Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy

Author:Julie Hyzy [Hyzy, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Published: 2012-12-30T23:00:00+00:00

HAPPY TO BE LOOKING LIKE MYSELF AGAIN after scrubbing my face and changing into jeans and a cotton top, I headed back into the kitchen. Thora wasn’t around today and I didn’t want to leave the wig and bright pink outfit lying around where it could get lost or misplaced. I had no idea when she and her team would return, so I packed the disguise into my gym bag and decided to take it home until I knew what to do with it.

While I waited for Quinn to return with my goodie bag and Pluto paperwork, Bucky and I discussed Marcel’s presentation at the Food Expo and menu plans. The two SBA chefs we’d hired for the evening were hard at work preparing dinner. The president and Mrs. Hyden were entertaining a group of mayors and their wives tonight. Dinner for sixteen.

I’d offered to help while we waited, but Bucky tossed that suggestion aside. “You’re supposed to be on vacation. Speaking of which…” He got a glint in his eyes. “Seems to me you’ve been in a really good mood lately.”

Uh-oh. I pressed my hands to my chest. “What are you saying? That I’m usually grouchy?”

He wagged a finger at me. “Don’t try to get around it; you know what I mean.”

“I’m sure I have no idea.”

“And I’m just as sure you do.” He took a step closer. “There’s someone special in your life, isn’t there?”

“Psh,” I said, giving him a dismissive hand motion. “You’re seeing what you want to see.”

“Curious,” he said, close enough to me that the two worker-bee chefs wouldn’t overhear, “you’re trying to put me off the scent but you’re not out and out denying it.”

He was good. Still, I wasn’t about to spill. “I see no reason to—”

“Ollie,” he said very quietly, “keep in mind that I’ve worked next to you for quite a few years now.” He winked. “I can tell.”

To maintain the charade at this point felt wrong. But owning up didn’t feel right, either. Fortunately for me, Bucky seemed to understand. “I don’t know who it is,” he said. “No idea at all. I thought I did, but…” He let the words hang before picking them up again. “It doesn’t matter who. If you’re happy, we’re happy.”

“We?”

“Cyan and I have talked.”

“About my love life?”

He scratched the back of his bald head, but he was grinning. “We ran out of conversation while you were gone. Don’t worry. We waited until Virgil was out of range.”

“Thank goodness for small favors.”

Bucky held up his hands. “So? Who is he?”

“I thought it didn’t matter.”

“Anyone we know?”

I shook my head. “Not telling.”

“Come on. A hint?”

“Not yet.”

“Ms. Paras,” Quinn called from the doorway.

I turned to see the agent making his way past one of the SBA agents. He held the plastic goodie bag and as I approached, he handed it over to me. He was still dressed in his “suburban dad” getup, but he’d donned an identifying Secret Service pin and wore a cord in his ear.

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