To be honest I wasn't in any great hurry to hear from Mitzi again, although I was glad to learn things seemed to be going better for her. "That's good to know." The whole incident had been so unpleasant and unfortunate. Sure, I wasn't responsible for Colin's role in Mitzi's fiancé's death, but I'd be lying if I said the entire incident didn't weigh heavily on my conscience.
"So Pat was the one who shot at Josie and killed Alexandra?"
Brian's phone beeped, and he stopped to read a text before answering me. "We found car keys on him for a Chevy that was parked a street over from the bakery. It was reported as stolen last week. We checked with the DMV, and the guy didn't even have a valid driver's license."
He paused to look at the text again and then stared up at me, his green eyes without their usual vivacity. "A rifle was found in the trunk as well. Adam just sent me a message, and they've verified it's the same one that killed Alexandra. Of course we don't know for sure that this wacko is the one who fired it, but since it was inside the car he was driving, it seems to be a safe presumption."
Even with Mike's arm around me, I was cold, chilled to the very core of my being. Had Brian and Adam arrived even one minute later tonight, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have been a goner.
Mike shook his head. "So did this guy see Sal somewhere and decide to terrorize her? I don't get it."
He wasn't alone.
"We're still checking things out," Brian said. "Maybe you went to school together years ago, and he had a crush on you. Maybe he spotted you in the bakery one day and wanted to ask you out for a date. He could have seen your engagement picture in the paper and snapped. Who knows what his motive was. Have you seen the news lately? A woman was killed for unfriending another person on Facebook recently. We're living in a disturbed society." He sighed. "Some days I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle."
"You should never feel like that," I said quietly. "I have such great respect and admiration for the work that you and your fellow officers do. You saved my life, and I'm sure there have been many others besides me. Compared to my job—well, there is no comparison. What do I do for society? Besides make people gain weight."
He laughed. "I wouldn't say that. Your bakery provides fuel for people like me. Hey, we all have to eat, so why not indulge in comfort foods once in a while? Say, any chance I can get some of those famous chocolate chips before you fly off on your honeymoon?"
I smiled. "I'll slip in the shop tomorrow and make up a batch special. On the house, of course. Find out what Adam's favorite is, and you can pick some up for him as well."
Brian dashed off a quick text on his phone. "I thought you guys were taking off tomorrow."
Mike ruffled my hair and smiled. "Since this guy is no longer a threat to Sal's safety, I'm going to switch the plane tickets back to Saturday. That way we can get married as originally planned—with her family around her."
"Our family," I reminded him.
He kissed the top of my head and tightened his arms around me.
Brian rose to his feet, looking slightly embarrassed at our display of affection. "Sounds good." He extended his hand for Mike to shake and then gave me a broad smile. "I hope you two will be very happy."
I walked him to the front door. "Wait a second. Is it okay for me to ask if you and Ally got everything straightened out?"
He leaned against the door and gave me a wan smile. "We're meeting for dinner tomorrow night to talk. I'm really sorry about what she put you through."
"No worries," I assured him. "I've had my share of insecurities too. It's awful when you don't know who you can trust. I hope you guys can work everything out."
"Thanks, Sally. I hope so too." His voice turned from serious to teasing. "So what time should I pick up that cookie order? By the way, Adam said he'll take chocolate chip as well and two dozen sounds great. But you shouldn't be spending time on this. It'll be the day before your wedding, and I'm sure you'll have a million other things to do."
"Not as much as you think," I said. "After I get my phone taken care of, I'll text you and let you know what time to stop by."
"Sounds good." He nodded to Mike then shut the door quietly behind him.
I locked the door behind him, and when I turned around, Mike gathered me in his arms and kissed me tenderly. "The nightmare is over, princess. Come on. Let's go to bed and celebrate."
"That sounds great, but I may pass out on you. I haven't gotten much sleep all week."
"Believe me, neither have I," he admitted. "But we haven't had any time to ourselves either, so let's fix that right now. Come on. I'll make you one of my fabulous caffeine concoctions that's guaranteed to keep you up for a while."
I laughed. "How can I refuse an offer like that? Besides, I can sleep all I want to when Sunday arrives. We'll be on our honeymoon."
We walked over to the kitchen, our arms around each other. I removed this morning's used filter from the coffeemaker while Mike rummaged through the cupboard for coffee.
"It's such a relief not to have to worry about you every minute of the day," Mike said. "I have to stop over tomorrow to see Ralph and thank him. He's also got a small job for me to do at his house, and given everything he's done, I said I'd take care of it right away. So all we have to do is find another place to get married on Saturday. We still have the priest, right?"
I nodded. "I don't think my mother canceled Father Grenaldi, so three o'clock would still work. Let's go ahead with city hall. The place isn't important." I turned to kiss him and ran my hands down his chest. "I want to be your wife. That's all that matters to me. Not the location, the gifts, or what we eat. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that I'm lucky to be alive and to be with the man I love."
He leaned over to kiss me and then opened the coffee can. As I dumped the used filter into the garbage, I noticed a red rose lying on top, and my stomach convulsed. I was no longer as fond of them as I used to be. "Where did this come from?"
Mike stared into the garbage at the offending flower and looked embarrassed. "I meant to tell you about that."
A chill ran down my spine. "Did someone leave that for me?"
He shook his head. "No. It was a gift for me."
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "From whom, may I ask?"
Mike grinned. "You're cute when you're jealous." He kissed me and started scooping coffee into the machine.
Not amused, I said nothing and continued to stand there with my hands on my hips, waiting for an answer. Somehow I knew the offender's name before he even said it.
Mike sighed, defeated. "This morning, when you went to visit Josie, I stopped by the bakery. I had a new faucet for Gianna's bathroom. It was a five-minute job, and I remembered that she planned to move in this weekend, so I wanted everything to be perfect for her."
"That was thoughtful of you," I said. "Go on."
"Well, I was on my way out of the bakery, locking the door, when someone touched my arm. I thought it was a customer. You know, maybe wanting to ask why the bakery wasn't opened yet. Instead it was Marla from across the street, dressed in a see-through minidress. It might have even been a negligee. Whatever it's called, she wasn't wearing anything else."
I bit into my lower lip. "You noticed?"
Mike looked pained. "Sweetheart, it was impossible not to."
Ew. I thought I might retch. "Let me guess. Marla had a faucet for you to fix too."
He plugged the machine in and turned around, placing both hands on my waist. "She said she wanted to talk to me. Something about how she was sorry for pursuing me the past few weeks."
What the heck? "You never told me this had been going on for a while."
He shrugged. "I didn't want to upset you. It was right before the fire, and you had enough to deal with. I didn't even realize it might be Marla until you mentioned her by name the other day. She had sent me a few texts from a number I didn't recognize and kept asking if we could get together again. I just figured she must have been someone I'd dated brief
ly before and she'd stop when I didn't answer back."
"And you only went out a couple of times?" I struggled to keep the irritation out of my voice. There was no reason for me to doubt Mike. I knew how much he loved me, but I still hated the fact that this woman was running after a man who she knew was going to be my husband in a couple of days.
Mike was staring at me in earnest. "Yes. I never lead her on, Sal. Please believe me. I spent many years looking for you in every woman I dated. But I was never able to find you." His voice shifted to a lower volume, barely above a whisper, as he pushed my hair back, his fingers lingering on the strands. "There's never been anyone else for me. When I heard you were back home after the divorce, I told myself nothing was going to stand in my way again. Remember the first time I saw you, when you threw up on me at the bar?"
I laughed. That seemed like such a long time ago when in fact it had only been a year. "Yeah. Kind of hard to forget an intimate moment like that."
Mike's sexy smile illuminated the dark blue of his eyes as he cupped my face between his hands. "That night, when I was home cleaning up, I vowed that some way, some day, I was going to win you back. It didn't matter how long it took. I would have waited forever for you."
There was a lump in my throat the size of a mountain. This past week had been such a roller coaster of emotions, and it had all finally caught up to me. Tears began to roll down my cheeks.
"Come here." He hugged me tightly to him while I snuggled comfortably against his chest. "The nightmares are over, Sal. It's time to make our dreams come true."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As usual, I had planned too many things for the day. The first stop was to my phone provider. They confirmed that my phone had been hacked, and since it had also been damaged when I'd thrown it at Pat, I was set up with a new one. Thankfully I was able to keep the same number. I texted Mike to let him know it was up and running again.
Brian had mentioned last night that Pat was something of a technology whiz. He had even managed to hack the computer system during his stay at the mental hospital. Logging into my father's blog without his address being tracked must have been a piece of cake for him.
As I pulled into my parents' driveway, my cell buzzed. I glanced down at the screen and saw Josie's number pop up.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Gianna told me what happened. What I'd like to know is why didn't you call me last night?"
I figured that she was going to be ticked at me. "Um, hello, you just got out of the hospital this morning. I was going to wait and tell you today. You've had enough to deal with lately."
She sighed into the phone. "I'm so glad this is all over with, Sal."
"You and me both. Where are you, at home?"
That was a silly question because I could already hear one of her little darlings screaming in the background. "Yep. I'm back on the funny farm. And I'll be at the rehearsal dinner tonight too. We've already booked a babysitter."
Now I was confused. "I thought my mother canceled that. Well, I'll find out soon enough. I'm in their driveway."
"Rob's stopping over at the bakery," Josie went on. "I gave him the alarm code. He's going to bring the cake home so that I can finish it here."
Her words shocked me. "Jos, this is too much. Please stop pushing yourself so hard. I can frost a cake for crying out loud."
"Not like I can," she insisted. "Plus I don't have anything else to do."
"How about rest for a while? Someone almost killed you!"
Josie spoke quietly on the other end. "I want to do this, Sal. Please don't try to talk me out of it."
I knew that stubborn streak in her voice well and realized there was no point in arguing with her. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it meant that much to you."
She chuckled. "That's because you're not thinking straight these days. All you're thinking about is becoming a baby factory in the near future."
"Well," I teased. "After spending a night with your kids, I might reconsider."
Josie laughed. "Maybe Mike will, but not you. I'm already planning to throw a huge baby shower in about eight months or so. And wait until you see the cake I have planned for that."
"Now that is one party I'm really looking forward to. Please don't do too much, and I'll see you tonight."
I disconnected and went inside the house. My father was in his usual position as of late, in front of the laptop, typing away. He was using two fingers today. Practice does make perfect sometimes.
"Hi, Dad," I called.
"Not now, Sal. I'm in the middle of an important thought."
Well, at least things were back to normal. Then again, normal was kind of a stretch around here. I went into the kitchen where my mother and grandmother were huddled together in a deep discussion. They didn't see me at first as I stood in the doorway.
"That is what he told me," Grandma Rosa said to my mother. She looked up and saw me standing there and for once seemed a bit flustered. "Cara mia. Why did you not tell us what happened last night?"
I sank into a chair next to my mother. "I didn't want to worry you both."
My mother leaned forward in her seat and placed her arms around me. "Sal, I want to tell you how sorry I am about everything."
"Mom, it's okay. I'm sorry for—" I looked up over her shoulder and caught my grandmother's warning expression. "Are you okay?"
She brushed the hair back from my face. "Of course I'm okay. My sweet daughter is getting married tomorrow. You've been through a lot this week, and I feel like it's all my fault. If only I hadn't run those announcements in the paper." She released me and wrung her hands together in agitation.
"Don't do this to yourself," I insisted. "Everything is fine now. So, do you still want to have the rehearsal dinner tonight?"
My mother looked at me with a small glimmer of hope in those big brown eyes of hers. "Only if you want to, sweetheart."
"Sure, but only the immediate family. Of course I want you to come to the ceremony at city hall tomorrow too."
She gave my grandmother a coy look and then smiled. "We'll be there with bells on, darling. On one condition."
Oh boy. "What's that?"
"I get to be in charge of the baby shower for my first grandchild. I'm guessing maybe in about eight months or so."
Good grief. Another person who was making premature plans. "Let's talk about it when the time actually arrives, okay?" I wasn't even pregnant yet, and already the pressure was mounting.
My mother beamed. "Of course, honey." She pushed back her chair and stood. "So, I need to go get ready for tonight! I think I'll wear that new strapless black dress of mine, the one with the crystal beads." She kissed me on the cheek and giggled as she trotted into the living room. "Domenic," I heard her call, "want to go upstairs?"
"The blog, hot stuff," he replied. "It has to get done first. People are waiting for my next post with bated breath. I'll be up shortly."
Grandma Rosa shook her head as she brought me a cup of coffee. "Some things never change around here."
"I'm kind of glad about that today."
She wrapped her hands around mine. "Gianna told us what happened last night. Someone was watching out for you, cara mia."
No doubt. "Yes. Thank goodness for Brian and Adam."
To my surprise she shook her head. "Do not misunderstand me. It is good that they were there. But it was simply not your time to go. That is my belief, anyway." She frowned. "You still should be careful."
The expression of concern on her face bothered me. "Why? What's going on?"
She shrugged. "I am not sure. It seems very strange that someone who did not even know you would target you like this. Be mindful, and be careful." She lifted my chin with her finger until our gazes met. "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. You deserve much happiness, cara mia."
I stood and hugged her. "I love you so much. All right, I'll see you at the dinner tonight."
She looked startled. "But you just got here."
&
nbsp; "Yes, but I promised Brian and Adam some cookies as a thank you gift. Then I have to pack and pick up my dress later. And Mike and I have to figure out who is dropping Spike off at the boarding facility. Probably me, I'm guessing." I felt guilty about that, but my parents couldn't take him. My mother had pet dander allergies, and Gianna worked long hours at the courthouse with no doggie door in the new apartment. I'd thought about asking her to stay at our house for the week but didn't want to inconvenience her.
Grandma Rosa nodded in understanding. "Yes, go then, my sweet girl. I will see you tonight."
I stopped in the living room to give my father a peck on the cheek. He looked pleased with himself. "I've dedicated today's blog entry to you."
"Oh really?" Amused, I glanced over his shoulder. "Does it have an itinerary for my honeymoon in Hawaii?"
He snorted. "No smut allowed on my blog. Nope, I simply stated that weddings were a beautiful thing, almost as beautiful as a funeral." He stopped and stared at the screen. "Hey, look. I've got a new message."
Nice post, Father Death. But remember, no relationship is without its thorns.
Below the message the writer had included a meme of a long-stemmed, red rose.
Ice-cold shards of terror formed between my shoulder blades as I examined the post. "Dad, wh-who's that from? I can't see the name."
The post was near the bottom of the page, so he scrolled down and examined the email address. "It only says Anonymous. I get a few of them like that. At least we know it's not Miscellaneous, right? That weirdo won't be bothering you anymore, baby girl."
I forced myself to breathe normally. Okay, it must be some type of weird coincidence. "Dad, do you have any other posts from this—"
"Domenic!" my mother called from upstairs, a giggle punctuating her speech. "I think I'm more important than some old blog."
My father rose to his feet. "That you are, baby. Father Death and Prince Charming at your service!"
Ew. Some days my parents were too much to handle. "See you later."
"Hey, Sal." He turned around on the staircase. "Bring your old man some fortune cookies tonight. Maybe they'll have some good predictions for the blog."
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