“Tornado. Came clear through.”
Marybeth dragged a shocked look to Allie, her hand going to her chest. “A tornado inEstes Park,Colorado?”
Allie’s face hurt from trying not to laugh. Instead, she kept the smile in place and took a breath through her nose. Marybeth was MB in Allie’s mind: Mega Bitch, and it wouldn’t be long before the ex-Mayor’s wife started living up to the moniker. Marybeth broke out of her stupor and approached the counter. She placed one hand with perfectly pink fingernails on the top and began to drum them like the claws they were. Claws she wanted to sink into Benjamin Rowe in the worst possible way.
“I saw Benny come in. Where is he?”
Benny.Jesus Christ. The man was sixty-two years old and built like a brick shit house.
“I’m afraid he’s already left. Is there something I can help you with?”
Marybeth gave a dismissive chuckle. “Yes, I’d like to speak to Benny and I’m sure you know just where to find him.”
He’s eagerly hiding in hell along with the bells above my door.
“I’m not sure where he went. He’s left his cell phone behind, as usual.”
Allie slowly pulled a phone from her apron pocket, not caring that it was hers and not her dad’s. Like MB would know. Except that she always seemed to know everything, about everyone, before they even knew it themselves. She was the Queen of Everyone’s Damn Business— her father’s words— and heaven help you if you didn’t give the woman what she wanted. She had no qualms about sticking some dirty business on you and letting the town know about it, true or not.
Marybeth’s bubblegum claws walked over to the extra coffee cup sitting close to Allie’s. Allie winced a little. Shit.
“Darling, I know business isn’t good enough that you needtwocups of coffee to keep up. I mean, look at this shithole. I heard wild animals did a number on the place, but seriously.”
Allie cleared her throat and slid her father’s coffee toward her cup. She snaked both cups off the counter and put them on the table by the register, hoping that when she turned back around, Pink Powderpuff would be gone. The drum of pointed tips on glass said otherwise.
“Oh, I don’t know. I think the ripping and shredding, and destruction add a little something special to the place, don’t you?”
“You know Allie Mae, I’m here to place a rather large order of things for my moonlight garden party, and it would be prudent of you to watch yourself. Or I might have to go down the street to Bella Blu and see what they’ll do for me.”
Oh, I couldn’t be so lucky, Allie thought. She glanced at the waded-up bank note on the floor by her feet and clenched her jaw. Marybeth’s moonlight party was a big deal. Half of Estes Park and Denver came— well, anyone with money, basically.
Bella Blu was a hundred-year-old cornerstone and was always getting the bigger orders. Competing with the well-known bakery was hard as hell. And she needed the cash.
“What do you have in mind?”
Marybeth smiled wide, causing the powder on her face to crack into her laugh lines. “Well, I’m not sure. I’m thinking some petit fours, and those decadent lemon cupcakes with the pink frosting.”
“Raspberry frosting.”
“Mmmm-hmm. Delightful. However, I’d only be able to place an order of, say, two hundred to start if Benny were available to escort me for the evening.”
Allie drew in a breath through her nose and forced her expression to stay relaxed. Her dad had been very clear to Marybeth that he wasn’t interested in her advances, yet the widow pursued Ben like he was the very breath she needed to live. It would have been kind of sweet if she weren’t so creepy in her persistence.
“I can’t really speak for my father, Marybeth. But I’ll be sure to let him know.”
The older woman looked Allie up and down before she turned away. “You do that.”
Allie let out a breath, waiting for the woman to leave. But right before she got to the door, MB stopped and glanced up. She pointed above the window and turned to Allie with a disgusted expression.
“Allie Mae, what on earth isthat?”
Allie cocked her head to see better. A long, thin, blackish line settled in the crease where the wall met the ceiling.
“Is that... is thatmold?” The older woman gasped.
A cold chill went over her spine. No, no, no. The Universe wouldn’t be that horrible, would it?
MB and her huge, gossipy mouth would tell everyone that Sticky Sweet was contaminated or something. She was already up to her eyeballs in debt trying to keep this place open; she couldn’t afford to lose business. She grappled for something to say that would hold Marybeth off, but nothing came to mind.
