Page 16 of Donut Disaster
“Gotta run.” Cormack lifts a finger to Lily. “Two vanilla lattes and a couple of those glazed crullers, please.” She leans my way. “I heard it was the last thing Morgan ate.” She squeals with delight as if the prospect thrilled her before bopping off to meet Amanda at a table.
“And here we go,” Lily says as she gets the donuts and coffee ready for their order. “Something tells me you’d better start cranking out these crullers if you want to keep up with demand. Once your mother sends the tour buses over, this place is going to be a nightmare. Face it, Lottie, we’ve just tumbled down the donut hole.” She steps in close. Lily is a pretty brunette with dark olive skin and a perpetual scowl. “Did you hear that they think that doctor killed himself? Can you imagine? Right there at a birthday party for an old friend? They say he waited for the fireworks to start so no one would think much of the gunshot.”
“I can’t imagine that at all,” I say as she takes off. “Because I’m betting it’s not true,” I mutter to myself.
Lainey and Meg wander in and I’m quick to serve them a stack of glazed donuts and fresh hot coffee.
Soon enough, Naomi stumbles in along with my fresh-faced bestie, Keelie.
“Guess what?” Keelie gives me a cheeky grin. “We’ve invited a special guest to breakfast and he should be here in T-minus ten seconds,” she says, looking at the vacant spot on her wrist.
“Who?” I say as both Lily and I turn to the door just in time to see Noah’s doppelgänger walk in.
“Alex!” I say, ringing my arm around his neck as I try my best to hug him with a coffee pot in my other hand. “Take a seat. I’ll get you some coffee. Are donuts all right?”
“Better than all right.” He gives a thumbs-up as Lily, Naomi, and Keelie quickly swarm him. Alex is looking mighty beefy in that all-too-small T-shirt. His muscles bulge out like someone blew them up like balloons, and don’t think for a minute that these girls haven’t noticed.
Meg coaxes him and his harem to join her and Lainey, and soon enough three tables are conjoined together just to accommodate the burgeoning crew. I distribute the donuts and coffee before sitting with them for a second.
“Naomi Turner.” Naomi is quick to thrust her claw his way. Naomi is originally a blonde, as is Keelie, but like my own little sister, she’s chosen to eschew her blonde locks for the raven-haired look. Of course, it looks stunning on her. Both she and Keelie are super pretty.
Alex is about to shake her hand when Lily smacks it out of the way and clutches onto him herself.
“Lily Swanson. I work right here at the bakery. You can find me any time from nine to six. I’m free for dinner all week.”
Naomi plucks Lily’s hand away and shoots her a threatening look that reminds Lily who’s who in the hierarchy of their friendship.
“And I manage the Evergreen Manor.” Naomi lands her talons where she intended them to be in the first place. “We have a full-service restaurant with a filet mignon special that could make a cow’s mouth water.”
I roll my eyes at the awful euphemism.
“That’s very nice of you,” he says with caution and wisely so. “And good to know. It looks like I’ll be extending my time in Honey Hollow.”
Lainey leans in. “Are you going to try to catch the killer?”
“We’ll see.” He tosses his hand. “Noah asked me to stick around for a bit, and I planned on it anyway.”
Meg gasps. “He thinks you’re the killer, doesn’t he? Hey? Aren’t you an ex-Marine? You’re practically a killing machine!”
Alex chuckles at the thought, and I can see Noah there in his face and suddenly I’m craving a little time with my favorite detective.
“I’m no killer. I can promise you that.” He nods my way. “I hear you’re the best when it comes to solving crimes around here. Any idea who killed my buddy?”
“Not really. I mean, you saw what I did that night. There was Colin—Dr. Drake. He seemed like a solid guy. Morgan mentioned they were both up for chief of surgery. But they seemed on friendly terms. And the nurse we met—the one who works in the labor and delivery unit? She seemed nice, too.”
Meg butts her shoulder into Lainey’s. “Labor and delivery,” she sings, and it sounds as if she’s channeling our mother. “Lainey is working to get in that unit herself.”
“Really?” I practically knock over Alex’s coffee as I reach over and take up my sister’s hand for a moment. “So, are you and Forest trying? I’m so happy for you!”
Lainey is the head librarian at the Honey Hollow Public Library, but as much as she’s always wanted to surround herself with books, she’s wanted even more to surround herself with children.
“We’re not quite trying”—she bats Meg away—“but it’s not something we’re looking to prevent either.” She jets her chin out toward Alex. “Back to the murder. Next suspect?”
Alex shrugs. “How about those girlfriends?”
“One of which gave me this shiner? They were cat-fighting by the time Everett and I went to break the news to them. Anika was pretty torn up, but the long-haired girl, Cassie”—I point to my eye when I say her name—“she looked thrilled she didn’t have to share him anymore.”
The entire table gasps.