“Honey, I’m proud of you, but please never risk your life to save a squirrel again.” Jim and I were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, facing each other, our legs intertwined. I was propped up with pillows, my precious baby girl napping in the crook of my arm.
Together again at last.
I’d taken a couple days to rest and recover from the adventure in Golden and had finally confessed the squirrel incident to Jim.
“But they’re so cute!” I said, holding out my phone to show him a video that Maud the wildlife rehabilitator had sent me. It showed the baby squirrels tumbling over each other in a tiny habitat. “She says she going to release them back into the forest tomorrow.”
“Honey, I’m serious,” he insisted.
Our almost-full-grown tabby cat leaped onto his lap and rubbed her chin against his hand. “Yeah,” Jim cooed to her. “You’d like to eat those squirrels, huh?”
I laughed aloud. “I’ll try not to do anything like that again. But Jim, you just don’t understand the way she looked at me. The way she asked for help, from one mom to another.”
“Darling!” Mom swept into the living room from the kitchen, carrying a plate. “I think I’ve got it right!”
She held out the polvorones de canele to Jim, then me. I took a bite with a happy sigh. “Mmm! Yes, these are perfect!”
Whiskers’s ears perked up, and she looked hopefully at Jim. He chuckled and broke off a tiny piece for her. She sniffed it, then wrinkled her nose and jumped off his lap.
“Oh, is this the recipe Vicente’s grandmother gave you, Vera?” Jim asked. “Man, Kate wasn’t kidding about how good these are.”
“Absolutely deadly,” I replied.
“It is.” Mom set the plate on the coffee table and grabbed two cookies. “She and I have swapped a few recipes now.”
I suppressed a grin. Mom had definitely gotten the better end of that deal. I tried to imagine Gloria making some hideous Jell-O concoction at Mom’s recommendation.
Nope, couldn’t picture it. Gloria had better sense than that, surely.
“In fact.” She gesticulated wildly with a cookie in each hand. “I really want to try making Spanish tortillas for you. How about Sunday brunch?”
“Homemade tortillas?” Jim asked, brow furrowed. “Like, for brunch? I guess we could bring some breakfast burrito fillings.”
Mom and I laughed, and I said, “No need. You’ll understand when we have brunch. It’s a very different kind of tortilla.”
Mom’s phone chimed. “Oh, that’s a videocall,” she said. She pulled out her phone and brightened when she saw the screen. “Oh! It’s Gloria! Speaking of these cookies.” She answered the phone. “Gloria!”
“Hola, Vera!” cried Gloria. “Did the polvorones de canele turn out?”
Mom held a cookie up to the camera. “They’re absolutely divine. Can’t thank you enough for this recipe. I have one for a Jell-O tiramisu if you’d like.”
Jim and I smirked at each other, and I called, “Gloria! How are Luz and Vicente doing?”
Mom turned the screen around so Gloria and I could see each other.
Gloria beamed. “I’m so glad to see you home with your babies! Gary drove safely home?”
“Absolutely.” I’d hitched a ride back to San Francisco with Barramendi—he’d needed to get back to his clients, and Vicente had wanted to spend a little more time with his family.
Gloria turned her head to speak in hushed tones with someone, and then Luz’s face appeared on the screen.
“Kate!” Luz cried. “It’s so good to see you.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Great, now that no one’s accusing me of attempted murder,” she said with a wry chuckle.
“How’s Bruce doing? Is he out of the hospital yet?”
“He was just released. He’ll need some physical therapy, but he should be all right. Turns out he hadn’t meant to accuse me—he knew it was Alice, but he only got a few words out the first time he woke up, and Regina misinterpreted them.”
“Fancy that,” I said dryly. “I can’t imagine Regina jumping to conclusions about something.”
Laurie stirred and let out a tired cry, and Mom pulled the phone back and walked into the kitchen to talk more with Gloria.
I smiled indulgently at my baby girl and offered her a tiny bite of cookie. “Want some cinnamon sugar, little duck?”
She opened her mouth, and I plopped the scrumptious morsel in. She paused, then her eyes widened and she reached out her hand for more. We ate our way through three cookies, then Mom returned and snatched the plate away.
“For your own good,” she called, disappearing into the kitchen. “Or Laurie will get sugar-hyper, and you’re still exhausted from your last adventure.”
I stretched, then shifted Laurie onto my lap. “Could we take a walk down at Ocean Beach?”
“Are you sure?” Jim asked. “The sun just set, and it’s supposed to be foggy this evening. Probably pretty chilly by the water.”
Foggy, chilly San Francisco. Just the way I liked it. “Even better!” I declared. “You have no idea how hot and miserable I was in Golden. We’ll bundle up.”
“I’ll see if Galigani wants to join us!” Mom yelled.
I heaved myself to my feet, groaning, and one of the twins started playing soccer against my bladder.
“Hey, stop it,” I scolded, pressing a hand to my abdomen. “I’m about ready for you two to make your big debut, you know.”
Jim laughed and scooped Laurie up. “They’ll be here soon, huh? Hard to believe we’ll be a family of five!”
A family of five.
Love and joy swelled in my chest. I grabbed my husband’s collar and pulled him close—or as close as I could with Laurie and the baby bump between us.
Jim leaned down and kissed me breathless, and everything in the world seemed right. When he broke away, he whispered, “This is going to be the best of adventures.”
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Thank you for reading CEREAL KILLER! I hope you love Kate and her family as much as I do. If you can’t wait to read more MATERNAL INSTINCTS MYSTERIES, then keep in touch and let me know! www.dianaorgain.com
If you loved the town of GOLDEN, there’s more to the story…
Welcome to Golden...where murder and scandal run as deep as the gold mines....
One-click the GOLD STRIKE MYSTERIES here!
If you loved my MATERNAL INSTINCTS MYSTERIES, you'll love the fast-paced fun of A FIRST DATE WITH DEATH. Some are in it for love . . . others for the cash. Georgia just wants to stay alive . . .
And don't miss my YAPPY HOUR Series. It’s sweet and funny and you’ll laugh out loud as Maggie, not quite a dog lover, hunts down a murderer. Will Maggie’s investigation kill her budding romance with Officer Brooks?
And if you’re looking for something magical, try A WITCH CALLED WANDA. Will fledging witch Maeve reverse the curse that has Chuck doomed to live the rest of his days as a female dog . . . or will someone get away with murder?
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