Strawberry Sin by Rosie A Point

Author:Rosie A Point [Point, Rosie A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-25T05:00:00+00:00

17

“I’m telling you, he shoved two in his mouth. Two! I don’t understand how the man did it,” Gamma said.

“One of Ned’s many talents.” I hadn’t been around to see the cupcake debauchery because I’d been questioning Abigail’s apparent boyfriend in an alley. I didn’t buy that Matthew was her boyfriend. It just didn’t fit.

“Talents,” Gamma said, shuddering. “It was horrible. Poor Lauren looked as if she was about to be sick. She put all that hard work into the cupcakes only to see them devoured by a monster of a man.”

I laughed and folded up one of the empty boxes, stacking it on top of the others. Smulder had already dragged the heavy banner back to Gamma’s Mini-Cooper, and Lauren had taken the last of the cupcakes back to the inn in her Beetle. She was either sick or sad—she usually hung around after a long day at work.

“At least, it’s over now,” I sighed, folding up another box.

“Over?” Gamma joined me with the folding and packing. “Oh Charlotte, I never thought of you as naïve.”

“Naïve, how?”

“This was just the festival,” Gamma said. “There’s still the get-together at the inn, and then there’s the Valentine’s Day Dance. Everyone attends.”

“Do you?”

“Of course. I usually go with one of the older men in town. I have my pick since most of them are widowers.”

“How lovely.” I grimaced.

“You’ll see. You can go with Brian.”

“Georgina,” I said. “Stop.”

“Charlotte, you have to admit he’s a handsome man. And he clearly cares for you.”

“He’s my colleague.”

Smulder shut the Mini’s trunk and started toward us. My stomach swirled, and I turned my back on him and took a few steps away from the trestle table to catch my breath. This was ridiculous. I didn’t like Smulder, not like that, and I had other things to focus on. For heaven’s sake, we still hadn’t caught Kyle. They hadn’t. I wasn’t technically involved.

“That’s everything,”Smulder said. “Just the trash, now.”

“Thanks, Brian,” Gamma replied. “You throw those away and we’ll join you in the car in a moment.”

It was chilly, and I drew my coat around myself, turning to make sure Smulder had left. He was already halfway to the trash cans across the park.

“Gamma.”

“Georgina,” my grandmother corrected, lifting a finger. “Remember, dear.”

“Georgina,” I said, through gritted teeth. “I’m not going to discuss anything regarding Smulder from now on. This has to stop.”

“Relax.” She patted me on the arm. “It’s not as if I’m marrying you off to him.”

“As if you could.”

“Charlotte, if I wanted to marry you off, I’d marry you off. I have the power to do that,” she teased.

I wriggled spirit fingers in front of my face. “And I have the power to disappear.”

Heavy footsteps thumped on the path that wound through the park, and Gamma and I both looked up. Grayson Tombs stormed toward us, his face clouded. He wasn’t dressed in anything Valentine’s related nor did he have the Valentine’s Day Festival sticker on the lapel of his suit jacket.

“Good evening, Mr. Tombs,” Gamma said.

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