Deadly Donuts (3 page)

“I’ll try, but you should know better than to ask me to make promises that I can’t keep.
 
So, what are you doing after the Great Debacle, I mean, the Big Date?”

“I’m planning on heading back here and going straight to bed,” I said as I dried off and put on my robe.

“Why so early?
 
You usually stay up at least until eight.”

“As a matter of fact, I have a meeting at midnight,” I replied.
 
I wasn’t going to let this stranger take over my life anymore and dictate what I could and could not do, though he’d done a pretty good job of it so far.
 
The problem was that I didn’t trust him, so why would I meet him in the middle of the night without telling anyone else what I was up to?
 
If I told Grace about it, I at least knew that she’d insist on being there, lurking somewhere in the shadows and out of sight.

“Is Jake coming over from Hickory?” she asked.

“No, it’s not with him.
 
I’m meeting a blackmailer,” I replied.

Grace glanced at me, and there was no doubt in my mind that she knew that I was being perfectly serious.
 
“Talk,” she said after positioning herself squarely back on my bed.
 
“Hang on.
 
What exactly have you done recently that you could be blackmailed for, and why am I just hearing about it now?
 
Suzanne, if you’re going to get into trouble, I’m disappointed that you didn’t include me.
 
It must have been fun if someone’s trying to blackmail you for doing it.”

“Are you quite finished?” I asked.

“Not yet.
 
So, answer the question; why didn’t you invite me?”

“To the meeting tonight?” I asked as I picked something out of my closet that was a little nicer than my normal jeans and T-shirt.

“That, but more importantly, to whatever it was you were up to when you got caught.”

“It’s nothing that
I
did,” I said.
 
“It’s about my father.”

Grace’s smile vanished quickly as she sat up on the bed.
 
“Tell me everything.”

I told her all I knew as I finished dressing, and by the time I was ready to head back downstairs again, she said, “That’s it.
 
I’m not taking no for an answer.
 
I’m going with you tonight.”

“You can’t,” I said.
 
“What if he’s watching the house?
 
It would be too easy to spy on me here, and if he sees that I’m not leaving alone, he might not show up at all.”

Grace nodded.
 
“I can see your point, but there’s no way that you’re going alone.
 
Tell you what.
 
I’ll get there half an hour early and hide in the shadows.
 
I’ll have my cell phone ready to call Chief Martin the second this guy does anything suspicious.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I said, “but you need to call the dispatcher.
 
The chief is going to be out with Momma.”

“Do they typically stay out until one in the morning?” Grace asked.
 
“Good for her.”

“I don’t keep tabs on her coming and going,” I said.
 
“But then again, maybe that’s because I don’t want to know.”

“I totally understand that,” she said.
 
“Wow, you are in for a busy night.
 
No wonder you were taking a nap.”

“Try working my hours and see if you can keep from it,” I answered.

“No, thanks.
 
I like my job just fine, thank you very much.”
 
She studied her outfit and asked, “Should I change, too?”

“Why should you?
 
You look better in your casual clothes than I do all dressed up, and besides, you aren’t going out on this date yourself, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right.
 
I forgot.
 
What time is the big event, anyway?”

I glanced at the clock.
 
“It’s in ten minutes.”

“My, aren’t they the early bird diners,” Grace said.

“I’m afraid that’s in deference to me.
 
Emily wanted me there to chaperone, and that was my one condition.”

“Then by all means, let’s go.”

She walked out of the house with me, and as I locked the door behind us, she said, “I’ll go ahead and meet you there.
 
I don’t want them to think that I’m there to spy on them.”

“Wouldn’t that be true, though?” I asked with a smile.

“Of course it is, but I don’t have to be that obvious about it.”

I waited for Grace to drive away in her company car, and then I got into my Jeep.
 
The air conditioner had a tough time with the heat we were having, and by the time I got to the Boxcar Grill, I was still too warm for my own comfort.
 
Thankfully Trish believed in air conditioning, the colder the better.
 
I’d grabbed a sweater on the way out of the house, no matter how crazy it must have seemed to any onlookers if they’d been watching me, but I knew that I’d most likely need it for Trish’s diner.

“Hey there,” I said to her as I walked into the converted boxcar just across the park from Donut Hearts.
 
I could have walked there just as easily, but that would have meant enduring more heat directly, something I was not all that eager to do.
 
The cold hit me like a wave at the beach, and I quickly put my sweater on.

“Hey yourself.
 
We thought you’d never get here,” Trish said with a smile, her ponytail bobbing as she gestured to a table in the back.

I looked and saw that Max was sitting there waiting impatiently, dressed in his best suit, with a dozen red roses on the table in front of him.

“Has Emily shown up yet?” I asked.

“Three times, as a matter of fact.
 
I’m supposed to call her when you get here, so give me a second and I will.”

Before she dialed, I said, “Have you heard about what’s going on?”

“That you’re playing matchmaker with your ex-husband and one of your best friends?
 
I might have heard bits and pieces of the plan,” she said with a smile.

“When you put it that way, I’m beginning to doubt my sanity agreeing to do this in the first place,” I said.

Trish hugged me, and said, “Honestly, I think it’s sweet of you.
 
Why shouldn’t everybody find love?”

“How about you?” I asked.
 
“Any prospects on the horizon?”
 
Trish was notoriously unlucky at love, though I hoped that someday she’d find someone, since she wanted it so badly.
 
She’d just lost someone that she might have grown to love, but he was murdered before they could really find out what the future might hold for them.

“No, I’ve decided to take myself off the market,” she replied.

“Seriously?
 
You can’t just give up.”

“Maybe you’re right, but it seems like the smartest thing that I can do right now.
 
We’ll see how this works out between Emily and Max, but if they can make it, I might just let you try matchmaking for me.”

“Hang on, I never said I was a…”
 
I stopped when I saw her grin.
 
“You joke, but I might just try, anyway.”

“Knock yourself out,” Trish said.
 
“You can’t do any worse for me than I’ve managed for myself.”

The diner’s owner finished her call, and I made my way to Max’s table, stopping to wink at Grace as I did so.
 
To her credit, she wasn’t at the
closest
table, but she was still within hearing range of anything above a whisper.
 
Grace winked back at me as I made my way to Max’s table.

“For me?” I asked as I scooped up the roses and pretended to inhale them.
 
“Max, you shouldn’t have.”

“I didn’t,” he said as he quickly took them from me. “They’re for Emily.”

“I know that, you idiot,” I said with a grin as I sat down.
 
“You really
are
nervous, aren’t you?”

“There’s a lot riding on this, Suzanne,” he answered.

I shrugged.
 
“I can honestly say that I’ve never seen you like this, Max.”

“I know, right?
 
I’m a man who’s learning to follow his heart.”

“Well, all I can say is that it’s about time,” I answered as I nodded my approval of his change of attitude.

“Are these too much?” he asked as he placed the roses down again.

“It depends on the message that you’re trying to send.”

“I want her to know that I’m serious about this,” he answered.

“Well, they should do that, if nothing else.”

Emily came in, looking gorgeous as well, and I began to feel that I was underdressed, even given the attire of the other diners around us.
 
She walked up to the table, and Max stood up, something he’d neglected to ever do for me, but I wasn’t about to tease him about it.
 
He presented the roses to Emily, who accepted them graciously.
 

“I don’t know what to do with them,” she said as she looked around the diner.

“I’ll take care of them,” I answered, and then I took them to Trish.
 
“Do you have a vase we can borrow?”

“I’m way ahead of you,” she answered as she pulled one out from behind the counter.
 
“That’s the problem with men; they don’t think things through.”

“Hey, it could have been worse.
 
He could have gotten her a corsage.”

“I remember the one I got at prom,” she said.
 
“It was sweet.”

“You were eighteen, too.
 
Thanks.”

“Happy to help,” she said.

I made my way back to the table, and when I got there, I found them sitting in stony silence.

“What did I miss?” I asked.

“We were waiting for you,” Emily said.

That was not a good sign.
 
Was it going to be up to
me
to make conversation?
 
I was there as a chaperone, not a conversation facilitator.
 
“It’s really hot out, isn’t it?” I asked lamely.

And that’s when Max saved the date.

“How are the guys holding up back at the shop?
 
Moose must be roasting,” he said.

“He was until I got him a box fan.
 
Now he doesn’t even mind the swimsuit.”

“They’re all in bathing suits now?
 
How do Cow and Spots feel about that?”

“Spots thinks they’re pretty, and he’s just about convinced Cow of it, too.”

“He always was the stylish one, wasn’t he?”

They were off now, discussing the moods and foibles of Emily’s three stuffed animals, and though it might have seemed just a tad crazy to anyone listening in on the conversation, it all made perfect sense to me.

Once the meal was over, Max excused himself to pay the bill, and Emily leaned over to talk to me.
 
“He really
has
changed, hasn’t he?”

“I’m not giving my opinion one way or the other at this point,” I answered.
 
“Besides, what I think shouldn’t matter.
 
It’s all up to you.”

“Well, dinner went well, at any rate.
 
We’ll have to wait and see about the rest of it.”

“That sounds prudent,” I answered.
 
I wasn’t about to commit one way or the other, but I had to agree with Emily.
 
I knew that Max was smooth, but there had always been a ‘slick’ component to him in the past, and that was nowhere to be seen tonight.

“Thank you for coming tonight,” Emily said as she squeezed my hand.
 
“You did me a huge favor.”

“I was happy to do it.” That was a big fat lie, but one I didn’t mind telling.

Emily frowned at me, and then said, “Suzanne, stop worrying about how it sounds.
 
I need to know what you really think about all of this.”

“Sorry, but I’m not
about
to get involved.”
 
Well, that was what I
should
have said.
 
Instead, I replied, “I think he legitimately cares for you, and if tonight’s any indication, I’ve got a hunch that he really
has
changed.”
 

So much for my vow of neutrality.

“Thank you so much,” she said to me as Max returned.

“What are you thanking
her
for?” Max asked.

“It’s nothing.
 
Suzanne and I were just chatting.”

“Uh oh.
 
That can’t be good for me,” he said, the worry clear on his face.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” she said as she stood and took his hand.