Penned by Eileen Brady

Author:Eileen Brady [Brady, Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781464210822
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2018-06-26T21:52:39+00:00

Finished studying. Will swing by. Are you there?

I hesitated. Did I really want to see him? We were sure to get into some kind of argument. We always did. On the other hand, how many more hours of HGTV could a human watch? Besides, whether I wanted to admit it or not, the experience at the mall spooked me a little. So I wouldn’t appear too eager for company I replied with one word:

Yes.

Twenty-five minutes later Buddy barked once, then ran over to the door and whimpered with joy. I hated to disappoint him, but there’d be no handouts under the table for him tonight. With the muffler in my hand, I opened the door.

“Here you are.” I basically shoved the muffler toward him.

“Mind if I come in for a while?” Without waiting for an answer, he began taking off his coat, this time hanging it up next to the muffler, then leaned down to pet Buddy.

“Whatever you want.” Although trying to appear nonchalant, I was dying for company. Even argumentative, hard-headed Luke.

If Luke sensed anything amiss on my part he gave no hint. Instead, he kept up a steady stream of conversation about the roads, number of accidents in the last few days, and tomorrow’s weather report.

As long as he’d decided to stay, I might as well play hostess. “Can I get you some coffee or tea?”

“Hot tea would be great. I’ve been drinking nothing but burnt coffee for hours. Do you still have that one with the orange peel in it?”

Surprised he remembered, I told him I’d make a pot for us both to share.

We sat down at the kitchen table. Luke had dark circles under his eyes, as though he’d been up all night. When the teakettle boiled, I popped up.

“Tired?” I asked him. With the tea brewing, I put out cups plus a tray of homemade chocolate chip cookies and some lemon pound cake.

“Don’t tell me you’ve taken up baking?” The astonishment in his voice annoyed me.

“I might,” I replied, “someday.”

“Sure,” he replied amicably, before digging in.

“Alright. They’re early holiday presents from Henry James.” The “Baking Biker” was a good client of mine and a longtime friend of Mari’s. He always dropped off cakes or cookies before the holidays for the staff. I’d taken a few for myself and left the rest in the break room, along with a tin of mixed nuts and some homemade fudge. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, thanks to grateful clients, our staff operated on a constant sugar high.

We sat comfortably eating away, Buddy begging at Luke’s feet as usual.

“What did you think of the arrest?” he asked, before taking another bite of chocolate chipped goodness.

Since I was mid-swallow, my question came out garbled. “What arrest?”

“Didn’t Cindy tell you?” From Luke’s low level of excitement, we might as well have been back talking about the weather.

I shifted in my seat. “Cindy’s told me about her newborn niece, her sister’s episiotomy, how infants get their first vaccination the day they are born, and all kinds of maternity-related subjects.

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