by Debbie Mason
Simon padded to Ava and nudged her leg. When she looked down at him, he lifted his chin. Ava leaned over and picked him up. Cuddling him to her chest, she scratched behind his ears. Simon closed his eyes on a contented purr with what looked to be a lusty smile on his face. Colleen had created a monster.
Oddly enough, the thought made her think of Lexi. Oddly, because the girl was far from a monster. There was something going on with her though. The way she was acting about Ava was out of character. Colleen didn’t know why Griffin didn’t see it. It would be a different story if Lexi was in love with Griffin. She loved him, but more like a brother or best friend, someone she needed to protect. Thanks to Finn and Aidan, Lexi no doubt felt Griffin needed her protection from Ava. But the old Lexi wouldn’t have been so quick to judgment. If she’d only give Ava a chance to show her what she was made of and how much she loved Griffin…
An idea came to Colleen. “Ava, my girl, I think I’ve found a way to help you. I’m going to have a little chat with Lexi every night like I did Griffin. I won’t let up until I’ve convinced her you’re the one for him.” She reached over to pat Ava’s thigh, only to realize the girl was standing. “What did I miss, Simon?”
“Please reconsider, Ava. We can’t afford to lose this competition. We need you in the kitchen too.”
“Wait? She said no? How could she say no? We need her. Greystone needs her.”
“I’m sorry, Sophie. I promised Griffin I wouldn’t go anywhere near Lexi. Even if I hadn’t made the promise, I couldn’t work in the kitchen with her watching my every move.”
For two days, Ava had managed to avoid Lexi. It wasn’t easy. She could have sworn the woman was stalking her, trying to force a confrontation. Good thing Ava knew the manor better than she did. Which came in handy right now. Ava was hidden in the closet in the dining room, talking to Erin through a crack in the door.
“Helga cooked the green beans like you said, but Gaston told her to add more honey and maple syrup. She wants to know what you think.” Pretending to tie her apron, Erin passed a green bean through the crack.
Ava took a bite, closing her eyes to savor the flavor. “The man needs to have his taste buds checked. It’s perfect. Tell Helga to tell Gaston she did as he asked and to keep him away from the pan.”
“Okay.” There was a commotion toward the front of the restaurant and Erin stretched on her toes, leaning to her right. “They’re here. One of the judges is pretty cute. I wish I was serving. Yikes. Lexi glanced this way, and she looks suspicious. I better…Oh, I almost forgot, how much balsamic vinegar was supposed to be in the reduction?”
Ava inched the door open. Lexi’s long, side-swept bang fell over one of her eyes, but the other one was looking their way. She wore stylish cognac boots over her jeans and a black sweater with a pretty fringed black-and-blue scarf. “She doesn’t look suspicious, she looks constipated,” Ava said tartly, then remembered what Erin had asked. “Half a cup if he’s cooking four steaks.” Basil’s wife had been added as a judge. One of her assistants was doing the filming.
“Oh. My. God. Ava, I’m pretty sure Helga said Gaston told her to use a cup.”
“Why is he having Helga do the sides and reduction? He should be preparing the entire entrée. It’s a competition, not a regular night in the dining room.”
“He was making red velvet cupcakes and then changed to black-bottom cupcakes. He’s kind of obsessed with desserts.”
“Who’s cooking the steaks?” Ava asked, a nervous hitch in her voice.
“The new sous chef. He looks like he knows what he’s doing except…”
Because of the number of bookings from the bridal show, Sophie had hired the sous chef. Gaston had tried to fire him yesterday, but Sophie had overridden him. “Except what?”
“Gaston told him to blacken the bottom of the steaks. Kind of like a theme thing with his dessert. This isn’t good, is it, Ava?”
She shook her head. “The only way Greystone stands a chance of winning is if the Marquis’s chef is worse than ours.”
Two hours later, they found out the Marquis’s chef was much better than theirs. Ava, Helga, and Erin were sitting in the break room watching the videos that had been uploaded to Basil’s Facebook page. Helga slumped in the chair. “Look at Gaston pointing at me and the kid. The weasel threw us under the bus. He’s trying to get us fired before the next round.”
The three of them had been standing in front of the judges’ table while they sampled the meal. And sample is all they did. All four judges had pushed their plates away after a single bite of the smothered steak topped with sautéed onions, the rosemary potatoes, and sweetened green beans. They ate the entire cupcake, though, pronouncing it divine.
Erin looked at Ava. “You think it’s more than that, don’t you?”
“I do, and I think it’s about time we did some digging into Gaston St. John. We have a little more than a week before the next round.”
“Forget digging into him; I’m gonna dig him a grave. On second thought, that’s a lot of work. You two can dig the grave, and I’ll choke him to death,” Helga said.
As a way to ease their frustration and disappointment at the loss, they started coming up with more creative ways to get rid of Gaston.
“Wait, wait, I’ve got a better one,” Erin said once they’d stopped laughing at Helga’s suggestion to put a raw turkey over his head and sew it shut.
Erin’s better idea took her five minutes to explain. It was kinky and involved ropes. “I don’t even want to know how you came up with that. But simple is best. We snip some wolfsbane leaves into his salad. He’ll die of asphyxiation just like that.” Ava snapped her fingers. Helga looked at her, making an odd noise. “Yes, that’s close to what he’d sound like, I think. The postmortem will blame an arrhythmia.” Erin’s foot tapped hers. “Yes, something like that, just faster…more like this.” She tapped her foot on Erin’s. “And that, ladies, is how you get away with”—Erin kicked her—“murder,” Ava said, looking over her shoulder. Crapola. “Oh, hello, Lexi.”
“It’s not funny, Griffin. She tried to get me fired because of a joke!” Ava said into her cell phone as she paced the ramp in front of her house, barely noticing the cold night air that frosted the railing and the grass.
“Babe, I think it had more to do with you orchestrating the cook-off fail from the closet than with your plot to poison Gaston,” Griffin responded in a slow drawl that was laced with amusement.
“You know why I was in the closet, and they do too. Helga and Erin told them everything. But who do Kitty and Jasper believe? Gaston and your ex-wife the cop.” Ava snorted. “She couldn’t solve a case if you spoon-fed her the evidence. If she had half a brain, she’d know who was really behind this.” Ava took a long, satisfying drag on her cigarette. She’d given in to its siren call after she’d eaten the two cupcakes she’d snuck from the kitchen at the manor. Sadly, they were divine, and probably a thousand calories each.
“You didn’t happen to say all that to Lex, did you?” Even over the phone, she picked up on his concern. Of course he wouldn’t want her to upset his pregnant ex.
Ava scowled at the night sky and took another drag of her cigarette. “No, I sat there like a meek little mouse while they grilled me and fired their accusations at me.” She blew smoke rings, stabbing the cigarette through each one. “And your pazza culo ex looked at me like I wasn’t fit to shine her shoes. I hate that woman so much.”
“Yeah, kinda getting that, babe. Is that why you’re outside smoking?”
She grimaced at the cigarette. “No, I’m—”
A white Coast Guard SUV pulled alongside the road across from the house. Sully grinned at her from the driver’s seat and gave her a two-finger salute. “You might want to reconsider what you were going to say,” Griffin suggested with a touch of amusement in his voice as he rounded the front of the vehicle. He tucked his cell phone in his jacket pocket and strode across the road.
“I wasn’t expecting t
o see you tonight,” she said, her pulse quickening and butterflies taking flight in her stomach at the sight of him in his uniform. Her body reacted the same way every time she saw him. Sometimes she was afraid it was a dream and she’d eventually wake up. She slid her phone in her pocket and dropped her cigarette in the plastic cup of water by the door before running down the ramp. Throwing herself in his arms, she hugged him tight and lifted up on her toes to kiss him.
He leaned back, looking down at her, his blue eyes dancing, his dimple winking at her. “Sorry, babe, you’ve just had a cigarette in that mouth. I’m not kissing it.”
She dropped down with a frown. “You’re serious?”
“Yep, I figure that’ll be incentive enough for you to quit.” He touched his lips to the corner of hers and pulled back with a laugh. “You really are a sweet face,” he said, tracing her lips with his thumb. He brought it to his mouth and licked it. “Chocolate.”
She made a face. “Your ex is driving me to eat. I had two cupcakes as soon as I got home. I won’t be able to fit in my jeans if I keep this up.”
He moved his hands to her butt and gave a gentle squeeze. “Works for me.” Sully beeped the horn. “I better take off. Just wanted to check and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you did. I’m going to miss you tonight.” It was their first night apart because Griffin had to work late.
His expression grew serious as he stroked her hair. “I’ll miss you too. We’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for.” He looked over when Dorothy’s front door opened. “Have fun at book club. Call me when you get home.” He gave her a hard, quick kiss on the mouth. “No more smoking. I’ll take care of your oral fixation tomorrow. I’m off.”
“You look happy, lovey,” Dorothy said when she reached her side, waving goodbye to Sully and Griffin.
“I am.” She smiled, and then she remembered what had gone on at the manor today. She told Dorothy about it as they walked along Main Street. Rosa met up with them two blocks from Books and Beans.
At the same time Dorothy said, “I hate to say it, lovey, but I was afraid this would happen. You’ve got yourself in a difficult situation. You can’t come between a man and the woman carrying his child.”
Rosa slashed her hand in the air. “Foolish old woman. Don’t listen to her, cara. She’s letting her own decisions cloud her eyes.”
“Rosa, this isn’t the time—” Dorothy began, shooting a sidelong glance at Ava.
“It was your choice not to come back to Harmony Harbor when you found out Maria and Gino were expecting Ava. Your mama did nothing wrong, cara. Dot and Gino had decided to take a break when she went away to nursing school.”
Ava looked from her aunt to Dorothy. “You dated my father? That’s what you were talking about the day I accused you of hating him?”
“Yes, lovey. Gino and I—”
“Dating? They were engaged,” Rosa interjected.
“Do you mind? It’s my story to tell, Rosa.”
“You’re too slow. It doesn’t matter anyway. This isn’t the same. You and Maria were best friends.” Rosa hooked her arm through Ava’s. “This Lexi, she’s hard as nails. So you, you have to be tough too. Mark my words, she has one goal in mind, and that’s to break up you and Griffin. You stand up to her. Show her you mean business too.”
Ava was still trying to deal with the fact that Dorothy had once been engaged to her father so it took a minute for Rosa’s words to sink in. “I promised Griffin I’d stay away from her.”
“I think that’s a good idea, lovey.”
“Eh, you’re both pazze. You’ll see I’m right. And once you do, you better rise to the challenge, cara, or that woman will walk all over you. Tonight, I’ll show you how it’s done. Kitty agreed that we would get you and Griffin together, and now she thinks she can go back on her word? Ha! She has another think coming.”
Dorothy leaned into Ava. “Let’s hope the only murder we’re discussing tonight is the one in the book.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ava wasn’t thinking about murder when she entered Books and Beans; she was thinking about her mother and Dorothy. “I don’t understand how you were able to stay friends with my mother after she stole my father from you. I feel like I should apologize to you somehow,” Ava said as they walked through the coffee shop to the bookstore.
“Your aunt has horrible timing. We’ll talk about it another day. But you needn’t worry your head over it, lovey. If things hadn’t turned out the way they did, I never would have met my Rocky. As much as Maria was Gino’s soul mate, Rocky was mine. I was just blessed to have him longer than your father had your mother.” She lifted her chin to the children’s section where the circle of empty chairs waited. “Let’s put Rosa between us. That way we can each grab an arm if she goes after Kitty.”
“Sophie’s coming too. She’ll help keep her in line.” Maybe. As Ava had discovered, her cousin wasn’t herself these days. She hadn’t been all that helpful putting a stop to Lexi and Gaston this afternoon. Then again, Sophie had probably been too busy formulating a strategy to deal with the unhappy couples who’d booked their spring and summer weddings at the manor. The manor’s poor performance in the first round of the food wars had gone viral. As a result, two weddings and an engagement party had been canceled.
Ava was distracted from her thoughts by Julia, who walked over to give her a hug. “I’m glad you decided to come. I’ve missed you the past few mornings. I was worried about you after…well, you know.”
No doubt news about the bridal fair’s wedding crasher had hit the Harmony Harbor grapevine minutes after it had happened, but it seemed news of her reconciliation with Griffin hadn’t. “I’m good. Really good. Griffin and I are back together.” She smiled, feeling almost giddy.
It’d been more than a decade since she’d actually had news worthy of sharing with her friends. She’d listened to all of them talk about their love lives for years, and now, finally, she could too. Maybe it was a little high school, but she was glad she’d come. They’d want to hear all about it, all the romantic details, and she was more than happy to share at least some of them. It would be fun. After today, she could use some girl time and fun.
Julia reacted exactly as Ava had hoped. She gave an excited squeal and hugged her again. “I’m so, so happy for you. This is the best news.” She frowned. “But how come I’m only hearing about it now?”
“It’s just been a couple of days, and we’ve mostly been at my place or the lighthouse. So it’s not like anyone has seen us together.” And the ones who did know they were together, like Griffin’s family, weren’t spreading the news for obvious reasons. Neither had her family.
“Mac, Arianna, Lily, and Zoe are going to go crazy when they hear you two are back together. In their eyes, you guys were the perfect couple. They’re going to want the scoop. And speaking of scoop…” Julia pulled Ava toward the chairs and lowered her voice. “I need to ask you a favor.”
“Sure. What do you need?”
Julia glanced over her shoulder as though making sure no one was around, then asked, “Did you like the book?”
“I loved it. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I didn’t want to put it down.” It was probably a good thing she’d read the book while she was visiting her father at the hospital. With Griffin home, she wouldn’t get much reading done for a while.
“Okay, here’s the thing, I need you to pretend you hated it.”
“Why? Byron picked the book for this month’s read, and his brother’s the author. I’m not going to say—”
“He picked it because he thought we’d hate it. And everyone I’ve talked to has loved it. I can’t keep it on the shelf. I don’t really know the whole story, but they have this intense rivalry and Byron always ends up on the losing end. Anyway, Poppy says he’s going through a difficult time…” Ava cleared her throat as the Hartes approached, nudging her head in their direction.
Julia turned with a smile. “Hi, Byron an
d Poppy. Why don’t you guys all take a seat? Looks like everyone’s arriving now, so we’ll be starting anytime.”
At the steady chime of the front door, Ava glanced toward the coffee shop, waving to her friends who’d just arrived. Ava made out Dana and Sophie in the group of women, but she didn’t know who the blonde…Lexi. Griffin’s ex was here.
Byron took her arm. “Why don’t we get a seat?” He didn’t wait for a response, steering Ava toward her aunt and Dorothy. “I take it you weren’t counting on your ex’s ex being here?”
Ava’s body practically vibrated with anger. She couldn’t understand why Dana and Sophie would bring Lexi with them. They had to know how uncomfortable it would be for her. “No, no, I didn’t,” she said as she took the seat beside her aunt.
Rosa looked at her. “What’s the matter…What’s she doing here?”
Ava was gratified to know that she wasn’t the only one who thought it wasn’t right Lexi was crashing book club too, but it didn’t mean she wanted her aunt to start something. Rosa was already gearing up for a fight, and her aunt’s nemesis had just taken the seat beside Lexi. Ava elbowed Rosa and told her in Italian to behave.
Byron took the seat beside Ava and murmured, “Looks like this is going to turn into an interesting evening after all.” He grimaced when she glanced at him. “Sorry.”
Sophie, who sat on the other side of Lexi, looked across at Ava and made a what-was-I-supposed-to-do? gesture with her hands. Ava pursed her lips, then forced a smile when Mackenzie and Arianna spotted her and came over. They each gave her a quick hug. “We’ll chat after, but you’re good, right?” Arianna asked.
Ava didn’t feel quite so excited about sharing her news now and just smiled and nodded.