The figure hesitated, then Jake's demand grew louder. "I'm going to count to three, and then I'm coming up there after you. One. Two."
Max stepped out of the shadows, a defiant look on his face.
I felt relief wash through me, but Jake's gun never wavered.
"It's okay," I said. "He's my ex-husband."
Jake ignored me.
He asked Max, "What are you doing here?"
My ex-husband was defiant as he said, "I came to check on Suzanne. Is that illegal?"
"It is if you had something to do with my car," he said.
In the dim glow of a streetlight, I saw a look flicker across Max's face, and hoped that Jake had missed it. It was surprise, anger, and there was a hint of triumph there, as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Now how about getting that gun out of my face?"
Jake barked, "Turn around."
"He's okay, honestly." This was getting worse by the moment.
Jake glanced at me for a split second. "You don't know that, though, do you? Leave this to me."
He looked at Max and said, "If you don't do as I ask, I'm taking you in."
"On what charge? A man can visit his wife, can't he?"
I meant to stay out of it, but my mind had another plan. "Ex-wife," I said.
Nobody even looked at me.
"What's the charge going to be?" Max asked again.
"I'll think of something, don't worry about that."
Max apparently decided he'd had enough. He turned around, and Jake patted him down with a surprising coolness and efficiency.
"There, are you satisfied?" Max said.
"Not by a long shot." He turned to me. "Can we have some light here?"
The porch light instantly came on, and I realized that Momma had witnessed the entire thing. I walked to the door, and saw her peeking out.
To my surprise, she didn't say a thing; she just stayed inside watching the two men.
I saw her lips mouth the question to me, "Are you okay?"
I nodded, and I could see some of the stress melt from her.
Jake said to Max, "Let me see your hands."
"What? Why?"
"Don't push me, Max."
My ex-husband shoved his hands toward Jake. "Fine. There they are."
Jake checked them over, then he said, "You could have been smart enough to wear gloves."
"What are you looking for? What happened?"
Jake said, "Somebody let the air out of all four tires on my car, and Suzanne said she spotted you as we were leaving town."
Max laughed. "And you think I did it? Come on, you can't be serious."
"That's where you're wrong. You don't want to mess with me, Max."
"That goes double for you," my ex-husband said.
"Is that a threat?"
Max didn't back down. "I don't know. Is it?"
Jake stared at him a few more seconds, then turned to me and said, "What do you want me to do about him?"
"He's harmless," I said. "Don't worry, I can handle him."
"Are you sure?" Jake looked into my eyes, and I could tell he was searching for permission to run Max off.
"I can handle him from here. Thanks for a lovely evening."
Max snorted, and I turned to him and said, "Just do yourself a favor and shut up this instant, do you understand me?"
He looked more nervous about my threat than he had when Jake had been holding a gun on him. Instead of risking a word, Max nodded once, so I knew we were good, at least for the moment.
Jake stared at me wistfully for another few seconds, then said, "Good night, then."
"Good night. And thanks again."
He didn't respond, just gave Max one last glare, then he left us there.
Jake was barely out of hearing when Max said, "I can't believe you're actually dating him."
That was it; the last bit of my patience was gone.
I got right in his face and said, "Who I see is none of your business anymore. You lost that privilege the day you slept with Darlene."
"How many times do I have to apologize for that? I made a mistake."
"And yet you keep on making more, don't you?" I stared hard at him so there would be no doubt in his mind that I was serious. "Max, go home and leave me alone. You don't have a stake in what happens to me anymore. Do you understand that?"
"I'm not willing to accept that."
I shook my head. "You don't have any choice. Now leave, and do yourself a favor. Butt out of my life."
He knew he was beaten; I had to give him that. Without another word, Max walked off the porch, and I saw a shadow in the trees just beyond the
house shift with him. I nearly called a warning out to Max when I realized it had to be Jake, hanging around in case I needed him. What was wrong with these men? I wasn't some delicate flower that needed to be protected. Then again, it was nice to have someone who cared.
I just hoped Max hadn't ruined things for me.
I walked inside, and Momma asked, "Would you mind telling me what just happened out there?"
"I was on a date with Jake, and someone let the air out of all four of his tires. He thinks Max did it, and so do I."
She looked like she was going to burst, her smile was so broad.
I asked, "What's that for?"
"You were on a date," she said, as if repeating it made it real to her.
"Yes, I've been known to do that in the past a time or two."
Momma laughed. "The operative word in that sentence is 'past,' isn't it?"
"Don't sound so giddy," I said. "It makes you look like a fifteen-year-old girl."
"And we both know I haven't been one of those since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Did you have a nice time?"
"For the most part, it was pretty spectacular," I admitted.
"That's wonderful. Well, I'm going to bed, and you should, too, if you're going to be making donuts in the morning. Good night, Suzanne."
"Good night, Momma."
I couldn't believe she hadn't pumped me for details
about my evening. As a matter of fact, I was kind of disappointed. Normally she'd never let something as momentous as me going out on a date slip past like that, but tonight, when I was perfectly willing to talk about what had happened, my mother decided to go to bed.
I went to my room, and on the spur of the moment, I called Grace.
"Hey, are we okay?" I asked when she picked up.
"Of course we are," she said. "I'm sorry if I was being a little too overprotective. I just don't want to see you get mixed up with Max again."
"Would it help if I told you I just got home from a date?"
Her voice frosted over. "Don't tell me you're seeing him again."
"No, you don't understand. I went out with Jake Bishop, the state policeman."
Her shriek nearly deafened me. "Are you serious? That's outstanding. Now tell me what happened, from the second he picked you up to the moment he dropped you off. Don't leave out a thing."
I laughed softly. This was exactly the reaction I'd been hoping for. As I started telling her about my evening, I mentioned running into Deb. "You should have seen her, Grace. She's a knockout. That mousy little girl was replaced by a real looker. She was absolutely gorgeous."
"Who was she with?" Grace asked.
"I don't know. I've never seen him before, but they looked awfully close. She didn't exactly convey the image of a woman mourning her boyfriend's murder."
"We need to find out who she was with," Grace said. "This could have something to do with Blaine's murder."
"Short of a police lineup, I don't know how."
"Okay, let's drop that for now. I can't wait to hear, so let's fast-forward to the good-night kiss."
"There wasn't one," I said.
"Suzanne, what am I going to do with you? You're not exactly a teenager anymore. You have to keep him interested, and I doubt playing coy is going to do it. He's a grown man."
"Believe me, I wanted to. Max got in the way, though."
Grace sighed. "You're going to have to bury that part of your life, or his ghost is going to interfere with your chance at happiness. Forget about him, especially when you're out on a date with another man."
"No, you don't get it. My ex-husband was on my porch, waiting in the shadows for me to get home."
"Please tell me Jake shot him by mistake," Grace said.
"Don't sound so pleased, he nearly did."
"Really?" She sounded absolutely tickled by the idea.
"It was tense for a few minutes, but I sent Jake on his way so I could deal with Max myself."
There was a hitch in Grace's voice as she asked, "You didn't let him off the hook again, did you? He doesn't deserve you, Suzanne."
"That's pretty much what I told him. By the time he left, I think it was finally starting to sink in that I was serious about him staying out of my life."
"But you missed out on your good-night kiss."
I said, "Tonight, anyway, but I have high hopes for another shot at it the next time."
"You're going out again? When, tomorrow night? Don't hold out on me, woman, I said I needed details."
"We haven't made specific plans yet, but he seemed agreeable to the idea of going out with me again."
"If Max didn't ruin it," she said.
I stifled a yawn. "He's not going to, because I won't let him."
"That's the spirit," Grace said. "Suzanne, I'm so proud of you."
"I didn't win the spelling bee," I said. "I just went out on a date."
"Hey, don't blow this off. Tonight was a big step forward for you."
"And a giant leap for womankind, right?" I was feeling silly, and relishing every moment of it.
As I fought back another yawn, I realized that it was nearly nine o'clock, a normal enough time for most folks, at least ones who didn't have to get up in four hours.
Grace saved me from making excuses when she said, "Suzanne, go to bed, you sound beat."
"I am," I admitted, "but I just had to call you and tell you about my evening."
"I'm so glad you did."
"So am I."
After we hung up, I realized I didn't care how much sleep I'd be missing. Things had been tense between Grace and me, and I couldn't deal with my best friend being mad at me.
As I drifted off to sleep, I found myself editing out all of the bad parts of the evening, and focusing instead on Jake's eyes, and the way he really listened when I talked. I wasn't sure what kind of long-term prospects we had, but for now, I was giddy from a fresh encounter, a new person to look forward to seeing.
Grace and my mother had been right about one thing. I'd been in mourning for a broken marriage too long.
It was time to open my life up again and start living, whether Jake was a part of it or not.
And I was surprised when I realized that I was ready to see what was out there for me again.
SPICED BUTTERMILK DONUTS
These spiced buttermilk donuts are a nice treat on a rainy day! They are light enough to snack on, and we like ours fresh out of the fryer and dusted with powdered sugar.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk
DIRECTIONS
Add the sugar gradually to the beaten eggs, making sure to mix thoroughly as you go. Beat in the butter, and set aside. Next, add the dry ingredients and sift together.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the mix with the buttermilk, making sure to mix thoroughly at each step.
Chill the dough for about 1 hour, then turn it out onto a floured surface, knead it into a ball, and roll the dough out to about 1/2-inch to 1/4-inch thickness. Use your donut cutter and cut the rounds and holes, then
fry them for about 2 minutes on each side in 375-degree oil or until they're done. Turn out onto paper towels. Enjoy plain or add a topping.
Makes 1 dozen donuts, plus holes.
CHAPTER 9
"Tell me again," Emma said the next morning as we finished making our yeast donuts and got ready to open for business.
"We've been over it half a dozen times already," I said. "It was just a date."
"Come on, between going to night school and working here, I don't have time for a social life of my own, and I never realized that you did, either. Can I help it if I'm living vicariously through you?"
I laughed. "Oh, that's just sad. You need to do something about that."
"I know, but for now, I'll just listen to you. When do you think you'll see him again?"
"We didn't make any definite plans," I said.
"But it's going to be soon, right?"
I flicked a towel at Emma. "You're driving me nuts. Finish putting the trays in the display so I can touch up our list of specials."
Our donut production changed from day to day, partly because of what had sold well the day before,
but mostly according to my capricious whims. It was one of the things I loved about owning my shop. There were certain donuts I made every day, and I didn't mind that one bit, just as long as I got to play with new recipes, as well. I was finally happy with my pumpkin recipe, so it was time to start trolling for another idea. I'd been toying with the idea of making an apple pie donut, but wasn't sure how I was going to pull off the crust. If things ever settled down at Donut Hearts, I would have time to start experimenting again.