In the bakery, Kelsi waited at one of the little two-person tables in the front while the baker went to add the finishing touches on the frosting for the cake. The smell of warm baked bread and sugary cake was everywhere, and her stomach was growling—loudly.
Her leg bounced up and down as she sat impatiently, trying to distract herself from her hunger by playing sudoku on her phone. An incoming text caught her attention, and she toggled over to her messages.
Dylan: Hey, you on your way?
Kelsi: I wish, at the bakery rn for the cake.
Kelsi: Hoping it’s only a little while longer, he said he needed to add some “final touches,” whatever that means.
Dylan: Okay! I’m almost there now.
Dylan: See you soon, Red. :)
Kelsi’s heart fluttered at the smile he tacked on. With trembling fingers, she fired off one last text, smiling like a schoolgirl.
Kelsi: See you soon. :)
Her phone buzzed in her hand again, and she grinned, shaking her head before looking down at it, expecting Dylan to have sent her another message. Instead, it was a text from Sheridan.
Sheridan: Hey, Kelsi! What are you up to tonight? I heard from some of the guys at the stationthat Crow’s Nest is having a 90s night, if you’re interested in going.
She hesitated, thumbs hovering over the keyboard in their text thread. How could an invite to the party come across as friendly, and notfriendly? Like in a “friends are welcome” and not a “come meet the parents” kind of way?
She heaved a frustrated groan loud enough that the baker nervously peered around the corner from the kitchen—probably making sure she wasn’t annoyed at how long the cake was taking. Kelsi waved him off with an apologetic grimace and gestured at her phone.
She typed out a short message to Sheridan, hoping it was bland enough to pass as a friend’s text.
Kelsi: Hey! I can’t tonight, it’s my mom’s birthday so we’re celebrating. You’re welcome to come if you want! Half the town was invited LOL.
Kelsi never saw if Sheridan typed a response, because at that moment the baker came sweeping into the room with a flourish as he presented the finished cake for her inspection. She gave appropriateoohs andaahs over the piped flowers and thanked him quickly before carefully navigating the large cake box to her car and headed out to her mom’s house to join the party.
CHAPTER 31
Dylan
3 Days to Trial
Dylan walked aroundhis mom’s house to the backyard, following the sounds of conversation and music. His mom and Karen had their birthdays only a week apart and had celebrated with a large joint party every year for the past twenty-five years.
He smiled when he saw the two birthday girls laughing with each other, beers in hand. He made his way to them, giving both a kiss on the cheek and saying, “Happy Birthday!” The women preened but waved off his attention.
“Where’s Kelsi?” Dylan’s mom asked Karen.
Dylan chimed in. “She’s on her way. She said the bakery was finishing the cake.”
They turned to look at him with twin smug expressions on their faces.
“What?” he asked, suspicious of them as always. They were both sneaky on their own, and if you got them together? Absolute menaces to society.
“It’s cute that you know where she is, when even I didn’t. And I’m her mother.” Karen grinned at his mom.
“Yeah, you’ve been spending a lot of time together recently,” his mom added as they both turned back to him.
Alarm bells rang in Dylan’s head. “I mean, yes, for work stuff. We’ve had to spend time together for the case.”
They rolled their eyes at him simultaneously.
“Don’t lie to us, Dylan.”
