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By the time they were allowed to leave the building, as directed by Detective Castern, all Lauren wanted to do was go home and lie on the sofa with Annie, and try and forget today had ever happened.
“Detective Castern has a nerve,” Zoe grumbled as they walked to the car. “By the way he acted with me, you’d think I’d killed Reginald. He didn’t seem interested when I told him how we met Brianna and her dad when we got here.”
“That’s exactly how he was with me,” Lauren admitted. “I think it would make his day – maybe the rest of his year – if we killed Reginald.” She shook her head, trying to clear the image of Reginald’s dead body from her mind, the paramedics working on him. “Poor man.”
“Maybe Myrna did it,” Zoe mused. “Or Elizabeth.”
Lauren drove along the highway for a few minutes, feeling thirsty – and hungry.
“Ooh, stop!” Zoe pointed to an exit. “I definitely need some ice cream therapy.”
“Me too.” Lauren veered onto the ramp.
“Brrt!”
Although Annie didn’t have an ice cream sundae like Lauren and Zoe, she seemed to enjoy the bottled water poured into her travel bowl.
“I feel much better,” Zoe declared, setting down her cup on the dashboard. “Now we can go to Mrs. Finch’s house and tell her what happened.”
“Is that okay with you, Annie?”
“Brrt!” Yes!
Lauren started the ignition and soon they pulled up outside their friend’s home.
The sweet, cream Victorian house with its neat lawn and little garden of orange Californian poppies lifted Lauren’s spirits.
Mrs. Finch was suitably shocked when they told her about that morning’s events.
“Oh, no. Lauren, dear, where will you hold your reception now?”
“Definitely not there.” She tried to hide a shudder. “I think Mitch will understand.”
“Of course he will.” Mrs. Finch nodded.
“Do you think Aunt Celia has a backup venue?” Zoe asked. “When are you going to tell her about what happened this morning?”
“When we get home,” Lauren replied, wishing she didn’t have to do so. “I don’t want her finding out from someone else.”
“Good point.” Zoe nodded.
Mrs. Finch promised to visit the café the next day, saying she was looking forward to tasting the new carrot cupcake.
“We’ll save you one,” Zoe promised. “In case they sell out in a snap!” She clicked her fingers.
After they arrived home, Lauren sat on the sofa, Annie by her side, and made the phone call. Her mother was suitably shocked, then resigned to the fact that Lauren didn’t want to hold her wedding at Stately Vue Hall.
“I understand,” her mom told her, disappointment in her tone. “And I’m afraid I don’t have a backup venue in mind. Would you like me to look for you?”
Lauren tactfully told her it might be best if she and Mitch tried to find one on their own.
“Of course,” her mother replied, brightening when Lauren enthused about Zoe’s wedding gift – the pottery mugs that would feature the wedding date and a picture of Annie in her co-maid of honor floral headband.
“That sounds so Zoe,” her mother replied. “And a very thoughtful gift. I can’t wait to see them.”
Lauren ended the call on a good note, and smiled down at Annie. “Mom understands about what happened today,” she told her softly. “Now we have to find a new reception venue.”
“Brrt,” Annie replied thoughtfully.
After she and Annie relaxed for a while, Lauren whipped up a batch of her new creation for tomorrow, in the café’s commercial kitchen. Her mouth watered as she thought of the cupcakes coming out of the oven in the morning, well risen and golden orange-brown, with cream cheese frosting swirled around the plump tops.
She made a mental note to put some away for themselves, and to give one to Ed.
When she finished in the café, she headed back to the cottage. Zoe lay on the pink sofa, sketching Annie, who turned her head to the left as Zoe directed.
“For future mugs,” her cousin told her.
Lauren smiled at her fur baby modelling like a professional.
“Did Mitch call you yet?” Zoe asked.
“No.” Lauren shook her head. She’d had her phone in her pocket while in the café. “He must be busy.”
“Maybe he’ll have some inside info for us – you – when he phones,” Zoe said. “I wonder who killed Reginald?”
“I guess it’s either Elizabeth, Myrna, Brianna the spoiled bride, or her dad George.” Lauren sank onto the old sofa, covered with a pink slip.
“Unless it was a random intruder, or another client no one knew about, except Reginald.” Zoe snapped her fingers. “Yeah, maybe he did it!”
“Who?”
“Someone who wanted a hush-hush super-secret appointment with Reginald, and no one else knew about it. Like a movie star, or a rock star, or a politician, or a—”
“But it sounded like Brianna and her dad had the appointment before ours,” Lauren pointed out. “How would another client have time to kill Reginald before we got there?”
“Someone did.”
“Brrt!”
“Maybe it was only a five-minute appointment,” Zoe mused. “And he met Reginald in the garden, so no one would see him. And he got mad about something and BAM! He killed Reginald.”
“But why?”
“That’s what we have to find out.” Zoe’s eyes sparkled with the allure of sleuthing.
“You mean that’s what Mitch has to find out – although I guess it will be Detective Castern this time.”
“Yuck!”
“Brrt!”
Unfortunately, Detective Castern did not seem to be a fan of Annie’s, although she’d been friendly to him in the past.
“I think we have enough to do at the moment without investigating,” Lauren said. “I have to find a new venue—”
“I’ll help you.”
“Brrt!” Yes!
“Thanks.” She smiled at both of them. “I still need to decide on the invitations, and start thinking about flowers, and then there’s dress shopping ...” she trailed off.
“We’ll help you with those too,” Zoe declared. “I’ve already researched cat safe flowers and there are plenty of varieties you can use in your bouquet and we can wear in our headbands, like orchids, roses, and snapdragons.”
“That sounds great.”
“Brrt!” Annie trotted over to Lauren and jumped in her lap.
“We’d better go to Sacramento to find a dress,” Zoe advised. “I’ve been watching some of those wedding dress TV shows, and sometimes it takes the bride a long time to find the gown she loves.” She noticed the panicked look on Lauren’s face. “Oops – sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She’d been wondering how easy it would be to find a dress she wanted to wear down the aisle. Mitch said he loved her curves, but she wanted to wear something she adored and made her look good.
“And then there’s hair and make-up.” Lauren sank back against the sofa cushions. “Maybe Mitch had the right idea about eloping.”
“Really?” Zoe’s eyes widened.
“No.” Lauren drew in a breath. “Not really.” She was sure that her parents, and all their friends and family would be disappointed if she and Mitch did elope. And she didn’t think she could get married without Annie being there.
“Oh, good.” Zoe sounded relieved. “Because if you did run off together, I’m sure Aunt Celia would blame me for not stopping you, considering I’m co-maid of honor.”
“Brrt!”