until closing time at six, so they’d hardly spoken. Whenever they had interacted, Mara had made a point of staring into his face to see if she could detect a
