Page 15 of Wedding Cake Carnage

Huh. That sounds both callous and heroic. Something tells me it takes a talent to do just that.

The three of them take off, and I schlep the oversized notebook back to the counter with me.

Keelie bops over from next door as Lily finishes up with the last of the tourists.

“Whatcha got?” Keelie spins the folder her way. “Lemon-Donovan wedding. Wow, don’t tell me this is the instruction manual. I promise when Bear and I get hitched, it won’t be nearly as over organized. I’m thinking of keeping it simple. I bet I could pull the whole thing off in a month.”

“Keelie! Are you trying to tell me that you and Bear are engaged?”

“What? No way. We’re still in the puppy love stage, but a girl can dream.”

“Or scheme,” Lily snips before taking off again.

“So what’s the deal with Mr. Sexy?”

Mr. Sexy happens to be the nickname baristas the world over have gifted Everett, and I don’t disagree with their intuitive assessment.

“Still missing. Keelie, I’m going to go insane if I can’t find him soon. I have to know he’s safe. What if he’s hurt? What if he needs medical attention? This person is a psychopath.”

“Something has to give soon, Lottie. And I’m hoping whatever it is, it’s good news.”

“It has to be. We won’t accept anything less.”

“What about Jana’s case? Anything new?”

My eyes flit to the door. “Amanda Wellington just climbed to the top of the suspect list. She admitted to having financial trouble and she seemed more than happy to take over Jana’s clients.”

“What about her fiancé? He is a looker.”

“Funny. Lainey said the same thing. I guess compared to Everett and Noah, I didn’t notice—no offense to Bear. I’ll try to track him down. Maybe I’ll find out where his office is and we can bring him some cookies?”

Keelie and I have made a habit of showing up at a suspect’s place of work with a platter full of sweet treats. Let’s just say it doesn’t always yield such sweet results.

She makes a face. “From what I heard he has a home office.”

“Then we’ll go with plan B.”

“What’s plan B?”

“I have no idea, but B had better stand forbrilliant.”

Beasty treks over, his hulking frame lumbering as his shoulders fall and rise with every step. He’s so gorgeous with his snow-white mane, pale gray stripes, and startling blue eyes.

“I sense a presence,” he rumbles it out like a threat.

“A presence?” My antennae go up as I scan the vicinity.

Keelie squints over at me. “Did you say presents?”

“Yes!Yes, I did.” I dash over to the door and look up and down the street. “It’s a bright sunny day, almost eighty degrees out, and most of the tourists are taking cover in the air-conditioned shops.”

Keelie pops up beside me. “Lottie, you just gave me a brilliant idea. We need to have a naughty nightie party for Lainey. It’s the least we can do after your murderous Midas touch killed off her wedding planner.”

My mouth falls open at the accusation, but before I can swat her, she’s trilling out a string of things to do for the naughty party as she makes her way to the Honey Pot Diner next door.

At one point, our grandmother Nell Sawyer owned both the Honey Pot Diner and the bakery—and, well, half of Honey Hollow. When she died, she left the lion’s share of it all to yours truly, due to the fact she felt so bad she needed to hide her familial connection to me in order to honor her daughter’s request.

The Honey Pot Diner is connected to the bakery through a walkway blown through our connecting wall. There’s a large resin oak tree that spreads its twinkle light strewn branches all the way across the Honey Pot’s ceiling and well into the café of my bakery as well. The effect is simply magical.