Auf'd (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Two)

by Amy Saunders

  "Are you sure?"

  "Of course I'm sure. I'm a Kittridge." She winked and left Caleb to watch daytime television.

  Belinda checked the time, calling the number on the TV reporter's business card while she walked out of the hospital lobby. She just had time to swing home and change and meet Victoria for their afternoon walk. And from the feel of things when she rested her hand on her stomach, she needed it.

  Belinda nabbed the news reporter for a feature story on the Saturday grand opening. The flash mob dance cinched it. She knew that was a good idea. So now she really needed to worry about what to wear. But before the grand opening, Belinda had her grand bridesmaid dress fitting—the final one before her cousin, Nicole, married next month. After what seemed like a very long time of planning and meeting and measuring and looking and nodding, her time as one of the bridesmaids was ending next month.

  None too soon in Belinda's estimation.

  She loved Nicole. Really. But that segment of her mother's family was a tad...anal. And nuclear meltdown prone. So while the whole family togetherness thing sounded awesome, Belinda had decided that there was such a thing as too much togetherness and Nicole needed to get this thing done and over.

  But it wasn't done yet, and Belinda still had a dress fitting to worry about the next week. So she hurried home post-hospital visit, changed to something cute and functional, and met Victoria for the second time that day.

  "You know, Bels," Victoria said, fanning herself with her hand, "they invented treadmills for a reason. Because people like you and me don't want to be in a place like this." She spread out her arms to exhibit the narrow strip of woods the walking path wound through.

  They were basically on a precipice of one of the cliffs that lined most of the Portside shoreline. Not far from where they stood you could see the beaches. Proof of the ocean did reach them in the form of a breeze now and then, but it was still too claustrophobic for Belinda's taste.

  Plus, the weather had spiked, giving them a taste of summer. And it was toastier than Belinda banked on.

  Why hadn't they just gone to the beach to do this?

  "If I'm going to squeeze into that bridesmaid dress that Nicole picked out," Belinda said, unscrewing the cap on her water bottle, "I have to do something drastic."

  Victoria snorted. "You'll fit into it just fine."

  "Fitting and not feeling completely bloated are two separate things."

  "It does look tight."

  "Unforgiving. It's not going to hide any of my flaws." Belinda gulped some of her water and started moving again.

  "How is walking on this path versus on your treadmill going to eliminate all these flaws you keep mentioning, which I don't see by the way?"

  "The challenge? I don't know. I just know that what I'm doing is not cutting it based on the amount of flesh I can pinch around my middle, and I don't have access to the treadmill right now anyway."

  Victoria sighed. "No matter what, it's not doing me any good. Pretty soon, I'm going to blow up to the size of a beluga whale."

  Belinda laughed. "Nonsense. Look at you, you're the size of Chihuahua."

  "Which is why I'm going to look like a beluga whale when I start showing. That's what happens to short, tiny people like me."

  "You're going to be adorable just as you always are."

  Victoria grinned, her peach face a little peachier than usual. "So what are you going to do about the new natural air conditioning in your kitchen? Have you called your parents yet?"

  Belinda wrinkled her nose. With the other things on her list, she did forget about it for a few minutes at a time, until the memory hit her like an electric shock all over again. "I haven't worked up the courage. Dad'll be fine, but my mom..."

  "Will freak out worse than you did."

  "Yep."

  "Okay, so maybe you can come up with a solution before you talk to them to ease the pain."

  "What kind of solution?" Belinda quirked her head. That never crossed her mind.

  "An addition?" Victoria's face lit up. "A breakfast nook! Your mom always complained they didn't go ahead and do that when they were building the house."

  Belinda chewed her bottom lip. "You think they'd go for that?"

  "They may as well while everything's destroyed anyway."

  That was a possibility. A very distinct possibility. "Let's just go to that rock up there," Belinda pointed with her water bottle with renewed vigor, "and then we can go back."

  "And get some food, I hope. I'm starving."

  They both concentrated on their walking, the first sound of other humans on the path up ahead. The voices increased in level as they neared the rock, and Belinda and Victoria exchanged glances. It sounded like a couple having it out. And technically, it was the perfect place to have a shout down at that time of year and day, except that there were actually two other people on the path.

  Belinda and Victoria quietly turned around to head back down until Belinda could really make out their voices. She grabbed Victoria by the arm and mouthed "Sawyer." Victoria's eyes bugged out and they both tried not to breathe so they could hear what was being said. The other voice sounded an awful lot like Mrs. Sykes.

  "I don't know what you want from me," Sawyer said. "Go home."

  "You know what I want."

  There was a moment's silence.

  "There are no guarantees," Sawyer said. "You knew that going into this. I'm not going to hold your hand anymore."

  "You haven't held my hand at all!"

  "That's what it's felt like. Every turn, you've come running to ask me what to do when I told you from the start that you were on your own. We can't keep disconnected if you keep trying to get in touch with me. People will get suspicious."

  "Suspicious of what? If anything, they'll think you're just checking me off your list. No one would think twice about it. You write me off and then you move on to Belinda. You move on to her and I get a handful of derogatory glances until everybody forgets it ever happened."

  Move on to her? Just move onto her like a new fashion trend?! Belinda charged up the hill. Victoria grabbed her arm and tried to plant herself, but her feet just slid across the dirt with Belinda. The gravel under their feet crunched too loudly for a sneak attack and the conversation stopped short by the time Belinda and Victoria reached them. Sawyer and Mrs. Sykes acted casual, but they looked anything but that. Belinda glanced over Sawyer's suit.

  "Out for an afternoon walk?" she said. Under great duress, Sawyer conjured up a smile. Victoria was unimpressed.

  "Belinda, Victoria, dears," Mrs. Sykes said as pleasantly as Belinda guessed she could manage. "It's convenient you showed up. The murder has some of the designers on edge, and Sawyer and I were just discussing what we could do."

  Sawyer stuffed his hands in his pockets. Belinda thought she saw something in one of them, a piece of paper maybe, or money, but she couldn't be sure.

  "We were just thinking," Mrs. Sykes continued, "that some planned entertainment would calm everyone down and give them something to look forward to." Her round eyes looked at Belinda expectantly. "I was going to ask you to arrange something."

  Belinda blinked. Party planning? Mrs. Sykes was seriously going to dump all of this on her? "Well, I–"

  "You're an angel!" Mrs. Sykes crammed her cheek against Belinda's, smothering her in perfume and hairspray and smearing blush onto her cheek. She pulled away and straightened out her top. "I should be going." She gave a tense nod to Sawyer and a polite hug to Victoria and navigated her way down the hill.

  Belinda watched, her head now a jumble of lightning flashes that she supposed were thoughts of what she had to do. And why did Mrs. Sykes decide to meet someone on a wooded path in those designer heels?

  Perfectly recovered, Sawyer smiled, one pulled right out of his cabinet of arresting glances. It was the kind of thing Kyle could do, only his smiles certainly didn't make Belinda nervous. "Cocktail parties are always fashionable." He winked. "And simple to throw together."

/>   Belinda nodded, her thoughts in a tight knot now. She didn't really have time for this, but it seemed she had no choice. Mrs. Sykes was clearly caught up in her own business and didn't want to deal with it. What would she need?

  Sawyer came closer, his hands still in his pockets like he was guarding something there. "I can help if you like. I know a little something about these events and together I'm sure we can come up with something brilliant." He flashed another smile. The coolness when they first got there had completely evaporated.

  Belinda wasn't sure brilliant was necessary, but something was an improvement over what she had now, which was nada. "Great. That would be great."

  "A few of us are going out tonight. Why don't you come? We can talk then."

  "Oh. Um...I'll think about it. I've got a lot going on."

  "Well, if you decide you could use a break like the rest of us, meet us at that place in town...The Blue Room." Sawyer said good-bye to both of them with one last smile and strolled off, hands still in his pockets.

  "He rebounded quickly," Victoria whispered. "Are you going tonight?"

  Belinda rubbed her forehead. "I may have to even if it's not my first choice. I kind of planned to be finished with the show by now. That's why we planned the grand opening next weekend because I'd have time to get ready." Belinda groaned, getting it out of her system. Then she set her hands on her hips and faced the ocean beyond the cliff side. "Sawyer may not be able to do the work, but he can at least provide ideas."

  "And you have Brooke to help you with the rest."

  Belinda brightened. "There's that, too. So things aren't impossible. Not even close." Then her shoulders slumped. She and Bennett were supposed to have time to go out after the show was done, but that was looking less and less likely.

  "You'll find time to squeeze in with Bennett," Victoria said, reading her body language.

  Belinda smiled. She could do this.

  Chapter 5

  It turned out, she could squeeze in time easier than she thought because Jonas wanted to meet to talk, and Bennett would come, naturally. After their walk, and shower number two of the day, Belinda made herself up again and headed downtown.

  Centuries beyond its trading heyday, the merchants still had a strong foothold in the form of specialty and souvenir shops and restaurants. They weren't quite to the season yet—it was still spring—but most of the shops and restaurants were now open full-time.

  Once she picked up the newly printed flyers announcing the Cake Diva truck from her graphic designer, Belinda met Bennett by the visitor's kiosk at the wharf in the late afternoon. It served as the nucleus of the shopping in downtown, and would be the center of the Cake Diva world that weekend. She surveyed the shops, mentally visiting each one to tell them about the truck.

  Bennett wore his light gray newsboy cap. Belinda stopped her play-by-play of the work she'd do later and smiled, her eyes bright and skin glowing as she bounced toward him. This was Bennett time, not cupcake truck time. Her hair was tucked neatly away from her face, but wisps escaped and flew erratically around her head in the breeze off the harbor. He reached out and brushed away the piece that flew into her eyes.

  "See, I knew the newsboy cap would work with what you had on the other day," Belinda said, grinning as she looked over his ensemble.

  "I took your word for it. Do you approve of your own idea?"

  "Well, I don't want to toot my own horn..." Belinda rolled her eyes upward. "It looks cute."

  They walked across the cobblestones to a restaurant settled between two docks. Jonas' brand spanking new bike, courtesy of her brother after the incident in their driveway, was locked down nearby. Jonas held down a window seat for them, which offered a narrow view of the harbor. He smiled as the two of them came in chatting, his apple cheeks rosy. "The Master of Security and the Fashionista," he said. It was obviously still the start of the investigation. Belinda knew he would not be that chipper if it dragged out.

  Bennett pulled out a chair for Belinda. She settled in, placing her purse in the windowsill and performing a periphery check of the restaurant. They had the large glass windows wide open and she automatically peeked down at the water below. An empty water bottle bobbed around. Belinda wrinkled her nose.

  She eyed the hamburgers on the menu, then imagined her bridesmaid dress ripping as she attempted to sit down at the reception. It was time to go to the page with the lettuce and carrots.

  Her phone blipped and she checked it quickly, her stress level rising again. Anxiety kept washing over her, no matter how distracted she was. And Bennett with his taut forearm flexing on the table right near her was pretty distracting.

  "On call?" Jonas grinned.

  Belinda shook her head. "It's my cousin, Mia. She wanted to let me know the photo shoot went really well."

  "Photo shoot?"

  "For the cupcakes." Belinda left her phone on the table. She didn't want to be one of those people checking her phone every five seconds, but it stressed her out to hear the blips and not be able to just see what it was. "We already had some photos taken, but after consulting with our design gal, decided we needed some specific shots. Anyway, it's no big deal. We've got our photo shoot once we get the truck." She adjusted her napkin and appetizer plate, then picked up her water glass and set it back down when she realized it was empty.

  Jonas glanced at Bennett who gave a nod, confirming that Belinda was entering her red zone stress level and maybe they should divert the conversation to something less nerve-wracking.

  Jonas cleared his throat. "We found out Sawyer and April were lovers."

  That wasn't really what Belinda expected him to say after "we had a photo shoot for the cupcakes."

  But she tried to look surprised and eager even though she already knew that because of Kori. Plus, in the front of her mind was her to-do list, which seemed to get longer with every item she checked off.

  "That was a while ago," Jonas said, "but their relationship took a new turn more recently. Apparently the two of them had a super secret plan of world domination."

  Belinda laughed. "What were they planning to do? Bomb cities with style?"

  "I hear they carry glue guns." Jonas spread a slab of butter on his roll. "But seriously, they were forging an alliance to put out a new line of clothes."

  Belinda diverted her attention from the salad selection—and the fact that she needed outfits for the photo shoot, newspaper article, and opening on Saturday. "You mean, they were planning to design a line together?" She replayed their collections walking down the runway. Sawyer's aesthetic was tailored and formal while April Arteau's line was floaty and ethereal. "That's odd. I don't know if you've seen their collections, but their tastes are pretty opposite."

  Jonas nodded like he did know, though Belinda knew good and well he had no clue. It was clearly time to dish what she knew about April's personal and professional life.

  Jonas listened with Bennett-like intensity to her story about April's design thefts, which Jonas knew. "Kori volunteered that?" Belinda's eyes widened. "Just like that?"

  Jonas scraped at something stuck to the table with his fingernail. Or what was left of it. He'd relapsed into his biting habit recently. "She said it would only come out in the wash anyway." Jonas shrugged as if it was simply in the queue.

  That seemed like a fair assessment to Belinda. "Do you think April's current work could also have been stolen and maybe she was trying to save herself by joining Sawyer? It could have been a perfect move for her. They combine forces, and she hides behind Sawyer. So April can continue working in fashion, but maybe stop her fraud if he's designing."

  "Unless Sawyer wanted to cash in on her stealing himself."

  "Hmm...what if that was some kind of blackmail scheme? If Sawyer knew about April's theft, then maybe he confronted her and proposed that they team up...if she wanted him to stay quiet." She did see them consorting backstage before the whole day blew up.

  "He could have just demanded money," Bennett said.
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br />   "Oh...you're right." Belinda's face fell. "I guess that would be a little simpler."

  Jonas winked, catching Bennett's star crossed gaze at Belinda. He guessed there weren't too many reasons why Bennett did not like Belinda. Even when she overcomplicated criminal acts.

  Belinda sighed.

  "Stressed over your opening this weekend?" Bennett slung his arm across the back of her chair.

  "Oh, it's not that right now," Belinda said. "It's the dessert menu."

  Bennett and Jonas exchanged confused glances. "The dessert menu?" Bennett said.

  Belinda flipped the menu over sadly so she couldn't see the molten chocolate cake anymore. She looked at Jonas. "I have to ignore desserts until after June."

  "What happens in June?"

  "My cousin will finally be married then and I can stop worrying about fitting into my dress."

  Bennett sat caddy cornered in his seat so he could see Belinda better. "Can't you just get a different dress?" he said. Belinda gave him a reprimanding glance.

  "It's not just a dress," Belinda said. "It's a bridesmaid dress, custom designed to the specifications of my cousin, and non-returnable, non-refundable. If I can't fit into it, I'm walking down the aisle naked." Which is why I'm ordering a salad, Belinda thought.

  Jonas' eyes twinkled. "Bennett, would you mind that?" Bennett's steel eyes shot in his direction. But Jonas had caught those gray peepers widen ever so slightly at Belinda's hyperbole. Bennett may have been a gray-eyed eagle, but he was still a man.

  Belinda turned crimson and Bennett glared at Jonas again. He was redirecting the conversation to something that wouldn't embarrass her. "So it's a special dress for your cousin," Bennett reiterated.

  "Yes, it's special and I don't have a choice about wearing it." It served her right for saying something ridiculous like that in front of two men. "So, I'm not having dessert today." Belinda flailed her hand in Bennett's direction. He was beginning to realize he needed to stay on the alert when Belinda was in striking distance.