by Polly Holmes
Alex folded her arms across her chest, the positive energy from earlier completely drained from her body. Sounds very much like it to me. “Do you have any more questions or can I go now?”
“While this information has not been released to the public as of yet, I feel it’s important to ask. Your phone was found in Marcus’ hand with an open screen reading 'DA.' Do you know who or what DA means?” Kayne asked.
Alex felt her stomach sinking. Could this conversation get any worse? “No, I have no idea what DA means. As I said last night, after Marcus rang me, I threw the phone on the chair in my booth, picked up the boxes and then met you on the way to the recycling. Marcus must have picked it up from the chair.”
“Have you identified the murder weapon yet, Mr Pendleton?” Christopher asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Not as yet, but we are close. We have ascertained that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.”
Alex stood. The mixture of heat, tension and the overwhelming scent of stale odour was enough to rattle anyone’s feathers. “Will there be anything else, Mr Pendleton?”
Kayne shifted his gaze. A dark haze crept into his eyes as he stared at Alex. It was as if regret had buried itself deep within him and he wanted to speak freely, but the uniform kept his lips glued tightly shut.
“Mr Pendleton?” Caroline joined Alex on her feet. “Unless you have any further questions for my client or are going to make an arrest, we will be on our way. And before you say it, my client will not consider leaving town until this mess is sorted out. However, if you wish to speak to her again, please come through me or Mr Linnell first.”
Kayne stood, his cold demeanour clawed at Alex’s heart. “That will be all. Thank you for coming in and we’ll be in touch if need be.”
So much for dinner with the hot new policeman.
****
By the time Alex had reached The Springs Café mid-afternoon, a continual stream of sweat beaded her brow. She’d called into The Chronicle but Daniel was out on assignment. She left a message with his assistant, Katie, that she would call on her way home after her shift finished. The drive out to the springs seemed longer than normal. The summer sun streamed through her windows, the tint barely doing its job of keeping the burning heat locked outside. The events of Saturday evening were on permanent shuffle in her mind. Apart from Dalton, who witnessed her argument with Marcus? People came and went. It could have been any number of people. But the real question was, who rang Marcus from the café’s phone?
Alex shoved her car into park, grabbed her bag and headed toward the café. She’d worked so hard to impress Dalton these past six months. She wanted, no, she deserved, the promotion to manager. “I’ll not let you ruin this for me, Marcus. The truth will win out, I’ll make sure of it.”
Her stomach grumbled as the sugary-sweet scent of Charlotte’s cupcakes met Alex head on as she entered the serving area of the café. The mixture of vanilla, chocolate and caramel stuck in her nostrils and her hand flew to her stomach to curb her pangs of hunger. “Shut up, you, or you won’t get any yummy treats today.”
Dalton’s smooth voice echoed in her ear. “Who are you telling to shut up?”
She spun, unaware of just how close he was to her and she pulled back, teetering on the heels of her shoes. Her body shot off-balance like a game of Jenga about to topple over. The corner of her eye caught the box of cupcakes descending toward her as she fell.
“Whoa, easy there,” Dalton said as his hand shot out and grabbed her, thrusting her body up against his tense, buff chest. The other hand saved Charlotte’s cupcakes. “I can’t have my best girl wearing the products, now can I?”
Best girl? Awkward. As she straightened, she felt prickles at the back of her neck. Her stomach sank as Dalton’s lips appeared to move closer to hers. Gross. No. No. No. I am not kissing my boss. I’m not kissing anyone. My lips are still tender from all the kissing yesterday. Alex pushed back clearing her throat, a rush of warm air filling the gap between them. “Thank you for stopping me from face planting into Charlotte’s cupcakes. I’m sure she would not be happy with me if I had to ring and order more.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Dalton returned to his office but not before Alex spotted his bandaged right hand.
“Oh my goodness, what happened to your hand?” Keeping her distance, she shoved her bag under the counter and made a start on emptying the cupcakes into the café display cabinet. An uneasy feeling washed over her as Dalton turned, his face tormented.
“This…” He held up his bandaged hand and his eyes never left hers. “Is all your fault.”
A heavy feeling of foreboding settled deep in the pit of her stomach. What do you mean? All my fault? “How can that be? I haven’t seen you since Saturday night, here at the café.” She kept busy, praying her anxiety stayed hidden behind her incessant movement.
“All your talk about Christmas last week and how important it is to have a tree and decorations made me think about how slack I’ve been this year. Talking about Christmas made you light up and I forgot how I missed the spirit of Christmas. I went to Joe’s Tree Farm Sunday morning to get a tree for home and when I took it out of the boot, I miscalculated and ended up closing the boot on part of the tree and my hand.”
A cold shiver ran up her spine and she shuddered as if someone had stomped on her grave. “Ouch. Is that why you never showed at the Christmas Fair?”
He nodded. “Yep, by the time I fixed my hand up and got the tree inside and decorated it was mid-afternoon and I was just too exhausted by then. So I gave it a miss. I figured you’d fill me in on all the gossip of the day. How did it go? Did anything exciting happen?”
Alex paused. Does he not know about Marcus? “Well, it was an eventful day to say the least.”
He chuckled, removing an empty cupcake box and putting it in the recycling bin. “Let me guess, the kissing booth was the busiest stall of the day.”
“You could say that.” Alex stopped and served a sudden rush of customers. The word of Charlotte’s Cupcakes had spread and pride blossomed in her chest. She knew The Springs Café was the perfect place to build Charlotte and Clair’s profiles as the best cupcake makers around. Alex looked up at Dalton. “Are you telling me you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“About Marcus?” she said leaning against the counter for support.
Dalton narrowed his eyes at Alex. “What has that idiot done now? I’ve had it with the way he treats you. It’s harassment, Alex. I know I’m your boss and I shouldn’t care, but I do. You should be able to live in peace without being bothered by your pathetic ex-boyfriend. Let me help you. I still have the available house I mentioned yesterday and it has a great security system that he will never--”
Unaware, the words slipped from her cold lips. “Marcus is dead.”
Dalton froze mid-sentence. “What do you mean…dead?”
Alex battled the tears that stung the back of her eyes. “Dead, as in someone beat him over the head and killed him.” She may not love him anymore, but no-one deserved their life to end in such a horrific way.
Dalton slid into the stool by the counter. “Do they have any idea who did it?”
Her heart sank like a stone. Yeah, it seems since I found the body, it must be me. “They’re still investigating. But just so you don’t hear a distorted version on the town grapevine, I found the body on the ground in my kissing booth. But I had nothing to do with his murder.”
Dalton’s jaw dropped. “As if you could hurt a fly, Alexandra. I guess there is no need for the house now?”
“Guess not.” Alex returned to serving, but she felt Dalton’s eyes on her the whole time. She puffed her cheeks and blew out a long breath of air after she watched the last customer in the line move toward a set of tables and chairs.
“Alex, you and I both know that I’m looking to appoint a manager here at the café and you have mentioned it once or twice. Are you still interested?”
&n
bsp; Yes, yes, yes. Her eyes widened and excitement bubbled over as she tried to stay calm. “Of course, I’m definitely interested in advancing my career into management.”
He held up his bandaged hand, shaking his head. “After this happened on Sunday, I started to think it was a sign for me to start slowing down and smelling the roses as they say. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed. What do you say we start a trial manager position for the Christmas holiday period and see how it goes?”
“Sounds perfect. I won’t let you down.” She wanted to jump up and throw her arms around his neck, but her professional instincts took over. Dalton’s words seemed to squash all her negative thoughts of the past twenty-four hours. “When do I start?”
“How about now?” he asked, grabbing his jacket off the hook in his office. “This hand has been throbbing all morning. And being the stubborn male that I am, I refused to go to the doctor when it happened. So I think it’s time I went and got it checked out, just to make sure it’s not broken or I haven’t sliced anything important.”
“Yes, you should definitely go to see the doctor. Mish will be here in an hour and I can hold the fort ‘til then.” It’s not as if she hadn’t done the role before, but now if she could prove herself, she’d get the title and pay raise to go with it. “Trust me. I can handle this.” She shooed him out of the café right into the oncoming path of Kayne Pendleton.
Chapter Seven
KAYNE STOPPED JUST outside the door of The Springs Café. Christmas cheer was definitely out in abundance. A huge green tree, covered in gold and silver tinsel, filled the corner resting a foot from the ceiling. Pictures, Santa wall hangings, and multi-coloured tinsel, covered every wall of the café. There was something different about spending Christmas in a small-town. It wasn’t just a few involved in the celebration, it was the whole town. A pang of sadness hit his gut. He hadn’t been a part of such a warm and loving celebration in years. His ex-girlfriend insisted that it was just a day like any other. A day where work took precedence over family.
The sight of Alex’s beautiful smile shining in Dalton’s direction was an unexpected blow. He didn’t like the way the interview had ended and although it wasn’t proper police protocol, he couldn’t let Alex go a moment longer thinking the worst of him. He’d been rude, a quality he loathed in himself and she deserved an apology.
The December sun beat down in strides but watching the way Alex lit up for Dalton sent a frigid chill through him. Tall, dark, handsome Dalton to the rescue. He quickly reminded himself, before this Marcus nightmare began, Alex had agreed to have dinner with him, which meant maybe, just maybe she might have returned the attraction he felt.
The sharp, salty air mixed with the sweet scent of caramel made his head spin. His stomach crunched as Alex headed in Dalton’s direction. His feet moved before he could stop them. “Alexandra.” She stopped and her head spun and his stomach flip-flopped. He couldn’t help but think how pretty she looked, although her expression of discomfort tore at his heart.
“Kayne. What are you doing here?” she said, pursing her lips in a thin line and folding her arms erecting an invisible barrier between them. “I thought I answered all your questions.”
Dalton sashayed around the counter strategically placing himself between Alex and Kayne. “For what do we owe the pleasure, officer?”
“I was hoping to have a private word with Alexandra.” Kayne looked over to Alex, confusion embedded in her brow. A pang of guilt ripped through him. “I won’t take much of your time. I promise.”
“Is this about Marcus? Thanks to a Christmas tree mishap, I didn’t make it to the Christmas Fair. Alex just informed me of what happened. I know Marcus wasn’t the most popular person, but I can’t believe someone would murder him and at the Christmas Fair community event.” Dalton eased his way back around toward Alex, stopping mere inches from her perfect body.
Kayne’s jaw tightened and his fist clenched. The only way he could explain his reaction to Dalton was jealousy. Kayne’s instincts about people were usually right and Dalton was scoring high on his jerk-o-meter.
“The doctor can wait. I’ll cover the counter while you answer his questions.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, taking a step back.
Who does he think he is? Her boyfriend or her boss? Kayne felt his stomach roil with disgust as Dalton continued to overshadow Alex.
“Of course,” he nodded.
Alex headed outside to a bench by The Hot Spring’s entrance in full view of entering customers. He could understand why she wouldn’t want to be alone with him, but it gutted him all the same.
“What is it you want to know, Kayne?” she asked stopping by the bench, her hands twisting anxiously together.
“Actually, I came to apologise,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Her brow crinkled and he continued. “It isn’t in my nature to be rude or cold toward another and I’m afraid I was both to you this morning and I’m sorry.”
Her jaw dropped.
“As a policeman, I’m supposed to keep your feelings out of the investigation. The evidence is what matters, but the more the evidence pointed to you, the more it got to me.”
“Why?”
His hands itched to touch her, but he clenched them in his pockets. “Because… Because I like you.”
Her jaw dropped again and she paled, stunned by his confession. Her cheeks began to redden. “Um…I don’t know what to say.”
“I was really looking forward to dinner Sunday night and when I found you standing over Marcus’ body, it threw me. While I know as a policeman I must follow the evidence, I also know one is innocent until proven guilty. I forgot that today. My manner was rude and abrupt and I know you may not reciprocate my feelings towards you but I hope you can forgive me for today.”
She paused and smiled. “Yes.” A sparkle lit up her hazel eyes as if she had just been told she’d won the lottery.
Yes, what? The suspense was killing him. His chest felt like a dump truck had parked itself right on top of it squashing each breath from his rigid body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dalton watching them cautiously. Like hell he was going to leave without knowing her answer. “Yes, you forgive me for my rudeness, or yes you reciprocate my feelings?”
“Both.” Her smile was infectious.
His heart exploded with relief and he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. For the first time, he was aware of the sweet coconut smell of suntan lotion and the cheerful sounds of holidaymakers surrounding them. “I know in my heart you had nothing to do with Marcus’ murder and the evidence will prove it. The timing is off but I would still like to have dinner with you, if you’re interested.”
“Yes, Kayne. I’d love to have dinner with you. How about tonight?” she asked, beating him to the mark.
He raised one brow. “Tonight?” I wish.
“I’m sorry.” Embarrassment plastered itself over her expression and her hands started to twist again. “You probably weren’t thinking so soon.”
Kayne gently captured her twitching hands in his palms and his pulse kicked into overdrive. “Hey, don’t apologise. I would love to have dinner tonight, but I’m working a double shift. I’m on lunch break now. How about tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow’s perfect.” She bit her lip and hesitated. “I’m working ‘til seven tomorrow night and by the time I get home and changed, it won’t leave much time for dinner.”
“Then why don’t I pick you up from here and we can go straight to dinner?”
Dalton’s ogre voice interrupted as he made his way toward them. “Alexandra… Are you done? My hand isn’t getting any better, so I think it’s time I head to the doctor.”
Alex dropped her hands from his and glanced in Dalton’s direction, an expression of annoyance danced in the tone of her voice. “Of course. Coming.” Her eyes fixed on Kayne’s once more. “Sounds perfect. See you tomorrow night.”
“It’s a date.” Kayne glanced at his watch. I still have a few
minutes to spare. He leant against the stone wall and watched Alex take over for Dalton in the café. Ashton Point Hot Springs had done an amazing job of infusing the Christmas spirit into the place. Tinsel and flower garlands adorned the walls and mistletoe hung across every entrance. His heart gave a little flutter and his lips turned up into a grin.
I’d give anything to get Alexandra under that mistletoe.
The café was a hive of activity and his ears struggled to hear the chirping birds over the ruckus of the school holidaymakers. His back stiffened and he pushed off the wall. The sight of Alex cringing as Dalton’s hands rested on her shoulders almost made him regurgitate his lunch. There was a line between boss and employee, and Dalton just crossed it.
Kayne arrived at the café entrance in four large strides. “Mr Miller, do you mind if I have a quick word?”
Dalton dropped his hands and stepped back. His eyes narrowed at Kayne’s intrusion. “I am just about to head to the doctor’s. Can’t it wait for another time?”
“How about I walk you out and we can talk on the way? We’ll kill two birds with one stone,” Kayne said, refusing to let Dalton’s arrogance brush him aside.
Dalton nodded and turned his gaze back to Alex. “I’ll let you know how it goes at the doctor’s.” Grabbing his jacket and briefcase, he joined Kayne. “This way,” he said leading Kayne toward the staff exit.
“Tell me, Mr Miller, do you think Alexandra is capable of murder?”
Dalton froze and slowly turned his own suspicious gaze to Kayne, as if he’d just told him the world was flat. “Murder? You can’t be serious? Alexandra couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone murder someone. I resent the implication.”
Jealousy spiked in Kayne’s gut once more. “So, Alexandra has never given you cause for concern?”
Dalton shook his head. “No, never. She’s a model employee. So much so, that she will be moving up to the café manager’s position after a trial period, so I can work on other business ventures I have in the pipeline.”
