A Cuppa Trouble

by Angela Ruth Strong

  The bell over the front door chimed, jerking Marissa from her thoughts. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to make an espresso. But that was okay. Connor was more important than coffee.

  He carried a small plastic bag toward her, still hunching against the cold. The weather had colored his cheeks pink, though underneath the scruff of his five o’clock shadow, it only made him look manlier for having braved the elements. She adored him, and she needed to make her adoration clearer.

  “Hey, hon. I made you something.” Marissa set her phone down and scurried to the kitchen for the cookie bouquet.

  Stuffing a small tin bucket with the florist foam, she arranged the cookies on sticks to look like a bunch of heart shaped flowers. She hid the foam under red crinkled paper strips and admired her masterpiece. Now to carry it out front without ruining it.

  Marissa used the same technique employed when carrying teacups. She held the bouquet out in front of her, took baby steps, and kept her eyes fixed on it. After making it through the doorway and behind the counter, she looked up triumphantly.

  Connor stood at the espresso machine, coffee cup in hand. “Tandy left this on so I made a cup to warm myself up. Then I turned it off for her.”

  Marissa tried not to look too longingly at his cup and kept the loss to herself. “Oh, okay.”

  Connor motioned toward the bouquet with his mug. “Is that for me?”

  “Yes.” She set it on the counter with a flourish. “I know you’re working really hard on this project for me, and I appreciate everything you’re doing.”

  Connor plucked a cookie. “I want to make tomorrow perfect for you.”

  “Really?” So tomorrow was the big day…

  She stepped into his arms and gazed up into his cashmere gray eyes. He even smelled warm and cozy like cuddling in a cashmere blanket by the fire.

  “How about I make you spaghetti tonight?”

  Connor set the cookie down so he could wrap his arms around her. “I would love that. But I should probably tell you something first.”

  She studied his eyes. She wanted to believe he was going to propose, but he seemed too serious for romance.

  She ran her fingers into the thick hair at the base of his neck and reminded herself of Billie’s advice. The second key to communication was to understand. Whatever he had to say, she would understand. “What’s that?”

  His gaze caressed her. His mouth opened.

  The bell over the front door rang. “You guys are not going to believe this.”

  Vic followed Tandy inside. “Y’all should lock the front door when your business is closed, you know. This town isn’t safe.”

  “I know.” Marissa deadpanned, wrinkling her nose in an apology to her boyfriend before turning to face their intruders.

  Connor lifted a shoulder as if to say, We should have expected this.

  Tandy unzipped her jacket as she crossed the floor. “Our car thief is a ten-year-old!”

  Marissa must not have heard her right. “You think a ten-year-old killed George?” George was a big man. That couldn’t be possible.

  “No.” Vic joined them, arm in a sling.

  Marissa did a double take. Had this ten-year-old beat up Vic, as well?

  Tandy sank onto a stool. “This kid heard in the news about how there was a car thief in town, so when he went with his mom to the car dealership today, and when his mom couldn’t afford a car, he decided to steal one for her and blame it on the car thief.”

  Marissa held a hand to her mouth. “A ten-year-old swiped the keys?”

  Connor crossed his arms. “Did the boy even know how to drive?”

  Vic pointed to his bad arm. “He could go, but he couldn’t stop.”

  Marissa widened her eyes in horror. “He ran you over?”

  Vic sank down next to Tandy. “Nah. He totaled my car.”

  “Oh my goodness.” Marissa had once tried to kick Vic’s taillight out, but she never would have totaled his car. “Did you stick him in your trunk and take him to the police station?”

  Vic gave her a look of mock admonishment. “No.”

  “Be nice, Marissa,” Connor chided.

  Marissa fluttered her eyelashes up at her boyfriend. Anything for him. She snagged a cookie pop from the bouquet and extended it Vic’s way. “Sorry. Have a cookie.”

  Tandy nodded toward the frosting inscription. “Just don’t mistake that for an invitation.”

  Marissa read the red words. KISS ME. She snatched the cookie away and returned it to the bouquet before he could accept, her cheeks burning.

  Tandy plucked the XOXO cookie from the fancy arrangement and took a bite. “So now we’re back to the drawing board. We have George’s murder, which may or may not have been committed by his brother. We have a convicted felon behind bars for stealing my car. And we have the prank on Connor’s mom, which could not have been pulled off by the man in jail. Then there’s the device Marissa found in George’s pocket, which could have been owned by George or anyone else. We don’t know how these crimes are related, and our only suspects are George’s niece, a couple of farmhands, and Vic.”

  Vic took the cookie away from Tandy. “You don’t get this until you take me off your suspect list.”

  Tandy smiled at her ex in a relaxed kind of way. What had happened between those two on their stakeout?

  The bell over the front door rang again. Marissa looked up to let the prospective customer know they were closed.

  Greg strode across the room, eyes on Tandy and Vic. “What did I miss?”

  Tandy shot to her feet and wiped crumbs off her face like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Did you get my voicemail?”

  Greg leaned against the counter with one hand. “The one that said you were out with Vic?”

  “We weren’t out out,” Vic tried to explain for her. A change of position from when he’d attempted to get between them at the police station.

  Greg silenced him with a condescending stare.

  Tandy stepped forward to separate the men. “We were staking out the car dealership like I said. I was trying to help you.”

  Greg shook his head and looked away. “I want to believe that, but I feel like I’ve heard this before. The other day you claimed you only kissed Connor because you were going to get caught by Derrick Snodgrass.”

  Marissa’s eyes blinked wide. “You kissed Connor?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Warning sirens rang in Tandy’s ears. Which fire did she put out first?

  If only Connor had told Marissa what happened right after it happened. Tandy would help him attach their figurative fire hose to the hydrant of honesty, so he could douse out his girlfriend’s blazing temper, then she’d deal with her own barn burner.

  She started by bugging her eyes Connor’s direction, then she relaxed their expression to shoot a look of innocence Marissa’s way. Her words, however, blurted out with the force of full water pressure. “We kissed because we were scared and thought it was a life or death thing. Don’t worry. Next time I will choose death over kissing Connor.” Then she flinched and ducked like one might do when expecting an explosion.

  Marissa’s surprise melted into what appeared to be mild amusement. But then she reached for Connor’s coffee cup, giving away her true state of shock. She sipped like she thought she was drinking tea.

  The rest of them stared.

  “You’ve had quite the week, Tandy.” Marissa smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world. “You’ve been out with all three of these men in the past three days. That’s messier than a love triangle. What is it? A love parallelogram?”

  “With you here, Marissa, I think it makes a star,” Vic countered. “A love star.”

  Tandy shook her head. “So helpful, Vic.” Wasn’t he supposed to back off now?

  “Sorry,” Vic’s mischievous smile betrayed the sincerity of an apology. “I just didn’t know about…” He motioned toward Connor. “That’s a fantastic excuse, by the way. Forced to kiss
someone for survival. I’ll have to try it sometime.”

  Connor ran a hand over his head. “Marissa, this is what I was going to tell you. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. There’s nothing between Tandy and me.”

  Marissa sipped again. “I know. I’m fine.”

  But was she? Tandy exhaled, extinguishing the spark of uncertainty in her intuition like a birthday candle. Connor would have to snuff out any remaining embers of emotion in Marissa.

  She turned to face her own flame. “Greg, I don’t blame you if you’re mad at me, but I want you to know you’re the only one I’m interested in.”

  Vic stood and joined her, shoulder to shoulder. “It’s true, Greg. I tried my best to steal your girlfriend, but unlike her foreign car, she’s equipped with some serious anti-theft devices.”

  Greg crossed his arms. “I knew you were a thief.”

  Vic shrugged. “Unfortunately, not a very good one.”

  Tandy spread her hands wide and glared at her ex. “Why are you still here?”

  Vic’s eyes lit as if reflecting the fire he’d fanned. “I want Greg to learn from my mistakes.”

  Greg didn’t budge. “Sure you do.”

  Vic’s chin lowered, making him look more sincere than cocky for a change. “I do because I want Tandy to be happy, and she wants a relationship with you.”

  Greg didn’t have anything to say to that, but hopefully he listened.

  Vic was a good guy. Simply not used to losing. “Thanks, Vic.”

  “You’re welcome.” He turned his grin on her and shoved the hand from his good arm in his pocket like he could hang out all night.

  Tandy gave him a pointed look. “Now go.”

  “Okay.” He winked before sauntering out the door.

  Greg studied her. Did he believe Vic? Did he believe her? Did he believe Connor?

  She glanced over her shoulder to find Connor and Marissa heading into the kitchen. Marissa had handled the revelation a lot more calmly than Tandy would have expected, but maybe that’s because Vic’s reappearance in Tandy’s life had taken Connor out of the hot seat.

  Now that both men were gone, Tandy could focus on the kind of relationship she wanted to build with Greg. But what did he want? She turned to study him. “What are you thinking?”

  Greg’s dark eyes snagged hers, still filled with questions. “You didn’t kiss Vic?”

  She didn’t know whether to be offended that he didn’t trust her or flattered that he really did care. “No.” She tilted her head to get a better angle for peering into his soul. “We ate burgers and talked about why we didn’t get married, then we caught a ten-year-old stealing a car.”

  Greg blinked a couple times. “I’m gonna come back to the ten-year-old thing because my brain cannot compute it, and also because it might be connected to my case. But I need to know about the marriage part first.”

  Tandy smiled—both at his confusion and in her relief. She was more important than Greg’s case. “We didn’t get married because we didn’t communicate the way we should have. And I don’t want to make that same mistake with you.”

  “Okay…” Greg nodded slowly. “Well, if we’re going to improve our communication, I should tell you that I don’t want to lose you. To a car thief. Or Connor. Or any more Taye Diggs lookalikes.”

  A laugh bubbled out at Greg’s reference. “Vic kinda does look like Taye, doesn’t he?”

  Greg didn’t laugh but the corners of his lips wiggled slightly. “Yes, which makes me glad you value communication over appearances.”

  The bunched muscles in Tandy’s neck relaxed to let her shoulders sink away from her ears. Being with this side of Greg was as relaxing as drinking té con leche. “And I’m glad to know that you value me over your job.”

  Greg’s eyebrows drew together. “You know I do.”

  Tandy quirked her lips to one side. “Maybe I was only insecure because I thought Taye, I mean Vic, chose his job over me.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Greg stepped closer and grasped her fingertips in his. How could such a gentle touch feel so secure? “My job is about creating stability. I want to get the bad guys off the street, but I also want to build a home and foundation for a family someday. Why didn’t you tell me you felt this way?”

  It had been a long time since Tandy had had a family. Her heart quivered. “I didn’t want to be rejected.”

  Greg leaned even closer. He smelled of leather—probably from his jacket, but it made her think of his office chair and the big old books he studied. That might have bothered her before, but not now that she knew she didn’t have to compete with his career.

  “I’m not going to reject you.” His eyes roamed down to her mouth then back up. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

  She bit her tingling lower lip. She really wanted him to kiss her, but she’d wanted that before, and he hadn’t. Dare she ask? He’d said he wouldn’t reject her, but she’d rather he’d want to pursue her on his own.

  Cocoa yipped from the corner as if reminding her of the painting she’d seen upstairs. Greg did pursue. “I should tell you that I saw the painting you commissioned for me upstairs, and I love it.”

  The blue of Greg’s eyes flicked navy for a moment. “I’m glad you loved it, though I’m going to have to sue Connor for not keeping it better hidden.”

  Tandy laughed, knowing he had absolutely no intention of ever suing anyone. Yes, she definitely desired this stable, committed man and his portrait of Cocoa over the way her ex used romance as his art form. Even the cookie Marissa had offered Vic had practically become a pickup line. Just because it said KISS ME…

  Tandy smirked. “Oh, and there’s one more thing I need to tell you.” She reached toward the counter to retrieve the KISS ME cookie from the bouquet. She lifted it between them and spun the stick.

  Greg’s smile grew. His gaze connected with hers, still and warm.

  Her breath compressed in her lungs as if it were frosting in a piping bag.

  He took the cookie from her and set it down without looking away. His hand returned to cup her cheek, fingers strong yet gentle. “Tandy Brandt, I’ve wanted to kiss you since we were teens, which has put a lot of pressure on me to make our first kiss perfect.”

  She felt the pressure too. It fizzed inside like a shaken soda.

  He released her fingers to cup her face with both hands. “If I’d thought of the KISS ME cookie idea, we would have kissed a long, long time ago.”

  She reached for his waist. This was finally happening. “Pretty sweet, huh?”

  His lips brushed hers lightly. “Yes, you are.”

  She cut her smile short so he could come back for more. He deepened the kiss, and she wrapped her arms behind his back. This had been worth waiting for.

  “Tandy,” Marissa called from a distance.

  Greg pulled away slightly to let her respond, but she gripped his jacket to keep him close. She’d waited a long time for this, after all.

  “Tandy!” the distant voice grew louder.

  Was Marissa watching them? Did seeing her kiss Greg give Marissa a visual of her kissing Connor, and now she was going to blow up?

  Tandy released her grip and nuzzled Greg’s nose once more before stepping away. Whoa. Kissing him had really messed with her balance. She clutched his arm to hold herself steady. Maybe this was why Marissa was such a klutz—she was always off-kilter from Connor’s kisses.

  Tandy’s lips felt a little swollen too. She touched them curiously before facing Marissa. “What?” she asked, still in her haze.

  “Agent McNeil is on the phone for you.” Marissa avoided awkward eye contact by putting the KISS ME cookie back in its pail.

  Hopefully nobody would eat the treat after it had been passed around so much. Marissa should use the whole cookie bouquet as a display for future sales instead of selling it. Though Tandy would prefer to take it home and display it next to the flowers and coffee mug Greg had given her. And keep it forever.

  Goodne
ss. Was she ever going to get her breathing under control? Her lungs were even starting to burn a little. Greg had kissed the wind out of her.

  Marissa nodded toward the phone. “The FBI has questions about the arrest Griffin made tonight. I get the impression McNeil is worried our sheriff is being a bit too enthusiastic about his job.”

  McNeil wasn’t wrong about the enthusiasm. For example, Griffin had once arrested Tandy. But now that she’d become a resident, she kind of liked knowing their law enforcement cared so much. She’d defend him.

  Tandy squeezed Greg’s arm before letting go, but without his support, she had to grab onto the backs of chairs to get to the phone. If she wasn’t completely giddy over Greg’s kiss, she might be a little more concerned about her loss of balance and raspy breath and the way her tongue now felt thicker than usual. Kissing Connor certainly hadn’t affected her this way.

  She leaned against the counter for a moment so the room would stop spinning before she picked up the receiver. “Lello.” Lello? She’d meant to say hello. What was wrong with her. She wiggled her tongue around in her mouth, though as swollen as it had become, it didn’t have much room to move.

  “What was that?” Asked the stern voice over the phone. “Tandy, are you there?”

  She looked to Greg for an answer to that very question. Was he experiencing the same physical responses to their crazy good kiss?

  Greg cocked his head, but he didn’t seem to be having balance problems as he strode her way.

  Marissa beat him to her side.

  Tandy turned to face her friend, but the movement threw off her center of gravity. She stumbled.

  Marissa caught her, then both she and Greg lowered Tandy slowly to the cold, wooden floor.

  “Luth ‘appenin?” Did her friends understand her question? Did they have any answers? She hadn’t felt like this since her high school graduation trip when Dad took her to Maine and they’d eaten lobster.