by Jessica Beck
“So, what was so bad about the way things were before?” he asked, his big brown eyes showing a real interest in what I had to say.
“I’d just gotten a divorce from my husband, and I’d moved back in with my mother. I had a job I didn’t really like, and a bad taste in my mouth about the world. So I took my settlement—which I earned every penny of, believe me—and bought the shop.”
“Do you mean that it was a donut shop before? Surely it wasn’t called Donut Hearts then.”
“No, it was Murphy’s. I liked the idea of having my name in the title, though, so I added an ‘e’ and changed it to ‘Hearts.’ You wouldn’t believe how many people come in expecting to find heart-shaped donuts.”
“Could you do that? It might be a nice addition to what you’re offering now.”
“I’ve thought about it, but I’ve never looked into how much trouble it would be to make a donut cutter in the shape of a heart.”
He took a sip of wine, then said, “I’ve got a brother in Hickory who’s good with his hands. Should I ask him to take a stab at making you one?”
“No, thanks, but I appreciate the offer.”
After a while, I noticed his pasta was gone. “How was your dinner?”
He smiled. “I have a new favorite restaurant. I just wish it wasn’t so far from home.”
“That’s right,” I said. “I keep forgetting that you live in Raleigh.”
“That’s where I get my mail,” he said, “but I travel all over the state, so I’m not there as much as you might think.”
“I guess we’re getting too close to our forbidden topic,” I said.
“I don’t mind if you don’t.”
“Let’s not, though. We’ve done so well all evening.” The place was starting to fill up as Tianna presented the bill. Out of habit more than anything else, I reached for the check, but I was a second too late.
Jake took it and said, “You’re not going to insist on paying, are you?”
“No, sir, you asked me out. I’d never dream of stealing that privilege from you.”
He nodded. “Good. I guess if you go deep enough, I’m just an old-fashioned kind of guy.”
I put my hand on his, and said, “Then you might not like this. I’d like to see you again, and since I’m asking, I should be the one who gets to pay the next time. Do you have a problem with that?”
He studied me a moment, then asked, “Which part? You asking me out, or the fact that you’re insisting you’ll pay?”
“Either one, I guess,” I said with a smile.
As he took out his wallet, he said, “I’d love to go out with you again, and I’ve got no problem with you paying.”
“That’s two right answers in a row,” I said.
Before we could leave, Angelica came out of the kitchen, and I marveled that the woman had four daughters in their late teens and early twenties. She was more my size than her daughters’, but somehow, on her the pounds just added to her attractiveness, whereas I didn’t think mine did anything for me at all.
After I made the introductions, Jake finally got his wish and received a warm hug from one of the DeAngelis women.
She broke free, then Angelica looked him straight in the eye. “You’ll do.”
Jake grinned. “I’m glad I passed the test.”
Angelica said, “You passed it long ago. I’ve been watching you from the kitchen. I like a man who enjoys his food.”
She dropped his hands and hugged me. “Suzanne, it’s always so nice to see you. We must get together sometime.”
“I just wish our schedules allowed it,” I said. With my killer mornings, and Angelica’s afternoons and evenings at her restaurant, it didn’t allow us much free time that overlapped.
“One of these days, we’ll make the time.”
“Excuse me,” I said as I nearly bumped into another couple on the way out of the restaurant.
“Pardon me,” the woman said. The man with her was tall and swarthy, but I was willing to bet that when they were together, no one spent much time looking at him. She was drop-dead gorgeous, but there was something familiar about her. I knew we’d met before, especially when her pupils dilated upon recognizing me. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who she was, but then it hit me once they were gone.
I grabbed Jake’s arm and said, “That was Deb Jenkins. She’s beautiful!”
“She’s a little too flashy for my taste,” Jake said.
“Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way.”
“No way what? I like my women more subdued in their appearance. Now, my brother always liked that type, but I think they’re trying just a little too hard, don’t you?”
“That’s not what I meant, and besides, I saw your eyes light up, so save the snow job for somebody else. I can’t believe that she could look as bad as she did when Grace and I spoke to her, at least not without a conscious effort.”
“Maybe she just likes to get dressed up sometimes,” Jake said. “She looked fine when I spoke to her.”
“So, you admit that she’s a suspect in the case?”
Jake stopped in the middle of the sidewalk outside the restaurant. “Suzanne, I’m doing my best to ignore the fact that you and your friends are interfering with my ongoing investigation. Don’t make it any harder on me, okay?”
“Fine, we won’t talk about it,” I said.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t think about it. Reconciling the Deb that Grace and I had met with this glammed-up version was too much to take. I knew some women who let themselves go when they were by themselves, but never to that extent.
She’d been purposely trying to throw us off her trail, which meant she had something to hide.
And who was that man she’d been with? For someone supposedly still in grief over the death of her paramour, she’d rebounded awfully fast.
There was a distinct chill in the early evening air as we walked back to Jake’s car. I tried to put all thoughts of Deb out of my mind and enjoy the evening. It had been just about perfect. I’d nearly forgotten how good it felt to be out on a date again, and I realized that I was hoping we could have the second one soon.
I couldn’t believe it, but I actually felt butterflies starting to flit around in my stomach as I contemplated the first good-night kiss I’d gotten in a long time.
Then I sensed Jake tense beside me.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t speak, just pointed to the tires of his car. All four were flat against the ground.
“Could all of them have gone flat all at once?” I asked.
Jake said, “I can’t imagine it happening,” as he leaned down to check.
When he stood back up, he said, “This was no coincidence, someone did it deliberately.”
“Do you mean that somebody slashed your tires?”
He shook his head. “No, the rubber looks fine.” Jake held a small black cap up to me. “They let the air out of all four tires, though. I’ll call a garage to come take care of this.”
As he made his calls, first to Information, and then to the garage, I kept wondering who might have done it.
Once he hung up, he said, “It’s going to be a few minutes. Would you like to go back inside the restaurant while we wait?”
“And explain what happened to Angelica? She’ll feel responsible, I know her. No, if you don’t mind, I’d rather just wait out here with you.”
I didn’t want to say what I was thinking, but I couldn’t help myself. “I think I know who did this.”
“It was probably just kids out making mischief,” he said.
I looked at some other cars parked near us. “And they just happened to target you? I don’t think so.”
“Then who did you have in mind?”
I admitted, “As we were driving through April Springs, I saw my ex-husband, and more importantly, he saw me.”
Jake shook his head. “I can’t see a grown man doing this.”
“The
n you don’t know Max. Jake, I’m sorry this has spoiled our evening.”
He surprised me by taking my hand. “Suzanne, it doesn’t have to. Let’s not worry about why it happened. I don’t want the evening ruined, either. It’s been quite a while since I’ve felt like this.”
He was going to kiss me, and I was more than happy about the prospect, when a pair of bright headlights pinned us in the darkness.
An overweight driver in greasy overalls got out of the tow truck’s cab.
“I was just around the corner,” he said.
Lucky me, I thought.
He studied the deflated tires, then said, “I’ve got a tank of compressed air here. I’ll have you on the road in no time.”
As the tow truck operator filled the tires, I kept looking at Jake, hoping that what I’d seen in him hadn’t been a mistake. He’d been leaning in toward me to kiss me, I knew it.
But that’s where it had ended. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d try again once we got back to my place, and I’m afraid my conversation skills suffered a little because of the suspense.
But I never found out.
As Jake walked me up the sidewalk to my house, I saw a figure looming on the porch.
If the killer had decided to come after me, he’d picked the wrong time to do it.
I had a state police escort with me, and I was suddenly very glad that I’d agreed to have dinner with Jake after all.
“Hang back a second,” Jake said, as he pulled a gun from under his jacket. I hadn’t even realized he’d been armed during our entire date.
“Come out of the shadows,” he barked.
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 wa
s 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.”
