Frosted Cookies 'n Murder

by Emily Greene

  “It is going to sound crazy, and I can’t explain it, but my gut tells me he was not lying about that. I really do think the whole Joe Dibello thing is over.”

  “I hope so, I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He looked at me and I could see in his eyes that he cared about me. Maybe there could be something there with us. Matthew was very sweet, he was protective and I enjoyed his company. Why was I pining after someone who was not available when I had such a sweet man right in front of me?

  “Thank you, Matthew. You’re such a nice man.”

  “Are you free Saturday night? My friend and his wife will be in town and I would love for you to meet them.”

  Meeting the friends was definitely considered a next step in a relationship but didn’t have to be a big deal if you didn’t make it one. I decided I was not going to make it a big deal, but I would go and meet his friends because he was my friend. I was going to have to cancel on my mother, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t object when she learned the reason why. Just when I was about to accept his invitation I saw Andrew enter the restaurant and lost all train of thought. Hanging onto his arm was his beautiful girlfriend, and my appetite left with my thoughts.

  I must have had a strange look on my face because Matthew touched my arm and when I looked at him, he looked concerned.

  “Harper, are you okay?”

  It took a few seconds for his question to register with me and I forced myself to smile and think of something quick to say.

  “Yes, I am just fine, I just got a bit distracted when I saw Detective Sloane and his girlfriend come in because I was wondering if he has any leads on Sarah’s case.”

  “Oh, we should say hello.”

  Before I could say anything, Matthew was waving his hand in the air at them, and as they got closer I could have sworn I saw a flicker of jealousy in Andrew’s eyes.

  “Matthew, Harper, it’s good to see you both.” Even though the words came out of his mouth, they did not sound sincere.

  Matthew was smiling ear to ear. I kind of got the feeling that he took pleasure in Andrew’s jealousy.

  “You too, Andrew. I see you decided to bring your girlfriend to the restaurant with the tastiest food in town.”

  Andrew and Christina looked at each other and burst out laughing. I didn’t know what was so funny but I found it rude to laugh at Matthew. I should not have been surprised. Andrew Sloane had always been a bit arrogant.

  “Girlfriend? Where on earth did you get an idea like that?” Andrew asked.

  Matthew looked as confused as I felt as he looked at me.

  “Harper mentioned you were with your girlfriend when she saw you come in.”

  Andrew turned amused eyes toward me and I was nearly paralyzed with embarrassment.

  “She did, did she? Well, Matthew, I would like for you to meet Christina Sloane, my sister.”

  His sister?! I was mortified and I could feel my face turning beet red.

  Matthew looked at me but instead of grilling me about my mistake he glossed over it. I was so grateful to him for that.

  “Oh, well it is nice to meet you Christina. Do you live in Prairie Cove as well?”

  “No, I live in Chicago but like to come visit my brother from time to time,” she smiled.

  “Oh, that is nice.”

  Andrew was giving me a teasing smile and Christina looked at me with confusion all over her face.

  “Harper, you really thought I was Andrew’s girlfriend? I guess I thought I mentioned I was his sister when I said mom was worried about him.”

  “I think I thought you meant just your mom because I don’t think you said “our” mom. Silly misunderstanding, I guess.”

  As I said it out loud it sounded so ridiculous and if it was even possible, I felt my cheeks get redder. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me to save me from the mortification that was engulfing me. All three were looking at me with what I can only describe as a slight bit of pity.

  “Oh no, I am a sure it was my fault, sorry about the mix-up.” Christina was very sweet and I did not really expect her to be that way. It was not that she had ever been rude or anything, but to feel her kindness during that awkward moment helped me feel better. It was nice.

  Andrew looked right at me, his eyes unflinching.

  “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  The tension in the air was palpable so I was grateful when our waiter showed up, and I wanted to give him a huge hug for interrupting us.

  “Are you ready to order?”

  I realized that we had not even looked at the menu and when Matthew realized that he politely told the waiter we needed a couple of minutes.

  “We have taken up enough of your evening, we should let you guys order,” Andrew said with what I could have sworn sounded like a bit of disappointment.

  Matthew smiled at them. “It was nice to meet you, Christina. Andrew, good to see you again.”

  “Have a nice evening, you two,” Christina smiled as they walked away.

  I honestly needed a minute to myself after what had just happened so I excused myself and went to the ladies’ room. I was flustered and it would not be fair to Matthew to try to have a conversation with him when I was so distracted. I walked into the ladies’ room and let out a deep sigh.

  I quickly ducked down, glancing under the stalls, and saw that I was alone. I stood looking at myself in the mirror and wondered what I was going to do. Matthew was waiting for my answer to his invitation for dinner with his friends, and he was so sweet and I felt so comfortable with him. Andrew was a different story. He made my heart race but he was extremely guarded and I wanted to know more, I wanted him to let me in. Part of me wanted to jump up and down, screaming for joy that he didn’t have a girlfriend and the other part was cautious, unsure if he had any interest in me.

  Maybe it was best if I did explore where things could go with Matthew. Sometimes the known was better than the unknown. Maybe my mother was right, maybe Matthew was the better choice for me.

  As the thoughts ran through my head I realized that I was assuming that Andrew was even a choice for me. Yes, I believed he had flirted with me in the past, but it was so hard to read him and I had no way of knowing what he was feeling for me, if anything. Did I really want to get involved with someone like him?

  I decided that my mind was made up and I was going to accept Matthew’s dinner invitation. It felt good to have made a decision for my own sanity. Like I had just said to myself, the known was always better than the unknown. Wasn’t it?

  I opened the door to the bathroom and started to make my way back to our table when I nearly ran into Andrew.

  “Hey.” He gave me a small smile.

  “Hi.” I stood there tongue-tied as my heart beat against my chest.

  “So.” He stood there looking at me, his gorgeous blue eyes searching mine. “You thought Christina was my girlfriend.”

  “Andrew, I am so embarrassed about that, can we please just forget about it?”

  Again, another small smile. “Yes. But I will say that explains a lot.”

  I gave him a quizzical look.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I kind of felt a stand-offish energy from you and now I know why. I thought it was because you didn’t like me.”

  I cocked my head to the side and gave him a flirtatious grin. “How do you know that is not the reason?”

  He cocked his head right back, his blue eyes sparkling at me. “Because I saw the look on your face when you found out Christina is my sister. I know that look, Harper, and I was very happy to see it on your face.”

  He was right and I could feel my cheeks burning. If only I didn’t show my emotions so easily! I didn’t know what to say and I felt so nervous because I was pretty sure that Andrew could see that I was interested in him. I looked down at the ground, searching for something, anything, to say when I felt his finger under my chin, gently raising my eyes to his.

  “I would love to spend more time wit
h you, Harper. Would you like to go out to dinner with me Saturday night?”

  I did not hesitate for even one second as I smiled at him.

  “Yes.”

  He smiled back and I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.

  “Great. I will make reservations for 7:00. How does that sound?”

  “Perfect.” I could not stop smiling.

  “I shouldn’t keep you too long, I am sure Matthew is wondering where you are. As much as I don’t want you to go back to your dinner with him, I don’t want to be rude.”

  I was going to tell Andrew that Matthew was just a friend but I figured a little bit of vying for my affection couldn’t hurt things.

  “Yes, you’re right, I should get back.”

  “I will give you a call later in the week about Saturday night.”

  “Okay, sounds good.” I started to turn to leave.

  “Oh, and Harper?”

  “Yes?” I stopped and turned back around.

  “Please don’t ever pull a stunt like the one you did with Joe Dibello again. It is not safe and you are lucky that you were not harmed.”

  “I had it under control, Andrew, really.” I did my best to sound convincing because I didn’t believe my own words. He was right. I took a huge risk and I was lucky that nothing bad happened to me.

  “So did I.”

  I didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

  “I was there, in the shadows, watching, ready to step in if you needed me.”

  I was shocked. “You were? How did you know he would be there?”

  “We have been watching him and when I got a tip from a detective friend in New York that Joe was coming here, I knew there was only one person that he wanted to see, so I called Carrie and she spilled the beans and told me what you did. Don’t do that again, Harper.”

  “Were you really at my house?”

  “Yes. I was ready to jump in if necessary.”

  “Why?”

  He slowly let out a deep breath.

  “Because I don’t want anything to happen to you, Harper. I am happy that the whole Joe Dibello thing is in the past.”

  “Do you really think it is?” I asked.

  “Yes. Joe always keeps his word, you don’t have anything he wants, and more importantly you are not impacting his business in any way.”

  “He says he didn’t kill Sarah.”

  “I know. He didn’t. He was out of the country.”

  “Good. I wanted to believe him so I’m happy you said that. You know, we still don’t know who did kill Sarah.”

  “We will find them, I promise.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll talk to you later. Enjoy the rest of your evening, but not too much.”

  He said that last part with a playful tone but I knew he meant it. He didn’t want me to have too much fun with Matthew. I never thought I would be in a position where I had the attention of two men at the same time. It was different and it was nice to know they liked me.

  Andrew went into the restroom and I floated back to my table, my head completely in the clouds. I had a date with Andrew Saturday night! It all came crashing down when I remembered that Matthew had also asked me out for Saturday night. I was going to have to turn him down gently because he was so nice and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I stepped back into the dining area trying to think of a nice way to let him down when I looked over at my table and stopped in my tracks. There, practically glaring at me, were my mother and Nicole standing at my table. I cautiously approached them. Oh boy, what now?

  “Harper Christine Madison, is it true that you met with Joe Dibello tonight?!” my mother shrieked.

  A few people in the restaurant looked over at us and I was mortified.

  “Mother, keep your voice down, please! How did you find out about this?” I said in a very loud whisper.

  “I pried it out of Carrie. Well? Is it true, Harper?” Nicole asked looking just as upset as our mother.

  “Yes, but everything is fine! I am fine, he’s fine and it’s all over with him.”

  “How do you know?” My mother looked worried out of her mind and I felt horrible that she had that look on her face. I put my arms around her to comfort her.

  “Mother, Detective Sloane was there the whole time and he said Joe Dibello is gone for good. So, there is nothing to worry about. Really, I am fine.”

  “Andrew was there tonight, Harper?” Matthew asked.

  I had almost forgotten he was there.

  “Yes. He got a tip from a detective that Joe Dibello was coming in town so he wanted to make sure I was safe.”

  “Oh, you didn’t mention he was there earlier.” Matthew sounded confused.

  “I didn’t know. I didn’t see him.”

  “Well, thank goodness he was there! Oh honey, I am so happy you are okay! I just about had a heart attack when I heard you saw him tonight!” Mother exclaimed.

  I patted her hand which was practically squishing my shoulder as she wrapped her arm around me. “I’m fine, Mother. I promise.”

  “Is he really gone for good?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I smiled.

  “What a relief!” Nicole exclaimed.

  “Oh dear, we should go and let you and Matthew get back to enjoying your dinner. I am happy that you are safe and this whole frightening chapter is over.”

  I wasn’t going to remind my mother that we still had not found Sarah’s killer. I was pretty sure she would remember that on her own and come pounding on my door at some insane hour. Until then, I wasn’t going to say a word about it to her.

  “Me too, Mother. Okay, you guys should get going and I will call you tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Good to see you, Matthew, dear.”

  “You too,” he smiled.

  Nicole waved goodbye to us and as soon as they left the restaurant I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Your mother was very worried about you, Harper.”

  “Yes, I know, it’s the story of my life.”

  We ate dinner and I thought he might have forgotten about Saturday night, but no such luck. Right after dessert Matthew looked at me with hopeful eyes.

  “So, Saturday?”

  I felt horrible that I was going to turn him down and put him in the friend zone, because he really was such a nice man, but I couldn’t help that I just thought of him as a friend. Seeing Andrew confirmed what I already knew. Matthew would never be more than just a good friend to me.

  “Matthew, I don’t how to say this so I am just going to come right out and say it. You are such a good friend to me and I wouldn’t want to do anything to ruin that friendship. I don’t want to lose you as a friend and I want you to know that you can always call me if you need anything. This doesn’t mean that we can’t get together for coffee, lunch or dinner every now and then. I just think it’s best if we keep things platonic between us, so Saturday night is not a good idea.”

  He hung his head in disappointment and I felt terrible.

  “I kind of figured that was going to happen eventually, but I guess I just kept hoping you would feel a spark,” he said.

  “I feel a friendly spark and those are very hard to find. I know we will be friends for a long time to come,” I smiled.

  “I will say one thing, Harper Madison, you sure do know how to let a man down easy. Thank you for being so kind. Whoever captures your heart one day is going to be one very lucky man.”

  “Aw, thank you, Matthew. The same goes for you. I know you will find someone wonderful one day.”

  “Here’s hoping!” he said as he held up crossed fingers.

  We both erupted into laughter and that moment was just what we needed. Matthew and I sat and enjoyed a little bit more conversation before calling it a night. It was a nice end to what started out as a stressful day.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I was more giddy than normal that Saturday morning and I don’t even know if I remembered a thing I said to anyone that day. I was in the back getti
ng ready to take out a batch of strawberry cupcakes when Carrie came in with an empty platter.

  “We need more chocolate crunch cookie samples for the front.”

  “Okay, just look in the dishwasher,” I said absent-mindedly.

  She stopped and looked at me.

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  I looked at her and had no idea why she asked me that.