Muffins & Murder (Sweet Bites Book 3) (Sweet Bites Mysteries) (23 page)

“Great. Terrific. And you? What are you doing in town?” His tone was just barely polite.

“I’m in town for a couple of days.” Shawn grinned and took my hand. “I interviewed for an opening at the police department. I’m K-9 trained and bilingual, so the chief said it was just a formality and offered me the job. Isn’t that great?” He turned a sunny smile in my direction, clearly expecting an enthusiastic response.

“Wow, that’s terrific,” I said, trying to sound happy when my head was still reeling.

He chuckled. “Don’t overwhelm me with your excitement.”

I shook off the shock. “I’m just surprised. You mentioned that you might look for a job closer to here, but I didn’t know you’d applied for something. And isn’t that a big drop in salary?”

“It is a drop, but it was time for a change and I miss being here at home. The K-9 and bi-lingual bonuses will help off-set the costs some and my grandpa has some extra room at his place, so I’ll move in there. I’ve been applying for everything within an hour of here for the past couple of months.”

Was he actually moving here because of me? He’d talked about it once before, but we didn’t really know each other that well. Now if things didn’t work out with him—I
was
starting to date Jack—then I’d feel guilty if I was the reason he moved back to Silver Springs.

“What time do you close up here?” Shawn asked. “We could grab dinner.”

“I can’t,” I said, glad for the excuse, even though I’d like to catch up with him. “Lenny’s getting married tomorrow. We have wedding stuff tonight. The rehearsal and bachelorette party. Maybe we can chat before you go home.” At the very least, I needed to tell him that I was seeing Jack. But I wasn’t sure how to say it when Jack and I hadn’t talked about what we were doing, where things were going, or how we felt about it.

“You’ll need to bring someone with you for the wedding, won’t you?” Shawn asked.

“I’m taking Jack, actually,” I said, gesturing to him, then scooting back behind the counter to get the cookies. “How about if I buy for all of you today? A cookie on the house for the super reader, one for her super dad who works so hard to help her, and one to celebrate Shawn’s new job.” I pulled out Sadie’s treat, happy to have something to distract me.

I glanced up at Shawn to see him studying Jack. He looked curious, but when he turned back to me, his expression was as warm and friendly as ever. “I’ll catch up with you Sunday, then, before I head back to start packing.”

“Sounds nice.” I looked over to Jack, whose mouth formed a grim line, but he didn’t say anything about it. I needed to have a word with him before I talked with Shawn alone on Sunday.

Several teenaged girls came in then, giggling and talking. They ordered treats and took the table next to Jack’s, settling in for the long haul. Both men left before the girls did, which had the advantage of giving me a chance to think before either got me alone.

By the time I locked up for the night, my brain felt like mush.

The wedding rehearsal was total chaos, despite the fact that Honey stepped in to help smooth the path. The baby screamed, the older boy—who was to be the ring bearer—ran down the aisle at full-tilt, and Kat’s brothers glared at Lenny every time they looked his way. She’d mentioned that they were over-protective, but even dinner the previous night hadn’t fully prepared me for this. It seemed an ominous portent of what was to come.

 “No, Mr. Bailey, you wait until everyone else has gone down the aisle,” Honey said to Kat’s father. I was halfway down the aisle, a sort of best man, since Lenny didn’t have anyone else to be there for him. Jasie followed behind me. I lined up beside Lenny, despite the fact that I would be in a dress the next day. His hands shook with nerves, even though this was just practice. I remembered our talk earlier that day, wondering what he was thinking, and if he would make it through the ceremony the next day.

Honey finally sent Kat and her father down the aisle. Kat walked slow and leisurely with her father looking like he’d rather never reach the front. She leaned over and whispered something to him, which made his lips twitch, but didn’t alter his speed.

Mr. Bailey glared at Lenny as he passed over Kat’s hand, but didn’t say one nasty word. It was a surprising bit of self-control considering the way he’d talked the night before.

The minister skimmed through things, then Honey directed the order of everyone to leave the altar to go into the reception. She wielded her organizing power with mastery, unfazed by anyone’s bad behavior. My respect for her grew by leaps and bounds when she stepped between Lenny and Rick, heading off an altercation before it devolved from hissing jabs—Lenny was nearing his limit.

When we were all back in the main part of the yard and her back was to Rick, Honey looked a little rattled. She started across the grass to me, but had to pause as the ring bearer nearly plowed into her. Again. I wondered—not for the first time that night—if they fed him nothing but energy drinks.

I looked around the backyard. Kat’s family had set up chairs and tables earlier that day, and we would come back through the next day to mess with flowers and ribbons. Thankfully, the plans were simple, so there wouldn’t be too much to do in the morning.

When Rick said something I couldn’t hear to Lenny’s retreating figure and Lenny turned back to face him, fire in his eyes, I decided some mediation might be in order. I took several quick steps and slid my arm through his, yanking him away from Rick. “I just have a question about the cake placement for tomorrow,” I said over my shoulder to the others. “Give us a moment, will you?”

I didn’t wait for a response before I started hissing at Lenny, “Don’t listen to him, don’t react, just walk away. Do you really want to have a black eye for the ceremony tomorrow?”

“You think I care about that?”

“Kat does—she’s the one caught in the middle. It’s her wedding too and do you really want to look back on your pictures and remember how you jumped when that idiot goaded you?”

He scowled at me. “So I’m just supposed to take it and be the wimpy jerk he thinks I am?”

“No, but fighting back with your fists isn’t the answer.” When he looked ready to argue with me I held up my hands. “Again, I ask if you want to hold the ceremony from a jail cell tomorrow.”

He growled. “Do I want to do this at all? She should have just given in and run off to Vegas with me. Then this would be over.”

“But you wouldn’t have your family and friends—she wouldn’t either, and as creepy as Rick and Jared are, doesn’t it mean a lot to her that they made the trip out here?” Appealing to his better judgment wasn’t exactly a new thing for me, but I’d never before wanted so much to smack the person I was trying to keep him from hitting.

He was silent for a long moment. “Sometimes I hate you. All right, I’ll deal and just remind myself that it’s for Kat. Next time I see the guy, I’m not going to hold back if he pushes me.”

“I won’t ask you to.” I stretched up on my toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re truly awesome. Have I mentioned that lately?”

“No, and you ought to be singing my praises every day.” His eyebrow quirked.

“Agreed. I’ll try to do that more often.” I released him. “Now, suffer through dinner with the rest of us and then spend the rest of the night doing something relaxing—just as long as it doesn’t include alcohol. If you show up hung over tomorrow, I’m going to smack you instead of Rick.”

He bumped my shoulder with his fist and we headed back for the cars. We just had to make it through the rehearsal dinner and then we could part ways from the men tonight. I couldn’t wait.

Honey and I rode to the restaurant together. “You’ve been quiet,” she said when I hadn’t volunteered to talk about my chat with Lenny.

That wasn’t the only thing on my mind, but I settled for, “It’s been a crazy couple of days. I’m exhausted, and tomorrow won’t be much better. If it weren’t Kat, I’d skip the party tonight and just curl up in pajamas in front of the television after dinner.”

“Poor baby, forced to party. What a tough life you have.”

I didn’t respond to her teasing.

“What else?”

“What else?” I echoed, knowing what she wanted, knowing what was bothering me—the whole fiasco with Shawn and Jack—but there wasn’t time to get into it before dinner. Maybe I could get her alone for a while that evening instead.

“Are you playing dumb on purpose?” She pulled in front of the restaurant and found a parking spot.

“Yes. But you’ll have to wait because there’s not enough time to get into it now.” I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the next hour. “Now we have what is bound to be a very exciting dinner where everyone disparages Lenny, and insinuates that he’s some heathen who is ruining Kat’s life. We get to listen to the men, well, most of them, talk about how weak and stupid women are and how they should be kept under a man’s thumb at home—oddly everyone jumps when Melissa talks. I’m going to focus my effort on trying not to punch anyone. We better go in ready to be on Lenny’s side, because he already thinks he doesn’t deserve Kat, and Rick has nearly pushed him beyond his limits.”

“I’m game if you are.” Honey pushed out of the door and we walked into the building. Two women on a mission.

I was never so glad to finish a meal as I was that night. Thankfully Melissa kept heading off nasty remarks by asking about other topics. Honey peppered the men with questions about their jobs, acting far more fascinated than she really was. It kept me and Lenny from popping someone in the nose through dinner. Finally Kat, Melissa, Jasie and I piled into Honey’s minivan, with her at the wheel.

“So where are we going?” Melissa asked when we pulled away from the curb.

“The Silver Spur,” Honey announced.

“Didn’t you say no alcohol? Isn’t that a bar?” Melissa asked, disapproval in her voice.

“Yes, but they serve soda,” Honey said. “And they have a live band tonight. I’ve heard this one and they’re actually quite good. We can get in some dancing and girl talk and then we’ll head back to Tess’s after a while to relax and pig out on the cake she made. Can’t keep Kat out too late or she’ll have baggy eyes,” Honey teased.

“That’s the least of my worries tomorrow. I just know something is going to go wrong,” Kat said. “There are so many details to take care of still.”

“Which is why Honey and I are helping out,” I said. “We have the decorations under control, we’ll bring the cakes and cookies to the reception and I’ll help Lenny set them up—you’re going to flip, by the way. They’re incredible. All you have to worry about is getting dressed and to the ceremony on time. It’s your day, so just focus on celebrating.”

Kat put her hand to her stomach, looking nervous. “What if Lenny changes his mind? He’s been kinda of quiet lately.”

I wanted to categorically deny that such a thing could happen, but I refused to outright lie since he
had
expressed his concerns to me, so I focused on soothing her a different way. “Don’t you think he loves you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he’d do anything to hurt you if he could help it?”

She shook her head, her voice dropping so I could barely hear it over the noise of the engine. “No, but things have been a little, um, rough for him the past few days.”

“Jared and Rick are idiots sometimes,” Jasie stated, slipping a defiant glance at Melissa. “Just ignore them, reassure your man that you love him and enjoy your day. It’ll all be okay.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Most everyone gets jitters before the wedding. He loves you and wants to be with you. You have to trust that he loves you enough to overcome his fears. There’s no one on this earth who means more to him than you do.” I reached out to her and squeezed her hand.

She nodded, looking less worried. “Thanks for that.”

Honey pulled into the parking lot of the Silver Spur and we piled out of the minivan.

“That was a nice speech,” Melissa said to me in a low voice as we walked inside. “Do you think Lenny really loves my baby girl? He grew up rough, I hear.”

It surprised me that she bothered to ask me instead of making her own assumptions. I touched her arm to stop her, then waved Jasie along with the other two, who were ahead of us and wouldn’t notice right away that we had lagged behind. “Lenny did grow up rough. He made some mistakes and he paid for them. The fact that he’s got a good job—no, a career—he’s trained for and is very good at, I might add—should impress the heck out of you. He’s made something out of himself when most guys in his situation would have taken a leap off the deep end. That shows a lot of character. And he loves your daughter like nobody’s business.