A Caffeine Conundrum

by Angela Ruth Strong

  The last thought ate at her. Is that really what she cared about? She’d worry later.

  “Why is it at impound?” Tandy hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, not really.

  George unclasped his pudgy fingers to shrug before clasping them atop his head this time. “I guess so they can use it as evidence when they track down the kids who caused the wreck.”

  Marissa pressed her hands to her cheeks. It was going to be okay. The police weren’t even interested in the diary. In fact, they might even let Tandy pick it up from the impound lot. Why not? It was her car.

  She took a deep breath. “Okay, thanks, Jumpsuit George.”

  “You shouldn’t knock the jumpsuit until you try it. They’re really comfortable.”

  “One of these days.” She smiled at the image. She rarely dressed for comfort. “Enjoy the rest of your game.”

  “Will do, Marissa.”

  Back into the icy air she marched, the streetlights popping on to reflect off fresh snow and brighten the dark night with an eerie golden glow. If only her day hadn’t been so dark. After days like this, she used to be able to find comfort in Connor’s arms. She missed his strength. Now she had to do everything on her own. Well, not completely on her own. Tandy was going to meet her at the Christmas tree lighting to confront Randon. But that wasn’t the same. Especially not if Tandy was interested in Connor.

  Marissa ignored the emotional itch underneath her sternum as she drove back downtown. She’d focus on the growling of her stomach instead. She parked in the elementary school parking lot with everybody else and planned to grab something to eat at Mama’s Kitchen on her way to meeting Randon at the town square. Going all day without eating was not good for her metabolism.

  Icy air stung her face as she stepped into the chilly night and joined the crowds flowing down the street. But she couldn’t help stopping in front of Virginia’s Antiques and staring in the unlit window. Everything would be different if Virginia had lived. Everything except the fact that Marissa still wasn’t spending her favorite night of the year with Connor.

  With a sigh, she continued down the sidewalk until she reached the wooden double doors to Mama’s Kitchen. Matching potted evergreen trees wrapped in white lights flanked the entryway under the green awning. She lifted a hand to press the door open.

  A solid chest belonging to a large man slid between her palm and the wood, freezing her in her tracks. The murderer? The police?

  No, Connor.

  She defrosted enough to drop her hand to her side. No need for panic. She could handle him. Except she thought she’d handled him that morning. What was he doing here?

  He crossed his arms, his facial features set like concrete. “I saw you getting a ride through town in the back of a police car.”

  Was that all? From his expression, one would think she’d committed murder. Oh… “Don’t worry. I didn’t get arrested.”

  “I know.” He didn’t relax. He didn’t move out of the way. “I called Lukey. He said you’d been in an accident.”

  She fought a losing battle with her smile. Had he been scared? Did he care that much about her wellbeing? It was kind of nice. She had to wave him away before she let herself enjoy the feeling too much. “I’m fine. A couple of kids were playing pranks and accidentally caused a rockslide.”

  His head tilted. His eyes pierced. “That’s what the deputy said, but he doesn’t know you’re snooping around, trying to find a murderer. If he knew that, he might think otherwise.”

  Uh-oh. Connor assumed the rockslide was an attempt on her life. No wonder he was acting all bodyguard-like. “You didn’t say anything to Lukey, did you?”

  “Not yet.” His gaze softened. “I wanted to find out what was going on from you first.”

  Her heart squeezed in her chest. If only he’d checked with her like this before tearing down Grandmother’s house. Since he hadn’t, she couldn’t trust him with Grandmother’s other secrets. She swallowed them before they came out. “You want to know what’s going on? Uh…I’m…I’m grabbing something to eat on my way to watch the tree lighting.”

  “May I join you?” He didn’t take a step closer, but she could suddenly feel his warmth and smell his piney scent as if he had.

  Her heart thrummed in her chest.

  “She’s already got a date, dude.”

  Marissa didn’t have to look to know the man who strode up behind her was none other than Randon Evans. She could tell by the way Connor’s jaw turned to stone and his eyes narrowed into lasers.

  Of all the places for Randon to run into her. But of course, she was standing in the middle of the route from the parking lot to the tree lighting.

  What did she do now? Offer Connor contrition for parading another man in front of him? Or play it up to make Randon feel special the way she’d planned? While she felt contrite, her goal had been to make Randon feel special.

  Connor didn’t move. He watched her. As if waiting for her to confirm she was really on a date with the man in rolled up skinny jeans, loafers, black glasses, and gauge earrings. Well, why not? She’d been needing to put some space between the two of them anyway.

  “Randon. Glad you could make it.” She tucked an arm behind her date’s back and tilted into a side hug. He wasn’t much taller than her height of 5’7”, and his goatee scratched her cheek.

  Connor’s chin lifted. He wasn’t buying it.

  She slid out of her date’s reach. “Randon, meet Connor Thomas.”

  Randon reached for Connor’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Connor Thomas.”

  Connor shook without repeating the sentiment.

  “I’m flattered that Marissa thinks I need no introduction, but I’ll give one anyway. I’m Randon Evans. I design phone applications. Started a little company you may have heard of—App Entertainment.”

  Connor crossed his arms again, his chest sticking out farther than before, if possible. “No, I haven’t.” He focused on Marissa. “I don’t play games.”

  “Ouch.” Randon laughed like it was funny to be rude. “Maybe I’ll see you around town again sometime.” A clear dismissal.

  Connor’s gaze remained locked on hers. It said he wasn’t going to interfere while Randon was involved, but he’d want answers later. Had he guessed correctly that Randon was on her suspect list?

  She gave a tight-lipped smile. If he had figured out she was suspicious of Randon, then he would know she couldn’t say anything at the moment.

  “Maybe I’ll see you around town,” Connor repeated Randon’s words though he looked straight at her.

  There used to be no “maybe” about it. Even after she’d ended their relationship, Connor continued to seek her out. He’d been reliable. A constant. And now it sounded like that would all end. Was it really what she wanted?

  No, she’d wanted him to fill her empty spaces, but he’d left her emptier than ever. She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye.

  “Connor.” Tandy joined them and sent Marissa a smile of pure delight in spite of her bruised cheek, puffy eye, and the scab on her temple. “I was hoping you’d be here.”

  Marissa curled her acrylic nails into her palm, wishing she’d said goodbye a little faster. Because now Tandy would think Connor was joining them, turning their interrogation into that double date she’d suggested.

  Connor lifted an arm in front of Tandy to hold her back after Randon and Marissa filed past down the sidewalk. “What is going on?” he whispered.

  Tandy clicked her tongue. It seemed that as much as Marissa liked to play the drama queen, Connor preferred to stay out of the limelight. The two could perfectly balance each other if they’d both stop being so stubborn. “Marissa should have called to fill you in.”

  “Well, she didn’t.” He was really cute when angry. How did Marissa resist those lowered eyebrows and smoldering gray eyes?

  Tandy grabbed his gloved hand and pulled him after her so they didn’t lose sight of the other woman and the possible murderer. She spoke quietly over her
shoulder. “When Marissa decided to meet up with Randon at the tree lighting because we suspect him of killing Virginia, I suggested you be my date because I don’t feel safe around suspected killers.”

  “Ah…” His grip tightened, and he caught up enough to whisper into her ear. “You wanted Marissa to ask me out for you, but she wouldn’t.”

  He seemed more interested in the part about how Marissa wouldn’t ask him out for her than the part about how Tandy wanted him to. Which was to be expected. “Uh…yeah.” She stopped to keep from running into a little blonde girl whose hat fell off. The girl was like a mini Marissa. Or maybe Marissa was like a child. “If she didn’t invite you to join us, how did you end up here?”

  Connor motioned toward the crowd around them. “How did anybody end up here?”

  Tandy knew better than to believe Connor was attending a tree lighting by himself. She lifted an eyebrow.

  He looked away, probably keeping an eye on his ex. “I heard about your car accident and tracked Marissa down to make sure she was all right.”

  That made more sense. He was there because he cared. There should be more men like him in the world. At least one more. For her. “Marissa isn’t hurt, but I got a little beat up.”

  “I see that. Did you get checked out?” Connor released her hand and led the way single file between two slow families.

  “Yes. Cracked ribs but no punctured lungs.” Her ribs still stung underneath the rib belt the doctor had given her, and she’d prefer to be home in a hot bath, but she hadn’t wanted to leave Marissa alone with Randon. Marissa, however, seemed to prefer Randon’s company over Connor’s.

  “That’s good.” He glanced at her again. “Is Cocoa hurt? Where is he?”

  How could anyone pass up a man this perfect? “Yeah, he’s with my neighbor. She picked me up at the hospital and dropped me off here.” Tandy looked from him to find the woman he adored.

  Marissa stopped at a spicy scented food truck to place an order for pizza in the shape of a candy cane with pepperoni stripes. She kept peeking sideways to watch Connor.

  Tandy’s stomach rumbled, and not only from the nausea caused by the lovesickness around her. If Marissa was going to practically drag her here then stick her with a jealous ex, the least she could do was provide dinner. “Can you get me a piece too, Marissa?”

  “I’ll get it for you.” Connor stepped forward to join his former fiancée in line. “Since I am your date and all.”

  Tandy rolled her eyes towards the silvery sky. “Merry crustmas to me.”

  “Pizza on Earth, goodwill toward men,” called the woman in an elf hat serving food from the window above.

  Tandy’s laugh turned into a groan at the intense throb in her side. Her painkillers didn’t kill the pain so much as make her loopy.

  Connor dug his wallet out of his pocket to pay for her dinner. He brought her back the pizza cane. “You okay?”

  Okay was relative. She’d been more okay before, but today she would settle for not being murdered. “Yeah.”

  Connor turned to face Marissa’s date. “Randon, did you hear what happened to these ladies this afternoon?”

  Oh boy. Connor was going to do their interrogating for them.

  Randon lifted a shoulder before flashing his superior smile. “Cat fight?”

  Tandy blinked. Did the man really care that little, or had he caused their accident and was playing innocent to an extreme?

  Marissa joined their circle and narrowed her eyes at Tandy. “More or less.”

  Tandy frowned then took a greasy bite of pizza. She needed nourishment if she was going to have to deal with this kind of tension. Was the beauty queen more upset about Tandy vying for the location she’d wanted for her teahouse or vying for Connor’s attention? Either way… “If I was in a cat fight, I wouldn’t look like this because I would have won,” Tandy said around the food in her cheek.

  A mom with a baby in her arms sent Tandy a startled look before darting the opposite direction. Awesome. One more local she’d scared away.

  She consoled herself with another huge bite of gooey goodness, the yeasty crust and tangy sauce almost making up for the fact that she’d have to ask one of these crazies for a ride home after the tree lighting. At this point, she might actually choose their murder suspect just to avoid being a third wheel.

  Marissa took a prim bite of her pizza, the challenge in her gaze for Tandy alone. So much for being on the same side.

  Connor cleared his throat and leaned forward. “Our lovely dates were in a car accident, Randon. Marissa didn’t tell you?”

  Randon pulled out his phone and opened his camera app. “No, I hadn’t heard that. I bought an all-wheel drive vehicle when I moved here. Subaru Outback. Nine out of ten drivers rated it as one of the best cars in snow. I also bought studded tires. You should get a set of studded tires, Marissa.” He held the phone screen up and leaned toward her. “At least you’re not the one with a fat lip. Here. Smile.”

  Tandy would like to give him a fat lip.

  Marissa’s mouth turned up in an automatic pose, though her eyes kept their matte finish.

  Tandy swallowed down her bite of pizza to glare as Randon took a selfie with Marissa. She reconsidered her idea of riding home with such a jerk. Even if his car was rated best in snow. How insensitive and shallow to joke about her injuries. Especially if he’d caused them. She wanted him to be the killer now. And she wanted him to get arrested before he put the star on the town tree.

  He lowered the phone to study the image he’d captured. “You’re gorgeous, ‘Rissa. You make me look good.”

  Connor’s lips parted. He eyed Tandy in disbelief though she wasn’t sure if he was more shocked by the arrogance or the presumptuous nickname.

  Marissa shifted slightly away, her eyes wide with aversion as Randon tapped his fingers on the screen. “Hashtag Miss Grace Springs, hashtag tree lighting, hashtag hometown hero.”

  Connor pointed in contempt. “You? You’re calling yourself a hometown hero?”

  Randon stuffed his phone in the pocket of the military jacket he must have bought at a consignment shop. “Uh…yeah? I’m the one being honored tonight. Have you ever put the star on top of the tree?”

  Connor’s hand curled into a fist.

  Tandy hooked her fingers in the crook of his elbow to hold him back. She wanted Randon getting arrested, not Connor for starting a fight.

  Chapter Ten

  Marissa dropped the remains of her pizza in the trashcan so she could separate Connor and Randon. This was why she hadn’t wanted her ex here in the first place. He wasn’t the jealous sort; he was the protective sort. And any woman Randon dated needed protection from his superiority complex.

  She took a step between the two men and continued her act of adoration. “Speaking of your honor, Randon, we better get you over to the gazebo. Wouldn’t want you to miss—” Her foot hit a slick spot. Her body careened backwards right into Connor’s chimney of a chest.

  His arms locked around her waist, holding her upright but also against himself. The heat of his breath tickled her ear. She shivered though she hadn’t felt this warm in a long while.

  “Hashtag be careful,” he whispered.

  A laugh threatened to spill out. Laughter at how ridiculous it was to hear his husky voice use the term “hashtag.” Laughter at the double meaning to the phrase “be careful.” And laughter at how sad life had to be for her to exchange the safety of Connor’s arms for hanging onto the arm of a possible killer.

  She turned her head sideways and tucked her chin to respond without being overheard. “I know what I’m doing.”

  He lifted her upright but didn’t let go immediately. “Did you plan for me to catch you just now?”

  “No…” She used her most haughty tone for the one word since she couldn’t think what else to say. The truth was that if she were to plan falling into his arms, she would have done so in a more private setting.

  “I gotcha.” Randon wrapped a weasel
ly arm behind her back to ease her away from the other man. “I’ll support you if you want to escort me over to meet the mayor.”

  She did her best to keep from gritting her teeth in distaste, but Connor could read it on her face anyway. She knew by the way he crossed his arms and smirked as Randon lead her off.

  Tandy wasn’t any better. “Way to go, hometown hero,” she called.

  Those two had a little too much in common for Marissa to be content with leaving them behind. They’d eat pizza and make their jokes, and if Tandy slipped, Connor could catch her like he’d caught Marissa.

  Tandy had better not slip.

  “You used to date him, huh?”

  Randon’s question attempted to pull her into the present, though she sent one more warning look toward Tandy.

  “I can tell,” Randon answered for her. “I don’t think he’s quite over you. Makes me feel like a king to have a beauty queen by my side.”

  A king? Wasn’t hometown hero bad enough? Marissa gave her best pageant giggle and grin. If she wanted to get this night over with, she’d better ask some questions. She’d start with an easy one. Like alibi. “So what else did you do today, Randon? Were you busy getting ready for tonight?”

  He wove a path through the crowds toward the gazebo at the center of the square. “Computer coding,” he said without pause, then launched into a monologue most likely designed to impress her with his intelligence.

  “Fascinating.” She stifled a yawn. “That must take a long time. Were you home on your computer all day?”

  He led her to the gazebo stairs, where she gripped the railing. Mayor Kensington stood in the center with a microphone. On one side of them loomed a large unlit Christmas tree. On their other side, a fire engine lowered a ladder with a bucket toward the ground. She pulled away from Randon to wave at both the mayor and Troy Younger, the firefighter operating the bucket.

  “Not at all. Coding is a breeze.” Randon shrugged. “I still had plenty of time to pick up my grandmother from the retirement center and take her out to eat at Mama’s Kitchen.”