Assault and Batter (8 page)

“Thanks, I think,” I said as we got in and I started the engine.

“Oh, it was a compliment,” Grace said. “We still have a little bit of time before dinner. Do you have any other ideas about where we can go now?”

I was about to answer when my cellphone rang. “Hang on one second,” I said as I turned the engine back off. Was Jake finally getting back to me?

It was Emily instead. “Hi, Emily,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“Suzanne, did I catch you at a bad time?” she asked.

I had to cheer up, and fast. My friend was getting married, and she was counting on me. “No, not at all. How are things going?”

“Mother has things moving like clockwork. It’s as though she’s spent her entire life planning for this wedding, and there’s no stopping her. I’m beginning to wonder who’s more excited about this wedding, her or me.”

“She’s just happy for you,” I said. “Would you like me to say something to her?”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t ask you to do that. She’ll be fine.”

“Then what can I do to make your life easier?”

“You can tell me your plans for the wedding donuts,” she said. “It’s just about the only thing on the list that Mom is letting someone else handle, and she keeps asking me what you’ve got in mind.”

Honestly, I hadn’t had much time to think about it, let alone come up with any ideas I thought might work. I couldn’t exactly tell her that, though. “I’m kicking around a few overall concepts at the moment. I know that you like your donuts loaded with toppings, and Max will eat anything, but do you have any special requests for your guests?” Maybe she’d give me something to go on.

“No, I trust your judgment,” she said. “Can you at least give me a hint about what you’re considering?”

“I don’t want to spoil any surprises for you until I get all of the details worked out,” I said.

“I understand that,” she said, though she sounded a little disappointed. “I know there’s not much time, Suzanne, but if anybody can do it, you can.”

“I appreciate the show of faith in me,” I said.

“Emma told me that you were a genius with donuts, so who am I to contradict her?” Emily asked with a laugh, and then she hung up.

“Remind me to thank my assistant for raising the bride’s expectations beyond belief,” I muttered to myself.

I must have said it louder than I’d planned, because Grace asked, “What did Emma say?”

“That wasn’t Emma; it was Emily,” I said. “Evidently the bride is expecting a donut extravaganza for her wedding reception.”

“It’s kind of a quirky idea, isn’t it?” Grace asked me.

“Quirky is the nicest thing you can say about it,” I replied. “Change of plans. I need to start planning this donut display, and I mean right now.”

“Would you like some help? I’m not sure how much actual aid I can deliver, but I’m great at providing moral support.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” I said. “Let me call Momma and see what’s for dinner.”

“You know me. I’ll eat anything your mother makes,” Grace answered with a smile.

“I would to, but I have to make sure that she’s going to be there.”

I called Momma’s number, and she picked up on the fourth ring. “Suzanne, are you coming home soon? Dinner is nearly ready.”

“That sounds great. Is there room enough for one more?”

“Is Jake coming?” she asked hopefully.

“No, it’s just Grace,” I said as I glanced over at my best friend.

Grace looked more amused by the comment than anything else, and I mouthed, “Sorry” to her. She just shrugged, but she was smiling all the same.

“Grace would be lovely,” Momma said. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got plenty of food.”

“See you soon, then.”

“I’ll be here,” Momma said.

After I hung up, Grace asked, “Just Grace?”

“She thought that Jake might be coming,” I explained.

My friend’s smile softened. “I wonder why you haven’t heard from him yet?”

“No doubt he’s extremely busy,” I answered quickly. This was definitely not a subject I wanted to discuss, with Grace or anyone else. “By the way, you’re welcome to join us for dinner,” I said.

“I appreciate that. Should we start planning the wedding donuts now, or should we wait until we’ve got full stomachs?”

“I don’t think that there’s a second to lose,” I said as I headed back home. “I’ll get Momma’s advice, too, but we need to start brainstorming about this right now on the drive home.”

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to come up with anything that didn’t sound ridiculous by the time we pulled into the drive at the cottage. I parked my Jeep, and Grace and I walked up the steps together. Jake was constantly on my mind, but I knew that it would be foolish to try to get in touch with him now. Most likely he was too busy to talk to me.

At least that’s what I hoped was the reason that he hadn’t gotten back in touch with me yet.

The second I walked through the door, the aromas of barbequed chicken hit me full on. “Momma, you’ve outdone yourself.”

“I hope you like it,” she said. “The chicken was on sale at the supermarket, so I added some veggies, too. I know how much you love sizzling yams, tiny potatoes, and baby carrots.”

“Thanks for including me,” Grace said as she hugged my mother and kissed her cheek.

“Goodness, you should know that you are always welcome here. Wash up, ladies, and I’ll get a few last-minute things settled here.”

Grace went to wash her hands, and I called out to her, “I’ll be right there.”

I hugged my mother, and as I did, I whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” she said as she hugged me tightly. “Why exactly are you thanking me, Suzanne? Not that I’m not appreciative.”

“For being here, and always taking my side, no matter what,” I said with a grin as I pulled away.

“Goodness, I can’t imagine being any other way,” she said as she returned my grin.

We’d had our share of issues over the years, but I loved where we were right now in our relationship. “Now, I’d better wash up, too.”

“Don’t worry; we’ll wait for you. Perhaps,” she added with a twinkle in her eye. Momma was definitely happier these days, and I knew that Chief Martin being in her life had a great deal to do with it. That factor alone had made me more willing to accept the man for what he was, and in turn, he’d begun to trust my unofficial capabilities more. I knew that something might derail our new spirit of cooperation, though, so I planned to enjoy it all while I could.

I took a chicken leg, basted in sauce and simmering in the oven for an hour, and helped myself to some of the veggies my mother was so good at making. After cutting them into chunks, she drizzled them in olive oil and added a little sea salt, then roasted them in the oven. They were incredible, each bite perfectly done, crisp on the outside and perfect inside. The chicken was moist and juicy, and I added a little of Momma’s sauce from the pan to top mine off.

After we’d eaten, Momma said, “It always amazes me how good something can be that doesn’t cost all that much to prepare and serve.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Grace said. “I could take the exact same ingredients and render them into something entirely inedible.”

“I’m sure you’re just being too hard on yourself.”

“Obviously you’ve never tasted her cooking,” I said with a smile.

Grace laughed at my comment. “You’re one to talk.”

“Hey, I’m a specialist more than a general chef. I might not be able to do much besides make donuts, but I’m very good at what I do.”

“Agreed,” Grace said as she stood and started gathering dishes.

Momma stood as well. “Grace, leave those to me.”

“We don’t mind helping,” I said as I joined them as they cleared the table. “After all, it’s the least that we can do.”

Normally Momma might fight me on it, but this time she just smiled. “If you’re sure you two don’t mind, I’ve gotten into a new mystery that I just can’t put down. It’s about a diner, of all things, if you can imagine that.”

“Is it all about the food?” Grace asked. “I might like to read that myself when you’re finished.”

“Not just comfort food, but crime solving, too,” Momma said. “There’s a large family working at the diner itself, but the main amateur detectives are a granddaughter and her grandfather. I’ll be honest with you. I hesitated to start reading books electronically at first, but once I took the plunge, I was sold.”

“Sometimes they make life easier than toting books around, don’t they?” I said. “My book group has been picking some huge books lately, and I have to admit, I enjoy the rest it gives my arms not having to hold a paper book up at night.”

“Go on and read,” Grace said. “We’ve got this.”

As we cleared the dishes and put the leftovers away in the fridge, Grace asked me, “Have you come up with any new ideas?”

“About who killed Jude?” I asked.

“No, I was wondering what you were going to do about the wedding donuts.”

I hit my forehead. “Honestly, I forgot all about them.”

“Well, you’d better come up with something,” Grace said. “Emily’s expecting miracles from you, and if I know her mother, she’s not going to accept anything less than perfection.”

“After we finish the dishes, let’s invite Momma to brainstorm with us. She’ll get a kick out of it, and I could use all of the help I can get.”

“I’m all for it,” Grace said.

We made short work of the dishes, and when we came into the living room, we found Momma engrossed in her e-reader.

“Do you have a minute?” I asked her.

“Of course,” she said as she turned it off and put it on the coffee table. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m afraid that I might be in over my head with something,” I said.

Momma just smiled. “It wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve ever heard that in your life.”

I laughed, recalling the times in the past that I’d said the exact same thing. “It’s different this time, since Emily wants me to create wedding donuts for the reception in honor of the role I played in getting her and Max together.”

“Personally, I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

“You don’t think it’s a little unconventional?” I asked her.

“Suzanne, being the maid of honor in your ex-husband’s wedding sort of threw conventionality out the window, wouldn’t you say?”

“So, what are your thoughts?” I asked.

“How about devil’s food cake donuts for the groom, and angel-food cake donuts for the bride?” she asked with that grin of hers.

“That’s it,” I said. “It’s perfect.”

“Suzanne, I was just joking,” Momma said.

“You may have been,” Grace replied for me, “but I think it’s excellent, too. Suzanne, you can ice the angel food cake donuts with white icing, and the devil’s-food cake with chocolate. Done and done.”

“Hang on. Before we get too excited about this, I need to run it by Emily first,” I said as I reached for my cellphone. “She might not find it as amusing as we do.”

A few minutes later, I hung up and stared at Grace and Momma.

“What did she say?” Grace asked.

“She loved it,” I said. “Momma, you hit a home run with that idea.”

“I hope you didn’t tell her that it came from me, Suzanne,” Momma said.

“I told her that it was a group effort after much consultation and deliberation,” I replied with a grin. “Why, did you want solo credit?”

“No, I can live with what you said just fine.” I saw her looking at her e-reader. “Was there anything else I could do to help?”

“No, you can go back to your book,” I said as I kissed her cheek. “Thanks again. You’re a genius.”

“Hardly,” Momma said, but she wasn’t entirely unhappy about my praise.

“Now that that particular dilemma is solved, I’d better take off,” Grace said.

“It’s early still, and that’s coming from a woman who has to get up in the middle of the night,” I replied.

“I know, but if we’re going to go sleuthing tomorrow afternoon, I have some work to do at home tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven,” she said.

“Let me at least walk you out,” I said.

“Sounds great. Good night,” Grace said to my mother as she left.

“Night, dear. Pleasant dreams.”

After Grace was gone, I came back in and told Momma, “I think I’ll try to catch up on some of that sleep I’ve been missing lately.”

“We both know that you can never catch up,” Momma said.

“No, but I can make a stab at it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I don’t even think she heard me. That must be some book. After she finished it, I was going to see if I could borrow it myself.

It sounded like a real winner.

I tried not to think about Jake as I lay in bed, but it was hard not to. What was going on with that man? I couldn’t imagine him not being in my life. If he’d just tell me what was wrong, I might be able to fix it, but this silence was just driving me crazy. I’d have to find a way to track him down tomorrow even if I had to drive to Raleigh to do it.

I wasn’t going to give up without giving it everything I had.

After I came to that conclusion, sleep came much easier than I’d expected, but my alarm clock still rang much too early for my taste.

It had been business as usual at the donut shop the next day when I was surprised to see Reggie Nance come in. Sure, he’d been a longtime customer of mine, but after the way he’d lied to us the day before, I was kind of shocked to see him show his face at Donut Hearts.

“What can I get you?” I asked him as formally as I could. I wasn’t fond of the way he’d acted the day before, but that didn’t mean that I could afford to alienate any of my customers at the shop.

“I’ll have the usual, Suzanne,” he said with a frown.

“Coming right up,” I replied as I started selecting a dozen random donuts for his office. It was a weekly ritual of his, and under other circumstances, I would have welcomed his business. After I boxed a good selection, I taped the lid and slid the box across the counter. I quoted the price, and Reggie paid promptly.

He started to pick the donuts up when he hesitated. “Those smell really good today. I think I have time for a coffee and a glazed donut here.”

In all the time he’d been coming to Donut Hearts, he’d never lingered at the shop. What was going on? “Absolutely,” I said as I quoted him an additional price.