Chapter 5

 

 

It turned out, she could squeeze in time easier than she thought because Jonas wanted to meet to talk, and Bennett would come, naturally. After their walk, and shower number two of the day, Belinda made herself up again and headed downtown.

Centuries beyond its trading heyday, the merchants still had a strong foothold in the form of specialty and souvenir shops and restaurants. They weren't quite to the season yet—it was still spring—but most of the shops and restaurants were now open full-time.

Once she picked up the newly printed flyers announcing the Cake Diva truck from her graphic designer, Belinda met Bennett by the visitor's kiosk at the wharf in the late afternoon. It served as the nucleus of the shopping in downtown, and would be the center of the Cake Diva world that weekend. She surveyed the shops, mentally visiting each one to tell them about the truck.

Bennett wore his light gray newsboy cap. Belinda stopped her play-by-play of the work she'd do later and smiled, her eyes bright and skin glowing as she bounced toward him. This was Bennett time, not cupcake truck time. Her hair was tucked neatly away from her face, but wisps escaped and flew erratically around her head in the breeze off the harbor. He reached out and brushed away the piece that flew into her eyes.

"See, I knew the newsboy cap would work with what you had on the other day," Belinda said, grinning as she looked over his ensemble.

"I took your word for it. Do you approve of your own idea?"

"Well, I don't want to toot my own horn..." Belinda rolled her eyes upward. "It looks cute."

They walked across the cobblestones to a restaurant settled between two docks. Jonas' brand spanking new bike, courtesy of her brother after the incident in their driveway, was locked down nearby. Jonas held down a window seat for them, which offered a narrow view of the harbor. He smiled as the two of them came in chatting, his apple cheeks rosy. "The Master of Security and the Fashionista," he said. It was obviously still the start of the investigation. Belinda knew he would not be that chipper if it dragged out.

Bennett pulled out a chair for Belinda. She settled in, placing her purse in the windowsill and performing a periphery check of the restaurant. They had the large glass windows wide open and she automatically peeked down at the water below. An empty water bottle bobbed around. Belinda wrinkled her nose.

She eyed the hamburgers on the menu, then imagined her bridesmaid dress ripping as she attempted to sit down at the reception. It was time to go to the page with the lettuce and carrots.

Her phone blipped and she checked it quickly, her stress level rising again. Anxiety kept washing over her, no matter how distracted she was. And Bennett with his taut forearm flexing on the table right near her was pretty distracting.

"On call?" Jonas grinned.

Belinda shook her head. "It's my cousin, Mia. She wanted to let me know the photo shoot went really well."

"Photo shoot?"

"For the cupcakes." Belinda left her phone on the table. She didn't want to be one of those people checking her phone every five seconds, but it stressed her out to hear the blips and not be able to just see what it was. "We already had some photos taken, but after consulting with our design gal, decided we needed some specific shots. Anyway, it's no big deal. We've got our photo shoot once we get the truck." She adjusted her napkin and appetizer plate, then picked up her water glass and set it back down when she realized it was empty.

Jonas glanced at Bennett who gave a nod, confirming that Belinda was entering her red zone stress level and maybe they should divert the conversation to something less nerve-wracking.

Jonas cleared his throat. "We found out Sawyer and April were lovers."

That wasn't really what Belinda expected him to say after "we had a photo shoot for the cupcakes."

But she tried to look surprised and eager even though she already knew that because of Kori. Plus, in the front of her mind was her to-do list, which seemed to get longer with every item she checked off.

"That was a while ago," Jonas said, "but their relationship took a new turn more recently. Apparently the two of them had a super secret plan of world domination."

Belinda laughed. "What were they planning to do? Bomb cities with style?"

"I hear they carry glue guns." Jonas spread a slab of butter on his roll. "But seriously, they were forging an alliance to put out a new line of clothes."

Belinda diverted her attention from the salad selection—and the fact that she needed outfits for the photo shoot, newspaper article, and opening on Saturday. "You mean, they were planning to design a line together?" She replayed their collections walking down the runway. Sawyer's aesthetic was tailored and formal while April Arteau's line was floaty and ethereal. "That's odd. I don't know if you've seen their collections, but their tastes are pretty opposite."

Jonas nodded like he did know, though Belinda knew good and well he had no clue. It was clearly time to dish what she knew about April's personal and professional life.

Jonas listened with Bennett-like intensity to her story about April's design thefts, which Jonas knew. "Kori volunteered that?" Belinda's eyes widened. "Just like that?"

Jonas scraped at something stuck to the table with his fingernail. Or what was left of it. He'd relapsed into his biting habit recently. "She said it would only come out in the wash anyway." Jonas shrugged as if it was simply in the queue.

That seemed like a fair assessment to Belinda. "Do you think April's current work could also have been stolen and maybe she was trying to save herself by joining Sawyer? It could have been a perfect move for her. They combine forces, and she hides behind Sawyer. So April can continue working in fashion, but maybe stop her fraud if he's designing."

"Unless Sawyer wanted to cash in on her stealing himself."

"Hmm...what if that was some kind of blackmail scheme? If Sawyer knew about April's theft, then maybe he confronted her and proposed that they team up...if she wanted him to stay quiet." She did see them consorting backstage before the whole day blew up.

"He could have just demanded money," Bennett said.

"Oh...you're right." Belinda's face fell. "I guess that would be a little simpler."

Jonas winked, catching Bennett's star crossed gaze at Belinda. He guessed there weren't too many reasons why Bennett did not like Belinda. Even when she overcomplicated criminal acts.

Belinda sighed.

"Stressed over your opening this weekend?" Bennett slung his arm across the back of her chair.

"Oh, it's not that right now," Belinda said. "It's the dessert menu."

Bennett and Jonas exchanged confused glances. "The dessert menu?" Bennett said.

Belinda flipped the menu over sadly so she couldn't see the molten chocolate cake anymore. She looked at Jonas. "I have to ignore desserts until after June."

"What happens in June?"

"My cousin will finally be married then and I can stop worrying about fitting into my dress."

Bennett sat caddy cornered in his seat so he could see Belinda better. "Can't you just get a different dress?" he said. Belinda gave him a reprimanding glance.

"It's not just a dress," Belinda said. "It's a bridesmaid dress, custom designed to the specifications of my cousin, and non-returnable, non-refundable. If I can't fit into it, I'm walking down the aisle naked." Which is why I'm ordering a salad, Belinda thought.

Jonas' eyes twinkled. "Bennett, would you mind that?" Bennett's steel eyes shot in his direction. But Jonas had caught those gray peepers widen ever so slightly at Belinda's hyperbole. Bennett may have been a gray-eyed eagle, but he was still a man.

Belinda turned crimson and Bennett glared at Jonas again. He was redirecting the conversation to something that wouldn't embarrass her. "So it's a special dress for your cousin," Bennett reiterated.

"Yes, it's special and I don't have a choice about wearing it." It served her right for saying something ridiculous like that in front of two men. "So, I'm not having dessert today." Belinda flailed her hand in Bennett's direction. He was beginning to realize he needed to stay on the alert when Belinda was in striking distance.

The dessert reminded her of walking, and walking reminded her of what happened earlier, so she summarized how she and Victoria overheard Sawyer and Mrs. Sykes arguing. She also remembered Sawyer hiding something away in his pocket.

"Doesn't that sound like they were in cahoots on something illegal?" Belinda squirted lemon into her water, shielding it to prevent hitting Jonas in the eye with lemon juice.

Bennett and Jonas exchanged amused glances. "They were involved in something," Jonas said, "but it's entirely speculation to say it's illegal. However, it does sound suspicious. We'll see what we unearth." Jonas waved a piece of bread at her.

"More to the point, what you unravel," Belinda said. Bennett just shook his head. "What? Admit it, it's kind of funny." Belinda's brown eyes glittered as Bennett just flexed one thick eyebrow.

"You've got your work cut out for you, sugar," Jonas said.

Belinda smiled at Bennett who looked back at her, somewhat puzzled by her amusement. It completely took her mind off things for about thirty seconds. Then her phone blipped again. Well, it was thirty seconds longer than before.

"More photo shoot news?" Jonas said.

"I wish. It's yet another caterer letting me know they're too booked for anything this week." Stupid cocktail party. She had one more caterer on her mother's list to try, and then she was on her own.

Jonas frowned. "I do feel bad about that. We need to hurry up and solve this thing before you feel obligated to start inviting them to move in with you."

Belinda humphed. "Not on your life. Living with my brother is enough, thank you."

 

That statement proved true enough when she got home after their late lunch meeting and stared through the still-uncovered hole in the main house. The workers had already left for the day and there'd been no word yet from the contractor on what they intended to do about this. And she'd gotten a voicemail from her mom wanting to know how things were going.

Things.

Meaning the house reno.

Meaning Belinda would procrastinate calling back and blame the show and her business.

She had the phone to her ear, talking to her last-ditch caterer. "You can?" she said, trying not to sound like she was about to cry. "Oh, that's fine. I understand completely.... Yes, that would be great.... I appreciate this so much...Okay...See you then. Bye." She hung up, slumping against the side of the house in relief for a moment. She had a caterer and an appointment to try samples of what they could provide so short notice. No place for the caterer to actually set up, but she had a caterer.

Oh, no.

She had no place for the caterer to set up! She had no place to hold the party!

Belinda looked through the hole into the now-stripped house. She'd just been thinking absent-mindedly that she'd have everyone here. Here. Where there were no floors, or walls, or working indoor plumbing.

Belinda fled into the carriage house to scream or panic or hide behind the cardboard box pyramid in back until it was all over.

Kyle pulled his Jeep in about a half hour later and found her on a stepladder by the pyramid trying to peek inside one of the boxes without toppling the whole thing.

She stomped down when she saw him, hands on hips. "Well?" Belinda said. She was relieved for the diversion after trying to write a blog post, assemble three outfits, and brainstorm a place to host the cocktail party all at the same time.

Kyle whipped his T-shirt off, about to toss it on the floor when he saw Belinda's eyes set on him to kill. He bunched the shirt up in his hands instead. "Well what?"

"Well, what are you going to do about the hole?"

Kyle stared at her blankly. "What do you want me to do about the hole?"

Belinda rolled her eyes. "I want you to cover it up! We can't just leave it open for several obvious reasons."

"Can't it wait a little longer?"

"Actually, it can't wait."

"Why not?"

"Because the last time I was nice and said it could wait, I wound up having to move all of our stuff into the carriage house by myself."

"What are you talking about? I helped move our stuff."

"You moved one box, Kyle. One lousy box!"

"I swear I'll fix up the hole after we eat."

"You swear on what?"

Kyle shifted his eyes from side-to-side. "I swear on...my life?"

Belinda narrowed her eyes. "Fine. But if I come home tonight and that hole is still gaping open for every squirrel in the neighborhood to climb through, you're sleeping outside."

"You're going out tonight?" Having appeased Belinda for the moment, Kyle removed his sneakers and headed toward the bathroom to shower though he wasn't quite sure it was safe to do so. He thought all the butcher knives were out of reach in a box in the Pyramid, but Belinda might have fished them out when he was gone.

"I have to see one of the designers to get some party planning help, which is good," she explained. "But it's bad because I threw all of my clothes either into my suitcases or boxes, and I can't find anything that goes together that's even remotely appropriate. I'm positive a lot of the pieces I can't find are stuck at the bottom of that pile." She pointed at the stacks of boxes behind her.

"Before you point the finger at me, I just want to say that I had absolutely nothing to do with that."

Belinda smirked. "Believe me, I'm perfectly aware of that." Kyle frowned. "I had planned to make sure everything was stacked according to need, but between your issues and mine, my organizational plan got shredded and now I only have whatever clothes made it into the suitcases."

"Why can't you wear what you have on now?"

Belinda started to answer him, but just shook her head. "Just go take your shower while I figure this out, okay?" Fortunately, the designers weren't meeting at The Blue Room until later in the evening. "I met Bennett and Jonas this afternoon and I didn't have time to worry about this until now."

"Now I understand." Kyle turned around, leaning back on the kitchen island. She shooed him off it, making a mental note to bleach it later. He was clammy and grimy and not in an approved condition to touch her kitchen. "Are you sure Bennett didn't use his mind control powers to make you think that?" Belinda laughed. "Come on. The staring, the eyebrows. I can't be the only one who thinks he has some sort of crazy abilities."

"What would his eyebrows have to do with it?"

"I don't know. Maybe that's how he shifts things in your brain after he locks onto you with his eyes." Kyle straightened his expression, glaring at her, and wiggled one of his eyebrows. "Did it work? I was telling you that you don't care if I trail paint dust throughout the house and you won't force me to clean it up when I do."

"Um...no. And for the record, that's not what Bennett looks like. His brows don't arch as much as yours."

Kyle snorted. "Excuse me. So what were you doing if not just flirting with Bennett?"

"I was helping." Belinda put her hands on her hips and struck a model pose.

"I like how idle chitchat with you becomes a Covert Ops situation. You get backup and everything."

"Hey, Jonas likes me. And it's kind of fun. I feel a little bit like a secret agent."

"I do have to say, you would make the most bubbly secret agent in history."

"Bubbly like champagne?"

"I was thinking more like gum."

"Either way, I'm delicious." She struck another model pose and tiptoed her way to the stairs as if she was walking in high heels.

"Since I'm your brother, my official statement on that comment is, 'Ew.'" He balled up his shirt and forced it into the bulging hamper in the bathroom. "But since I'm also pretty relaxed about these sorts of conversations, I'm assuming you must be for Bennett Tate to keep reappearing out of his cave to come back for more. Also as your brother, I'm oddly okay with that."

"Well, you should be with all the nonsense that I put up with from you. Tracking paint dust all over the house, eating all of my chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream–"

"Protecting you from stalkers."

Belinda leaned on one hip. "I do love you, big brother."

"Big? Ha! I'm one minute ahead of you, woman. One minute!"

"The best minute of my life!" Belinda dashed upstairs to her loft bedroom.

"You know what, I'm gonna just bathe in paint dust tomorrow and then roll my slimy, dirty, naked body all over your room!"

Belinda laughed, then stopped short as she held up a halter top as a possible for that night. She should probably keep on guard for the next week or so.

A little while later, the microwave beeped as Belinda sauntered back downstairs in Outfit #4 of the day with a pair of heels dangling from her fingers.

"Before you start yelling at me again," Kyle said with a fork hanging from his mouth, "I want to tell you that I officially have a mooring at the Portside Marina."

"Really?" Belinda's eyes lit up. "The return of Sea Stud is official?"

"The return of Sea Stud is official."

Belinda skittered across the floor on her toes and hugged him. "How'd you manage it so late?"

Kyle shrugged. "It wasn't really me. I...I bumped into Mark's dad."

Belinda nodded, bending her knee to squeeze one foot into a shoe.

"I wasn't going to, but I finally told him what I was doing." Kyle shook grated Parmesan onto his pasta. "I thought he might be upset, but he was excited I'm fixing her up and pulled some strings so I'd have a spot this summer."

Belinda smiled. "You'll need it. You have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah...I do."

She leaned on the counter to tackle the other shoe. "I didn't know his parents hung around Portside much anymore."

"I guess this is their first summer back too." He smiled. "They've been all over the place with their yacht from the sounds of it, but they wanted to come home."

Guess they were all moving forward.

"Anyway, you fix that hole after you eat." She smacked him on the top of his head with her clutch. "Or I will make good on my promise to evict you."