Don't Forget Me

by Meg Benjamin

  Clem shook her head. “Doing it at the Woodrose would save you a world of hassles, believe me. If you do it anywhere else, you’ll be hip deep in the restaurant wars. Lee and Ken at Brenner’s would feel honor-bound to bid for it, and Allie might feel like she should do it herself, and I’d probably put in a bid too.” She grinned. “Not that I’d get it, but hey, I’d feel like I needed to stake my claim at least.”

  “Won’t they get mad if Joe does it?” Kit took a quick bite of risotto. “I mean they’re competitors.”

  Clem shrugged. “Like I say, if you do it at the Woodrose, you don’t get a choice. And then Lee and Ken can just be guests and Allie can relax.”

  “Except she’ll probably want to do her own cake, and the groom’s cake too.” Kit chewed her lip. She wasn’t sure about that, but since baking was Allie’s profession, to say nothing of her pride and joy, she had a feeling her aunt wouldn’t want to turn it over to anyone else.

  “Not a problem.” Clem grinned. “The Rose is already contracting with Allie for pastries and baked goods. Joe hasn’t found a pastry chef yet, and he probably won’t find one in time for this wedding, assuming he can get the okay to hire one.”

  Kit leaned back in her chair, frowning. “It can’t really be this simple, can it?”

  “Sure it can.” Clem carried her plate to the sink. “Assuming you can get the event center, you’re in.”

  “Assuming I can get the event center.”

  “Maybe you could use their wedding planner too. Then you wouldn’t have to do everything.” Deirdre raised an eyebrow. “Surely they’ve got one.”

  Kit considered the Woodrose’s wedding planner, one Mabel Morgenstern. “I think I’d rather do it myself, or let Aunt Allie do it once we’ve got the venue sewed up. It’s going to be hard enough to reserve the place. I don’t want to push my luck. Thanks for your help, Clem.”

  Clem grinned. “Anytime. Just remember our catering services when it comes time for the bridal shower.”

  Kit lowered her forehead to the table. “Oh hell, bridal showers. I have to find out how to run a bridal shower. And here I’d been feeling so good.”

  Nando lounged on his barstool, nursing his beer. All in all, it was a shitty end to a shitty week, and he used the words advisedly.

  They hadn’t gotten anything back from the county lab about the bookstore break-in yet, but that would take a while. Given that the county had some more serious crimes in the queue ahead of them, Nando figured they’d be lucky to get anything back in a month or so.

  Meanwhile, Ham had actually begun a campaign to undermine him as assistant chief. He should have anticipated that move, of course, but for some reason he hadn’t. Ham might be dumb as a post, but he had a certain flair for sneakiness. And he’d clearly decided if he couldn’t get Toleffson’s job, he’d take Nando’s instead.

  Unfortunately, so far he was waging a fairly successful campaign, although Nando was willing to bet that success was more accidental than planned. His current problems all centered around the crap sample he’d taken from the bookstore. Ham had spread the story of the sample around town, leaving out the part about DNA, calling him the “poop policeman.” Given that most people around Konigsburg had no idea that crap could be evidence, the phrase had definitely caught on.

  Nando found himself facing grins where he’d never faced them before, and hearing snickers behind his back from men who were more accustomed to snickering at Ham Linklatter. Maybe he could have explained about the DNA and the importance of the sample, given that they hadn’t turned up any other evidence that could identify the perp, but he had a feeling saying anything more about it would just make things worse. He’d perfected an easy grin to mask the acid bubbling in his stomach.

  The one saving grace in the whole debacle was the fact that at least Toleffson understood the importance of the DNA evidence. On the other hand, he had a feeling this wasn’t exactly what the chief had had in mind when he’d told him to keep his nose clean.

  They hadn’t been able to find any witnesses to the bookstore vandalism. Nobody had heard breaking glass or seen flashing lights. And nobody was currently living upstairs over the store, so there was nobody there to hear the intruders. All in all, it had been one frustrating investigation.

  Now he sat sipping his beer and facing the very sobering possibility that Ham could replace him as the assistant chief if he managed to make Nando look more like a moron than Ham himself. A few weeks ago, Nando would have rated the odds on that happening at near zero. Now it was looking somewhat more possible.

  Tom Ames leaned on the counter next to him. “Anything new with Docia’s store?”

  Nando shook his head. “Not a damn thing. And we’ve been pounding the pavement for a week now. I don’t suppose anybody’s mentioned anything in here?”

  “You mean other than you and the poop?” Tom grimaced. “Nope.”

  “The poop was legitimate evidence…” Nando began.

  Tom shook his head. “Stow it. I know about the DNA. So does everybody else in town with half a brain. Right now you’re getting the grade school playground reaction—you know, ‘Dude, he said poop!’ Eventually people will sober up and remind themselves what a half-wit Ham is.”

  “Yeah. With my luck it’ll happen after he’s pushed me out of the assistant chief’s job.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Tom took a breath, polishing a non-existent spot on the bar. “Kit’s here.”

  Nando stiffened. He’d checked the room carefully when he’d come in, and he hadn’t seen her. “Where?”

  “Back in the kitchen with Deirdre and Clem. They’re bonding.”

  “Terrific. Does that mean I have to find a new bar?”

  “Only if you’re tired of my beer.” Tom shook his head. “She doesn’t seem like she wants to make trouble. I don’t see why you can’t share the place.”

  Nando blew out a breath. “Hey, I was here first.”

  “So we’re back to the grade school playground thing again?”

  “No.” Nando rubbed his eyes. “Okay, I can handle it.”

  Tom frowned. “What happened between you two, anyway?”

  “Momentary lunacy.” Nando took a swallow of his beer, hoping that would be the end of it. He really didn’t want to get into explanations right now.

  He heard the swish of the opening kitchen door and saw Deirdre and Kit heading back toward the bar, with Clem emerging a moment later.

  As usual, his body kicked into high gear. He figured picturing Frau Blücher wasn’t going to have much effect right now. “Evening,” he said, keeping his gaze on Kit’s left earlobe. Kit seemed to be studying the far wall.

  “Hi.” Deirdre leaned across the bar to kiss Tom’s cheek. “Did you miss me?”

  “Always.” Tom grinned the grin of a man who was secure in the promise of getting lucky fairly soon. Nando felt like punching him. “What took you so long? I was about to send Chico in there to make sure you were all still around.”

  “Wedding stuff,” Kit explained. “They were helping me.”

  “Wedding?” Nando felt cold all the way to his toes. Jesus, had she come back to Konigsburg to get married? “Whose wedding?”

  Kit looked at him full-on for the first time. “Aunt Allie’s. And Wonder Dentist. I’ve been drafted to play wedding planner.”

  Tom gave her a dry smile. “I assume just heading for the nearest justice of the peace is out of the question?”

  Clem shook her head. “From what I hear, Allie’s put this thing off for so long the whole town’s getting impatient. People are taking bets about whether it’ll come off at all.”

  “It’ll come off.” Kit’s eyes were steely. “It’ll be the best damn wedding this town’s seen in years—even if I have to get the entire family to chip in.”

  “Oh man.” Tom grinned. “This is going to be good for weeks of discussion. What’s the date?”

  Kit shrugged. “I don’t have one yet. But I will.”

  “That can
work in your favor.” Clem’s brow furrowed. “Check to see if they’ve had any cancellations at the Woodrose. If they’ve got a slot they have to fill, they might give you a break on the price.”

  Deirdre frowned. “But if they need to fill it, it would probably be pretty soon. Don’t you need time to plan?”

  Kit shook her head. “The less time to plan, the less time I have to screw it up. Besides, Allie’s had months to pull this thing together. Surely she knows what she wants by now.”

  Three fists immediately knocked on the wooden counter.

  “Here’s hoping,” Kit muttered. “I need to get home. I’ve got work tomorrow.”

  “Let us know what happens at the Woodrose,” Deirdre cut in. “Keep us posted. You never know—maybe we can help.”

  Kit gave her a tired smile. Maybe it had been a long day for her too. “Thanks, Deirdre. I appreciate it.” She turned and started toward the exit.

  Nando walked out the door behind her.

  She came to a quick halt, turning to stare at him under the parking lot lights, her eyes wary. “What?”

  He shrugged. “I was going to walk you home. It was time for me to take off too.” Maybe the parking lot lights would hide the tension he could feel snaking across his shoulders. He hoped so, anyway.

  Kit licked her lips, and he braced himself. “I drove tonight,” she said softly. “You all made such a big deal about it not being safe.”

  He told himself he wasn’t disappointed. After all, it was what he’d wanted her to do. “Okay, that’s good.”

  “Would you like a ride?” She raised those astonishing dark eyes to his.

  A smart man would say no. A smart man would know better than to take the chance of killing the truce before they’d even gotten started. But he wasn’t exactly smart these days. “Thanks,” he said. “Where are you parked?”

  Kit had no idea why she’d offered him a ride. It wasn’t like he needed one. No mugger in his right mind would go after anybody Nando’s size. Now she felt like she was in driver’s ed class—sitting stiffly in her seat, trying to make sure she didn’t break any traffic regulations.

  Not that he seemed any more relaxed than she did. He stared out the window, as if he were looking for somebody familiar on the deserted streets of Konigsburg.

  “I heard about the break-in at Docia’s shop,” she said a little desperately. “All the damage. Allie said he destroyed several thousand dollars worth of merchandise and then messed up the store. Why would anybody do something like that?”

  Nando winced. She hadn’t realized it would be a sensitive topic. “Somebody with a grudge against Docia, I guess.”

  “But nobody has a grudge against Docia, nobody I know anyway. And I’ve known her since I was a teenager.”

  He shrugged. “Some people get teed off and you don’t know it until they do something stupid. It could be somebody mad about something that doesn’t seem like a problem to the rest of us, like her selection of books or maybe the color of her hair.”

  “Do you have any evidence that could point to who it is?”

  He grimaced again. She wasn’t sure what was bothering him, but something about the break-in seemed painful. “Yeah, we’ve got some evidence. The county lab is taking care of it.”

  They lapsed into silence again. She forced herself not to look at the sharp line of his profile against the darkened window. After a moment, he blew out a long breath.

  “So Allie’s getting married to Wonder.”

  “That’s what she says. Assuming I can get everything lined up for her.” Kit shook her head. “Deirdre and Clem gave me some good ideas, but I’m still not sure if everything will work out.”

  “It’ll work out.”

  “I hope so.”

  “It’ll work out,” he repeated. “You’ll make sure it does.”

  His smile flashed briefly in the moonlight. She licked her lips. “Thanks. I hope I do a good job for her.”

  “You will.” He glanced out the window. “You can let me out here.”

  Kit frowned. “Don’t you live in that trailer park anymore?”

  “Nope. Sold the trailer last year. Esteban and I share an apartment over on Olmos Drive.”

  “Oh. Well, okay.” She pulled her Civic to the curb.

  Nando opened the door and stepped out, leaning back briefly as he closed the door. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Sure,” she murmured.

  “Maybe I’ll see you at the Faro again sometime.”

  He turned and walked up the sidewalk before she could answer, but she wasn’t sure what she would have said anyway. As she turned back toward Allie’s house, it occurred to her that that possibility, seeing him again, wasn’t nearly as upsetting as she might once have thought it would be.

  Chapter Seven

  Before she headed to work the next morning, Kit stopped by Deirdre’s shop for a large cup of dark roast. Aunt Allie had a perfectly acceptable coffee maker and a bag of coffee beans that actually came from Deirdre’s roaster, but Kit still loved the brew at Coffee Delight. She figured an occasional indulgence wouldn’t break her.

  The new barista, a boy who looked barely ready for high school, poured coffee and espresso with remarkable élan. Kit was impressed.

  Deirdre herself ran the cash register and served up the limited supply of pastries, most of them purchased from Allie’s bakery. The number of customers was mind-boggling, but Kit found a seat at the end of the front counter and took a long, welcome sip of fresh-brewed ambrosia.

  After a few minutes, Deirdre moved to the counter across from her. “You’re up early. Do they actually expect you to show up at the Woodrose at this time of day?”

  Kit shook her head. “Just trying to get my thoughts together before I go talk to Ms. Morgenstern about the event center. I figure I need all my ducks in a row.”

  “Good idea.” Deirdre’s perfect forehead furrowed slightly. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

  Kit blinked. “I won’t know until you ask me, I guess.”

  “What’s with you and Nando? Are you friends? Former friends? Sort of enemies?”

  Kit gave her a half smile, staring down at her coffee cup. “We’re former more-than-friends. We had a ‘thing’ going for a while, back during the summer when I worked at Cedar Creek. We broke up when I had to go back to school in San Antonio.”

  “Broke up amicably?” Deirdre raised an eyebrow.

  Kit took a moment to sip her coffee and consider how to answer exactly. “It wasn’t amicable. We had a big fight—more like a series of big fights. The closer I got to leaving, the rockier it got.”

  Deirdre nodded slowly. “You were probably both worried about the big change coming up and what would happen next.”

  “Maybe.” Kit shrugged. “We might have been able to ride it out, but after one of the bigger fights, he went off to the Dew Drop and picked up another girl. Half the town saw them walk out together. He didn’t come back that night. It wasn’t like I could ignore the whole thing. Particularly when a couple of people called me to fill in the details.”

  Deirdre blew out a breath. “Ouch.”

  Kit nodded. “I packed up my stuff the next morning and headed back to San Antonio.”

  “Did he try to talk to you about it?”

  “Sort of. He called. I didn’t pick up. He left messages. I deleted them. He sent me an email that said Sorry, babe, let’s talk. I didn’t want to.”

  Deirdre frowned. “He didn’t come to San Antonio?”

  Kit shook her head. “I didn’t give him any encouragement. I didn’t see or talk to him until the other night at the Faro.”

  Deirdre stared down at the counter, rubbing at an imaginary spot. “He’s Tom’s best friend, and I like him too. But I want you both to feel comfortable at the Faro. Will you be all right seeing him there?”

  “Sure.” Kit took a last swallow of coffee. “I’m a big girl now, Deirdre. Moving ahead in the hospitality business. A wedding planner too, no less. D
on’t worry—I can handle it. He can too.” She pushed herself up from her stool. “Speaking of which, I’d better head out to the Woodrose. I need to catch Morgenstern before she locks herself away for the day.”

  Deirdre smiled. “Come back any time. Beer at night, coffee in the morning. We’re a full service stop.”

  But Kit thought she saw a speculative look in her eye as she headed out the door toward the street.

  Great. The last thing she wanted this time around was anybody trying to patch up her love life.

  Kit had learned over the days she’d worked at the Woodrose that Mabel Morgenstern was easiest to find before the lunch rush started. Around eleven, she disappeared into her office and seldom emerged again before Kit went home. After the first day, she’d apparently decided Kit could handle the Rose just fine. At any rate, she hadn’t made any attempts to supervise, although for Kit, that hands-off policy was actually a plus.

  Now, however, she was going to have to track Morgenstern into her lair, which was where the event planning and scheduling software was located. She hadn’t bothered to ask Allie for her choice of wedding date. She’d already asked several times, and Allie had done nothing but dither. When Kit had come to the inn that morning, she’d pulled up the daily schedule on her computer. The event center and the inn’s meeting rooms had a lot of bookings, although the groups seemed surprisingly small for the space available.

  Still, she’d found one conspicuous open night in the middle of next month. Maybe a cancellation, and not nearly enough time to fill it on short notice. The event center was a big revenue generator for the inn. If it was empty, that meant lost cash.

  She wiped her suddenly damp palms on her flowered J. Crew skirt and headed down the hall. If Allie didn’t like using the event center in a little over a month, she’d have to come up with her own alternative. Kit was fresh out of options. She took a deep breath. Time to go into negotiating mode.

  As she approached Mabel’s office, she heard voices. Well, at least that meant Morgenstern was already there. Some mornings Kit got to the Woodrose before Mabel did. She peeked in at the side of the open door.