“Come on, let’s get you inside.” Sam appeared, tugging on my arm. I followed her in a daze. Landon held the door open and Sam settled me at a table in the kitchen. She settled a napkin of cookies in front of me and I reached for them mechanically, my body switched into autopilot mode as my mind processed the last hour.
About halfway through the second Chocolate Chunk Brownie Cookie, the sugar spiked in my system and the fog cleared from my brain. “Thanks, Sam. Can I get a glass of water?”
She filled a cup at the sink and handed it to me.
Pastor Dan tapped on the door frame and came in from the hall. “I’ve come bearing gifts.” He held up a large towel.
Grateful, I accepted it and wrung some of the excess water from my hair into the towel before wrapping it around me. Truth be told, the chill from the air-conditioning made my already soaking wet clothes freezing. “I’ve really got to go home and change clothes so that I can get back to the bakery.”
Protests immediately went up and I covered my head with the towel until everyone quieted down. “Look, I’m going to freeze to death sitting here dripping all over the floor. I’m going home to change and back to work. Nobody tried to kill me. I happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time, that’s all.”
“Again,” Sam muttered.
Ignoring her, I continued. “There is no reason I can’t work and work is where I need to be.”
“You’ve had a shock, dear.” Pastor Dan shook his head and kneaded his hands together. “You shouldn’t be driving. Roads are dangerous enough with the flood conditions but if you drive distracted, they could turn deadly.”
“He’s right.” Landon held up a hand when I started to argue. “I’ll drive you. Sam and I finished setting up the food. I planned to drive her back to the Ooey Gooey anyway; now, I’ll drive both of you.”
“Fine.” I frowned. “But we’re still taking my truck. I don’t want to leave it here.”
“That sounds fine to me.”
~
We made it to my apartment and the bakery without incident. Once at work, time whizzed by. Griff came by, taking Landon with him to help photograph damages, pass out masks and gloves to be used during cleanup, and help pump water from homes. I did not envy the work ahead of them.
Midafternoon, the power in the bakery blinked back to life.
“Thank God!” I closed my eyes and listened happily to the hum of the large walk-in freezer as it kicked on. After recounting the day’s events several times, I wanted to move on to brighter topics.
I put Victoria to work mixing batters for the next day while I double-checked that the ovens still worked fine. Hours of busyness followed. A sense of contentment floated around the kitchen as we made much progress in little time. Customers continued to trickle in; not our usual crowded café but that was to be expected with people dealing with their own storm cleanup. Victoria and Millie were probably needed back at their homes to help as well.
Whispering my plan to Sam, I texted Flo to ask if she thought they could close fifteen minutes early.
“I brought the flowers.” Flo and BeeBee ducked in the back door of the bakery not long after my text. “You didn’t say what they were for so I didn’t put them in a vase.”
“They’re perfect.” I took the tiny bundle of white roses. I checked my phone. Sam texted me the all-clear. “Okay, everybody to the café.”
Single file, we made our way through the swinging door and into the front of the bakery. Sam ushered everyone to seats. Landon and Griff were already seated. Sam must have texted them to get back here, too.
Standing beside Gladys at the counter, I addressed all of our friends. “Our community still has a long road ahead to get past the damage from the tropical storm but I for one am ready to celebrate. We are all safe, the bakery and our homes are okay, at least as far as we know, and on top of that, Gladys has some special news.” I presented the flowers to Gladys.
“Thank you, Piper.” Gladys held the roses to her nose, inhaling. Letting out a breath, she smiled. “Well, I’m very glad you are all here because I wanted to tell you together. Of course, Sam and Piper found out a little early but they don’t actually know everything yet.”
Sam sat up straighter, eyebrows pulling together in a sharp v.
I moved around the counter and took a seat next to Griff. What else could Gladys have to tell us?
“Flo, thank you for not reading the card in my flowers. Honestly, I don’t know how you do it. I’m so nosey, I would insist on writing every message personally just to stay ahead of anything juicy.” Gladys winked. “But since you didn’t open it, I can tell you all now that the beautiful bouquet delivered to me last week contained a proposal.”
Gasps went up around the room. I waited, one leg jiggling over the other knee, dying to know what could be a bigger secret than marriage.
“That’s right.” Gladys nodded, meeting eyes around the room as she continued. “Frédéric, or Chef Fabio as you may know him, proposed and I accepted. We are married.” She held her left hand up in front of her. “As happy as I am to share that news with you, I’ve been delaying the rest of it.”
I leaned forward, staring intently at Gladys. Sensing my nervousness, Griff reached over and squeezed my hand.
“Frédéric and I will be leaving on a month-long cruise a few weeks from now.”
CHAPTER 18
“What?” Surely, I must have heard her wrong. Leaving for an entire month? I knew Gladys had been a little restless, bored at home and tired of vacuuming to pass the time; that was why she volunteered to work part-time at the bakery, after all. But this? First an elopement and now a month-long trip? I didn’t know what to think. Maybe an extremely late-onset mid-life crisis? Shaking the mean thought from my head, I fixed a smile on my face and joined the others in congratulating her.
After all of the excitement died down, the questions began. As everyone begged to know where the cruise would go, what excursions they would take and so on, I slipped out of the café back into the kitchen, busying myself at the sink.
Griff followed me. Stepping up behind me at the sink, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
Leaning back, I relaxed into him, exhilarating in the feel of solid muscles holding me up.
“What’s the matter?”
I tilted my head back to look up at him. “I don’t know. It just feels too fast.”
“Gladys, you mean?”
Nibbling on my bottom lip, I nodded. “Oh! I almost forgot. Will you go grab Sam? There’s something I meant to tell y’all.”
Leaving me with a trail of kisses from cheek to ear, Griff let me go to search out his sister.
Placing a plate of Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies in the center, I sat down at the big stainless-steel island. My wait was short. Griff returned right away with Sam and Landon both in tow.
“What’s up?” Sam flicked her long lavender hair over one shoulder. She and Landon sat at stools across the table from me while Griff straddled the one by my side.
“I forgot to tell you that I got some interesting information when I dropped off Pastor Dan’s announcement at the Seashell Bay Press.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. First, it sounded like your mother is threatening to sue the paper, maybe all of the media in town, for printing and showing the pictures and articles about her.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “No surprise there.”
The swinging door opened and I paused as the rest of the group filed through.
“I’m taking off.” Flo waved bye, congratulating Gladys one last time.
Victoria hung her apron and Millie’s on the pegs by the back door. “I think we’re going to head out, too. I just got a text that my aunt is on her way to pick us up.”
“I’m going with them.” BeeBee put a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m going to see if I can help clean up limbs or water and stuff.”
Nodding, Sam smiled at the girls. “Okay. See you all in the morning.”
“Let one of us know if you need a ride.” I didn’t know if the streets would be back to normal tomorrow or if the flooded areas would take longer to recede.
“Thanks.”
“Bye.”
Millie grabbed her purse; Victoria snagged a cookie for the road and they left.
“Well. Do you girls want to come on a cruise?”
I smiled. “I think we should probably let you and Frédéric spend that trip together alone.”
“Imagine the fun we’d have though.” Sam sighed. “Unfortunately, Piper’s right; plus, we really need to stick closer to the bakery for a while.”
“Agreed.” I gave a nod. It had been nice focusing on the baking and our brand this month. Trips and catering were fun, don’t get me wrong, but they were taxing, too.
“Phooey.” Gladys crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.
“You don’t need a girls’ trip when you have a new husband.” Sam waggled her eyebrows.
“I guess that’s true. But we may need a girls’ trip to pick out my sexy cruise wardrobe.” Gladys winked.
Landon choked on his bite of cookie, coughing and sputtering. Sam and I erupted into laughter.
Griff shook his head at the bunch of us. “Okay. Okay. Piper, did you learn anything else at the newspaper office today?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.” I explained about my odd conversation with Amy. “I don’t know how much stock to put into her ‘feeling’ about the male handwriting though. Oh! And I ran into Kendra, too. She was on the way out when I went in.”
“Hmmm.”
We all turned to Gladys.
“I’m surely not the only one thinking it’s suspicious that a few minutes after Kendra leaves, there is gossip about a new Deidra story?” She put her hands on her hips, clucking her tongue. “Pretty interesting timing.”
“What would Kendra have to gain from slandering our mother?” Sam cupped her chin in her hands, leaning on the table as she thought.
“And where would she get the photos?” I pointed out another big issue: access.
“Didn’t you tell us that Kendra was at lunch at Deidra’s on Sunday?” Landon glanced from Sam to Griff and back again.
“Yes…” Sam frowned. “And she arrived before we did, right?”
Griff confirmed, slowly nodding. “But what? You think she had time to snoop around the whole house and find a jackpot of scandalous photos in the time it took for mother to greet us or snap orders at the staff?” He stood and went to the fridge for a glass of milk. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Deidra’s been trying to set Kendra and you up. Maybe Kendra got mad that you declined.” Gladys ticked off possibilities. “Maybe she’s been to the house more often than you think. Maybe she’s really a cat-burglar and snuck in during the dead of night to steal those pictures and who knows what all.”
I rolled my eyes. “I think we’re getting carried away. Sam, did you ever find time to talk with Deidra’s assistant about names of past employees who were let go.”
“As a matter of fact, I did. Let me think.”
It seemed like ages ago we made the plan to solve the mystery of the scandal starter.
“I wrote it down in the notepad of my phone!” Sam swiped the screen and started tapping apps. “Here it is; the last three people Mother fired. Janet, Holly, and Trip.”
“Trip?” Griff raised an eyebrow.
“Your mother actually hired someone named Trip?”
“Evidently, that one was a huge mistake and Trip didn’t last the day. Seems the current assistant heard rumors that your mother entered to win a trip except that Trip turned out to be a male stripper who showed up at the office when she was down an assistant.”
“I don’t want to know.” Griff ran a hand down his face, closing his eyes as if to block out the thought of Deidra and a male stripper.
I hoped it worked better for him because I was struggling to stop seeing the image my imagination tossed out for that one. I couldn’t decide if it made me want to laugh or cry.
Gladys, on the other hand, appeared unfazed. “I’ll interview Trip if you want.”
“No!” Sam and I barked at the same time.
“Spoil-sports.”
“Your husband might not understand your interest in a boy-toy.” My deadpanned statement had Landon and Griff both choking this time. Poor guys. They might have nightmares for weeks after tonight’s conversation.
Gladys harrumphed and stood to leave. “Well, I think I’ll go on home. My money is still on Kendra though; maybe I’ll dig into her.”
Uttering any protests would be useless. Besides, Gladys pestering Kendra had to be better than her trying to track down a male stripper. “Goodnight, Gladys.”
“See you tomorrow.” Sam called out. “You will be able to work the afternoon so that Piper and I can get ready for the dinner, right?”
“I’ll be here.” Gladys stuffed a napkin of cookies into her purse as she left.
“You know what we need?”
“A list?” Sam guessed.
“Always. But I was going to say the beach.”
Griff hugged me. “That is a good plan.”
Landon stood, pulling Sam to her feet with him. “I agree. Let’s go.”
Piling into my truck, we made the short drive to the nearest public beach. With some scrounging, I was able to find an old blanket under the seat. I carried it with us over the dunes. The sun hung suspended in the sky; not quite sunset but not quite bright as day anymore. The tropical storm might be over but it had left its signature scrawled in mounds of seaweed across the sand. My beloved ocean, normally a crystalline blue and turquoise, yawned a deep navy swirled with brown, the waves extra rough and the tide up even higher than normal for this time of evening. Plastic bottles bobbed along the surface.
Landon and Griff, with the help of some large broken limbs, scraped a section of the beach clear of seaweed.
Sam grabbed two corners and helped me spread the blanket flat in the clean spot. We plopped down, letting our feet hang off, toes digging into the sand. It was a tight squeeze when Griff and Landon joined us. A very pleasant, tight squeeze.
For a time, we allowed the rhythm of the waves to relax us. Renewed clarity and energy seeped through me with each deep breath of salty air.
“Back to business.” I leaned away from Griff and fished my phone out of a pocket. “Sam, which of those assistants are you going to get in touch with and which should I?” I plugged the name and contact information for Janet into my phone as Sam gave it to me.
“Speaking of contact information,” she looked at Landon. “How is the search for Eva going?”
“There are a few promising leads, actually.”
“Tell us.” I crossed my legs on the blanket. Griff, too, shifted to see Landon better.
“Well, I don’t want to tell BeeBee yet. No sense in getting her hopes up.”
We all nodded.
“I searched for Fairfield in our database, specifying parameters that kept the search in the closest states only. We have hits for reported human trafficking in all of them except Georgia, so that didn’t narrow it down much.”
“Where’s the part that gets promising?” I prompted, impatient as ever. In the wake of the storm and the Deidra disaster, we needed some good news.
“The good news is that Fairfield, Alabama has a huge industrial side of town. Thinking about the smoke and factories that you told me BeeBee described, I decided to concentrate most efforts there for now and assume the traffickers have mostly been moving around the state rather than crossing state lines.” Landon rubbed his hands together. “There were four addresses for the name Clark. Only two of them have been in the area for over a decade.”
“So that’s good news?” Sam raised her eyebrows.
“I hope so. Tomorrow, I plan to dig even deeper. If I can’t find anything online, I’ll call them myself.”
“Please, let us know the moment you find out anything.”
&nbs
p; Landon promised he would.
Sam stretched. Landon’s gaze followed her and I noticed Griff’s mouth tighten. I kissed him on the cheek. For Sam, purely distraction, a complete sacrifice on my part. Ha, right!
Leaning his forehead into mine, Griff looked into my eyes as if he could stay there forever.
I shifted, uncomfortable with the attention. Goodness knows what my hair looked like. I could feel the oily sheen on my face from sweat and salt. I broke eye contact; ducking my head, I looked at my phone. “We should probably all go home. There’s lots to do tomorrow.”
Sam groaned. “Let’s just skip tomorrow.”
“She’s right. We all have early mornings.” Landon rose.
The trek back to the truck was a quiet one. Sam and Landon walked ahead, whispering together. Griff tucked my hand in his, circling his thumb over my thumb. “They’re good together, you know?” I nudged him with my hip. “You may have to tone down the overprotective brother vibe.”
“Or not.”
I rolled my eyes.
CHAPTER 19
Thursday morning, after shutting the alarm off, I remained in bed not moving. I listened. Silence. No drip-drop. No pitter-patter. No whooshing, pounding, thumping wind and rain. I hurried to the window, peeking out just to be certain. The storm had well and truly moved on. Obviously, the sun still hid below the horizon being four in the morning and all, but I had high hopes for a bright and cheery day.
Until I remembered. Dinner. “Urgh.” I groaned, leaning my head against the cool glass of the window pane. Dinner at the Seashell Bay Country Club with Mayor Lowe and Deidra. Sam was right; we should skip today and move on to Friday.
Friday! Yikes. The party. I forgot to make sure Victoria had everything she needed for desserts. At least Sam finished getting the supplies. I think. Another sigh escaped me. My mind zipped in a thousand directions. So much for a bright and cheery day.
~
Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery Box Set Page 57
