by Lucy Quinn
Dylan nodded, grinning at her like an overzealous teenager.
She ignored him and the tingle in her belly that had her wanting to pull him upstairs. And she hadn’t even had a bite of the titillating appetizer. Good gracious, she needed to get a hold of herself. “I’m just going to grab a tray for us, Scarlett, and Hunter.” Dylan raised his eyebrows at her and she quickly added, “But no more mushrooms.”
“That’s a shame,” Dylan muttered.
Rain laughed and picked up the bread basket. “Trays are where they usually are. Help yourself while I take the bread to the paying guests.”
Cookie and Dylan went to work spooning the hearty stew into hand-thrown pottery soup bowls. With four servings ready to go, Cookie added a basket of bread, butter, and utensils. Four bottles of beer clinked as Dylan gathered them, and they made their way back to the living room where Scarlett and Hunter had a pile of Scarlett’s photo’s set aside. They were debating the merits of the latest Star Wars movie.
Cookie cleared her throat. “Dinner.”
“Thank heavens,” Scarlett said, and she moved her pictures and portfolio. “I’m starving.”
After placing the tray in the middle of the coffee table, Cookie grabbed a bowl and sat in a chair at the end of the table. Dylan passed out the beers and sat opposite her, leaving Hunter and Scarlett on the couch. Cookie noted her best friend and former partner weren’t exactly leaving each other much in the way of personal space.
Cookie cleared her throat. “So, Dylan, did you find anything useful on the security tapes?”
Dylan tore his eyes away from Scarlett and Hunter. Apparently he’d also noticed the change in the way they interacted. But he kept his thoughts to himself and answered Cookie’s question. “No. Nothing useful. The only time Lydia’s unit was opened was when Rain and Winter showed up.” He took a sip of his beer.
“You went through all that footage already?” Hunter asked, disbelief in his tone.
“Of course not,” Dylan said, giving Hunter a what-the-hell look. “The cameras are only activated when the equipment senses movement.”
“That could’ve been manipulated,” Cookie said, thinking out loud.
Hunter shrugged. “Could’ve, but it’s unlikely. It doesn’t seem like many people around here are that tech savvy.”
He might’ve had a point, but it had been just a month ago when they’d had to deal with a case that involved embezzlement. Tampering with security cameras couldn’t be more difficult than that, could it? “Either way, we don’t have any evidence of tampering, so it’s a moot point,” Cookie said.
Dylan shook his head. “They weren’t tampered with. I checked.”
Cookie eyed her boyfriend, impressed with his knowledge. He’d been in the Navy in a past life and had talents even she wasn’t aware of. “What was it you did while you were a SEAL again?”
He just chuckled.
Hunter gave Dylan a nod of respect. Regardless of the former rivalry between them, Cookie knew Hunter respected the skills Dylan brought to the table. At least they had that going for them.
“What about the neighboring units? Did you get in touch with the renters?” Cookie asked.
Dylan said, “I did, and the owners of twelve and fourteen never had a reason to give unit thirteen a second glance.”
“That exhausts our leads at the Sunfish then,” said Hunter.
“While you were going through mind-numbing security tapes,” Cookie said to Dylan, “we visited Lydia’s two friends, Pam and Julie.”
“Pam is clean,” Hunter offered, and took a swig of his beer. “I’d bet cash money she didn’t have anything to do with Lydia’s death.”
Cookie nodded her agreement. “Same. Pam is sweet as pie. I just don’t see it. Julie, on the other hand—”
“The jealousy runs deep with that one,” Hunter said.
“Is it strong enough to lead to murder?” Dylan asked, leaning forward.
Cookie grabbed a piece of her rosemary herb bread and spread a thick slab of butter over the surface. “She did go after Blake right after Lydia disappeared. She also seemed to really despise Lydia for having an affair. It’s as good a motive as any.”
“So where does that leave us?” Dylan asked.
“Nowhere really,” Cookie said. “It’s just a theory. We need to do some more investigative work.”
Hunter nodded. “I put in the paperwork for a warrant to search Blake’s home. It’s supposed to be ready tomorrow. Winter said Lydia had a journal, and we need to see what’s in it.”
Cookie nodded. “So that’s where we’ll start tomorrow.” With a solid plan in place, Cookie finally took a large bite of the bread she was still holding and had to hold back a moan of pleasure. It was fresh and still slightly warm.
“Got enough butter there, Charlie?” Hunter asked with a teasing twinkle in his eye.
“No.” Cookie gave him a defiant look and added more of the creamy goodness to the bread.
“I always did like a woman with a little meat on her bones,” Dylan said with a wink.
Cookie blushed, but it didn’t stop her from taking a big bite. “This is delicious,” she mumbled.
Scarlett laughed and touched a red nail-polished finger to the corner of her mouth, indicating Cookie had dabbed herself with butter.
“Goodness, Cookie!” Rain called as she entered the room and caught her daughter wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You’d think I raised you with no manners at all.”
“Charlie has manners… not when she’s eating, though.” Hunter gave Cookie a knowing glance. “I’ve never seen a woman pack it away like she does.”
“With gusto?” Dylan chimed in.
“Hey!” Cookie said, not sure if she should be offended or amused that they were ganging up on her. “I’m not that bad.”
“Sure.” Hunter laughed. “Remember that time we were eating kielbasa in that pub in Philly? You snorted a laugh and a piece of it flew out of your nose. It was the grossest and most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen.”
The room cackled with laughter.
Cookie gave them all a flat stare as a faint memory of the spicy sausage burning her nasal passages came back to her. As soon as they quieted down she said, “And I seem to recall that little maneuver of mine threw our perp off his game, and we ended up catching him red-handed in a felony drug transaction.”
“Damn,” Scarlett said, her laughter gone now as her expression switched over to awe. “Cookie, you’re a badass.”
“Yes, she is,” both Dylan and Hunter responded at the same time, their tone sobering as well. The room went quiet, and all they heard was the light din from the guests still congregated in the dining room.
After the awkward silence stretched out a beat or two, Rain, who could always be counted on to lighten the mood, said, “Well, of course she is. She takes after me. Did I ever tell you about the time I caught old man Peterman stuffing zucchinis in his Dockers at the farmer’s market?” She mimed sliding the phallic vegetables into her pants and swayed her hips. “He said he was just trying to keep his hands free because he had more shopping to do, but we all knew what was going on. There was a social at the historical society later that day and he was trying to impress the ladies.”
Dylan and Scarlett busted up with laughter while Hunter acted as if the story pained him. Cookie leaned back in her chair, tuning out the rest of the story. She’d heard it before. Mr. Peterman had offered to let someone give him a strip search, but the organizers had just ordered him to pay the zucchini vendor and then he was banned from the premises.
She watched Hunter pretending disinterest, but as he watched Scarlett leaning forward, egging Rain on, he started to smile and let his guard down. Hunter had always acted as if Rain gave him heartburn. He had a hard time letting anyone see beyond his cool FBI exterior, but Cookie’d always suspected Hunter was secretly amused by her mother. And why wouldn’t he be? While often ridiculous, she was extremely entertaining. It was one of the t
hings Cookie loved most about Rain. That and her huge heart.
Cookie’s gaze met Dylan’s and she was surprised to see he was watching her instead of devoting his attention to Rain. His lips curved into a smile then he raised his eyebrows in question as he jerked his head toward the front door and mouthed, Porch?
Nodding, Cookie stood and collected the dinner dishes back onto the tray. Dylan pitched in and while Rain was still rattling on about old man Peterman, they bypassed the inn guests still enjoying dessert and coffee and retreated to the already cleaned kitchen.
“Rain appears to be Wonder Woman,” Dylan said, jumping in to rinse the bowls.
Warmth spread through Cookie. Her mother really was something else, and it only made her love Dylan more that he saw it as well. “She is. Can you believe she did all this by herself? Dinner, dessert, coffee, and she’s been keeping an eye on Winter. She’s definitely where I get my badass gene.”
Dylan grinned, and the bowls clattered as he loaded the dishwasher.
When he was done, Cookie closed the machine, worked her way between him and the sink, and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re pretty great, too, you know.”
His darkening eyes were his only response as his gaze dropped to her lips.
She ran her hands over his shoulders, enjoying their quiet moment together. “This is better than freezing our butts off outside.”
“But if we were outside, I’d have an excuse to warm yours up,” he said, his voice suddenly husky.
“Hmm, now that we’re dating, I really don’t think you need an excuse.”
“That’s good to know.” He dipped his head and brushed his warm lips over hers.
Goosebumps skittered over her skin, and she leaned into him, welcoming his kiss. She felt a tingle as his hands slid down her back, and they were just about to reach the promised land when Cookie heard footsteps followed immediately by a loud, “Oops! Sorry.”
Dylan released Cookie and she peered around his impressive frame to find her mother holding a tray of dishes that were teetering precariously as she was awkwardly trying to back out of the kitchen. “Mom? What are you doing?”
“Trying to give you privacy. My bad. I didn’t know you two were getting busy in here, otherwise I would’ve left the dessert dishes for later.”
“We were not—never mind.” Cookie quickly crossed the room and grabbed the tray from her mother. “We’ve got this. You’ve already worked hard enough today.”
“No, no,” Rain said, following her daughter to the sink. “I just need to finish these up and then I’m done.” She cast Dylan a quick glance and then let her gaze settle on Cookie. “You two should get back to feeling each other up.”
Dylan choked out a laugh.
Cookie rolled her eyes. “Maybe later.” She gently nudged her mother out of the way. “I’ve got this. Go put your feet up.”
When Dylan took his place next to Cookie and flipped on the water to rinse dishes, Rain fluffed her curly red hair and said, “Well, if you insist.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I think I’ll go make a phone call and see if I can’t find me a hot date.”
“Good luck,” Cookie called as Rain disappeared again.
Dylan started to laugh.
“What?” she asked as she grabbed a water-slicked plate from him to put in the dishwasher.
Dylan pointed to the clock. “It’s almost eight o’clock. Your mother is officially calling Hale for a booty call.”
“Oh, jeez.” Cookie grimaced as she rearranged dishes to fit more into the washer. “Mood killer.”
“You started it when you volunteered us for hard labor.” He winked, and in a move that made her melt inside, he started wiping down the counters.
Cookie turned and crossed her arms over her chest watching him. When he was done, she said, “Sexy, handy, and domesticated. You just might be the perfect man.”
He tossed the rag onto the counter and embraced her once more. “Perfect for you.”
“You got that right.” This time Cookie leaned in and kissed him. She didn’t know how long the kiss lasted, but it was long enough to leave her breathless when Dylan finally pulled away, regret in his steel-blue gaze. “What is it?”
“I think I better go before this gets out of hand.”
Cookie’s eyebrows shot up as she considered dragging him to her bedroom. “Why?”
“Hunter’s staying in the room across from yours, right?”
“Um, yeah.” Cookie pressed her lips together and nodded. “Good point.” Awkward wouldn’t begin to cover it if Dylan and Hunter ran into each other in the hall on the way to the bathroom. “I’ll walk you out.”
As they passed through the dining room, Cookie noticed the dinner guests had retreated to their rooms and the table had been set for breakfast. Cookie really had to hand it to Rain, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Her mother worked hard to keep the inn running without much help from Cookie, since she was usually off investigating the murder of the month.
Once Dylan and Cookie reached the front door, they paused to say their goodbyes, and Cookie couldn’t help noticing both Scarlett and Hunter were climbing the stairs. He was right behind her, and the two were talking and laughing softly. Were they headed to bed… together? Cookie shook her head. Did it matter? She couldn’t deny that even though she’d had no problem with them flirting, she couldn’t imagine Scarlett getting together with Hunter so soon after knowing he’d had feelings for her. She wasn’t sure it was jealousy she was feeling, but Cookie was definitely uneasy about the situation.
She shook her head. No, she was letting her imagination run away with her.
“What is it, Cookie?” Dylan asked, eyeing her.
“Nothing. Just marveling at how things turn out.” She pressed up on her toes and gave Dylan one last kiss. “See you tomorrow?”
He gave her a strange look then just said, “You can count on it.”
After he left, Cookie locked the front door and retreated up the two flights of stairs to her bedroom. And when she got there, she was relieved to see Hunter’s door was open, the light was on, and he was definitely alone.
She’d let her over-active imagination get the best of her. “Night, Hunter,” she said.
He glanced up from his phone, nodded and said, “Night, Charlie.”
Chapter 14
Cookie was barely awake when she heard, and felt, her insides rumble with hunger when she put her hand on her stomach. It was because of the delicious aroma of bacon wafting up from the ground floor. If there was one thing that could get Cookie up before noon, it was bacon. She rolled out of bed, wrapped herself in her robe, and wasn’t at all surprised to find Hunter was already up and gone. Likely, he’d taken off for his usual morning run.
That worked perfectly for her as she jumped in the shower and went through her morning routine. Forty minutes later, her feet tapped lightly as she descended the stairs and headed straight for the kitchen. Rain was nowhere to be seen, but there was coffee. And while there was a pan with enough bacon grease to choke a horse there was in fact, no bacon.
She was too late.
Pouting, she grabbed a leftover slice of bread from the night before and her mug of coffee before heading for the office. As long as she was waiting for Hunter, she might as well get some paperwork done to help Rain with at least some of the inn’s operations.
Surprised there weren’t any guests milling about, Cookie started to wonder where everyone had gone. But more specifically, she wondered where Rain was. She took a bite of her bread as she pushed on the office door with her hip.
It creaked open, and Cookie froze.
Rain, dressed in a red-sequined halter top and her leather pants that showed her butt crack, was sitting on the edge of the desk, feeding a piece of bacon to—holy crap, was that Swan? A horrifying thought hit her. Had Swan been her mother’s booty call the night before?
Cookie sucked in a breath and immediately choked on the bread she’d been chewing. She couldn’t brea
the as her cough became uncontrollable and her eyes watered.
“Cookie!” her mother cried and jumped down from the desk.
The next thing Cookie knew, Rain’s thin arms were wrapped around her middle and her mother shoved a fist against her upper stomach as she squeezed with force yelling, “Spit it out, Cookie! Spit it out!”
The clogged piece of bread immediately shot across the room and splattered on the glass window. Cookie stood there, stunned. She gulped in a mouthful of air while watching the pasty ball of food slide down the window in slow motion.
“That’s disgusting,” Swan said and chomped down on a piece of bacon.
“You don’t say?” Cookie rasped out.
“Oh, my god. Honey, are you okay?” Rain asked, running her hands over Cookie’s arms and peering at her as if checking for hidden wounds.
Not one comfortable being fussed over, Cookie said, “It was just a piece of bread, Mom. Not shrapnel. My arms are fine.” She stepped away from her mother’s worrying hands.
“I just… you were choking!” Rain let out a whimper, then flung herself at Cookie, holding her tight. “Thank goodness you’re all right.”
“Thanks to you,” Cookie said, her voice warm and grateful now that her shock had worn off. “You really know what you’re doing with that Heimlich maneuver.”
Rain lifted her head and beamed up at Cookie. “I told you I was paying attention in class.”
Cookie chuckled, remembering scolding her mother for playing on Facebook and Twitter through the entire first-aid certification. “So you were. And good thing for me.”
“You should get her one of these, Rain Forest,” Swan said, dragging out her mother’s name as he held up a mug. “This will fix her up. Whiskey fixes everything.”
Cookie narrowed her eyes at the sheriff, remembering it was his presence that had nearly caused her untimely demise. “Excuse us,” Cookie said and dragged Rain out of the office.
“What is it, dear?” Rain asked. Then her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s the bacon, isn’t it? I forgot to leave you some.”
