The next morning, Gia flipped on all of the coffee pots behind the counter at the All-Day Breakfast Café, then turned to head to the kitchen and almost tripped over Savannah, who was bent over stuffing her oversized gold bag on a shelf beneath the counter. “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Savannah stood and offered a sort-of half smile, then lay a hand on the counter and took a deep, shaky breath. She looked pale.
“Are you okay?” Gia rested a hand on her arm. “You feel cold.”
Savannah let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry, and tears pooled in her eyes. She shook her head and looked down.
“Hey?” Gia leaned over to look up at her. “What’s wrong? Do you feel all right?”
“No, I mean yes, I mean…”
“Come on.” With a firm grip on her arm, Gia led her around the far end of the counter and guided her onto the first stool they came to. Thankfully, they hadn’t opened yet, so there were no customers to deal with. Earl hadn’t even arrived yet. “Sit for a few minutes. Do you want something to drink? Water? A diet soda?”
Savannah waved a hand, then patted the stool next to her. “I’m good, just sit with me a minute.”
“Okay.” Keeping a close watch on Savannah, Gia slid onto the stool beside her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I am.” She wiped tears that had spilled over and rolled down her cheeks, then laughed. At least some of her color had begun to return. She started to say something then paused and laughed again.
“Want to let me in on what’s so funny?” Because Gia had no clue. And considering they were usually so in tune with one another, that bothered her.
“I bent over to put my bag on the shelf, and I remembered I’m going to have to change the name on my driver’s license, and this… like a tidal wave of realization came over me.” She looked Gia straight in the eye, all of her fear and joy on full display. “In three days, I’m going to be Mrs. Leo Dumont.”
Gia wasn’t sure what to say. She’d just been thinking about their conversation last year at Lakeshore Pier when she’d sat on the rooftop with Hunt last night. She recalled Savannah’s fear of losing herself too much in a man, as her father had once done for her mother. Then, when her mother was killed, her pa retreated, unable to come to terms with losing the love of his life, and became a shell of his former self. Savannah hadn’t been sure she could marry a man who had chosen such a dangerous career, even if it was in the small, usually safe town of Boggy Creek, no matter how much she loved him. “Did you ever speak to Leo about your feelings about him being with the police department?”
“No. I never did.” She heaved in a deep, shaky breath. “It’s who he is, Gia, how could I ask him to change that?”
Oh, boy. It was definitely a little late for this conversation. “Savannah, if you’re uncomfortable with that, or if you’re unsure about what you’re doing, you need to talk to Leo.”
“I know. It’s just…” She glanced at the clock.
“Hey.” Gia gripped her chin and pulled her gaze back to her. “Don’t worry about what time it is.”
“But Alyssa and Carlos—”
“Can wait outside until we’re done.”
Savannah threw her arms around Gia’s neck. “You’re the best.”
Gia set her back. “Then talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, actually.” She laughed. “I think I just had a moment, ya know. That instant where you suddenly realize something you’ve been looking forward to, planning, thinking about on some level for most of your life is about to happen.”
“And it terrifies you.” Gia knew the feeling all too well. Hadn’t it happened on a lesser level just last night when Hunt had once again tried to talk about his growing feelings for her, a conversation she steered away from every time he broached the subject?
“Exactly.”
“Look, Savannah, whatever decision you make, you know I’ll support you. You are my sister, and I will stand by your side no matter what, and I would never try to sway your decisions. That said, as your sister, I will give my opinion.”
Savannah rolled her eyes.
Gia punched her arm. “Hey, I’m trying to be supportive here.”
This time when Savannah smiled it held all the warmth Gia was used to. She reached out and gripped Gia’s hand. “Yes, you are, and I appreciate it more than you know.”
Gia knew. It was the same way she’d always appreciated Savannah’s caring advice, even when she chose not to listen and even when some of the sentiments weren’t easy to hear. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, you have found the perfect man. He’s kind, loving, patient, and that’s just in general. He also loves you with every last ounce of his being, and I know you feel the same about him.”
“I do.”
“Savannah, loving someone with everything in you is not a bad thing. It’s a beautiful thing that not everyone is fortunate enough to ever find.”
“And if something happens…” She sobbed softly and finished on a whisper, “and I lose him?”
“Aww, honey.” Gia stood and gathered Savannah into her arms. “We will pray every day that doesn’t happen, but that’s something that’s just not up to us. It’s out of our control, and you can’t spend your life afraid to love anyone because you might lose them. And if it ever does happen, then we deal with it. Together. Like we’ve done since the day we met. We’d have no choice, but you would be surrounded by love, between your family and me. And don’t forget, in three days you will be Mrs. Leo Dumont, but you will also still be Savannah Mills.”
She sniffed and nodded against Gia. “You’re right.”
“Of course, I am.” Gia laughed and bit back her own tears and threw back the words Savannah often said to her. “I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.”
Savannah laughed out loud and shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
Gia shrugged. “For starters, you could try taking my advice.”
“Well, since you’re right and it’s such good advice, I’m going to share it right back with you. I would never interfere in your relationship with Hunt, and you know I’ll support you no matter what, even if Hunt is my favorite cousin—and if you tell him that I swear I’ll deny it—and even if you do break his heart, but I’ve always kind of regretted not trying harder to talk you out of marrying Bradley.”
“It is what it is, Savannah. If we’re being completely honest, you did tell me exactly what he was, and you tried to talk me out of it. I was the one who didn’t listen.” This was one walk down memory lane she didn’t want to share right now. Nor did she want to discuss where her and Hunt were headed. It was so much easier to just keep deluding herself into believing their relationship wasn’t progressing because they were both so busy with work.
She looked around the dining room to see what still needed to be done before they opened. She’d come in early to finish up just in case Alyssa and Carlos stopped by, though she had her doubts Carlos would even pass on her message.
“Well, that being the case…” Savannah continued undeterred. “Though I would never say I told you so, I will say you should listen a little more closely to my advice this time. Hunt loves you, Gia, with all his heart. He understands what you’ve been through, and he’s been so patient, and he will continue to be, I’m sure, but it hurts my heart to see the two of you dance around any kind of intimacy or commitment. If I didn’t think you loved him back just as fiercely, I wouldn’t say anything, and I’m not telling you what to do, but if you want my advice, you should stop holding him at arm’s length. Isn’t that basically what you just told me? You can’t hold love at bay just for fear of being hurt.”
Gia nodded. She was right, of course, but it didn’t make it any easier to face the demons of the past and let them go for good.
A knock at the door brought a rush of relief.
Gia turned and saw Alyssa waving from the walkway.
“You do always find a way out of this conversation, don’t you.” Savannah grinned and hopped from her stool.
“Maybe because it wasn’t meant to be had.”
She caught Gia’s gaze and shrugged, mischief alight in the deep blue of her eyes. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
Choosing to ignore the comment, Gia hurried to open the door. She could only deal with one crisis at a time, and since Savannah was getting married in three days, with or without a caterer, Savannah’s dilemma had to come first. She unlocked the door to let Alyssa and Carlos in, then locked it behind them and left the closed sign in place. “Good morning.”
Alyssa hugged Gia then stepped back and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “It’s chilly out there—”
Gia’s phone had read fifty-nine degrees that morning, headed up to seventy. Hardly chilly by her standards.
Alyssa shrugged out of her peacoat. “—I think we’re having winter.”
If this was winter, Gia would take it.
Carlos nodded in greeting, took Alyssa’s coat, and hung it over a chair back.
“Carlos told me about your idea, and it’s amazing. That’s so kind of you, Gia.”
“Of course, I’d love to help. Hopefully, I have everything you need to make it work.”
She rubbed her hands together for warmth. “Oh, I’m quite sure we can make it work. Plus, Trevor offered to let us use his amazing kitchen too.”
Trevor’s kitchen, with its stainless-steel commercial grade stove, two ovens, and dishwasher left Gia with a serious case of kitchen envy.
“So between the two, I’m sure we can do everything we need.”
Savannah offered coffee or something to eat, but Alyssa and Carlos both declined, saying they had things to do, though Gia couldn’t imagine what with their business closed down.
“Um…” Savannah twisted her fingers together in a nervous gesture Gia wasn’t used to, though she’d become accustomed to the rhythmic nail tapping that often accompanied a bout of anxiety. “Please don’t take this wrong, but… uh… would it be okay if we went back to my original cake choice?”
Gia held her breath, hoping the two wouldn’t be insulted but totally understanding Savannah’s reluctance to serve her guests the same cake that had just killed a woman.
Alyssa gripped Savannah’s clasped hands in one of hers. “It’s no problem, Savannah, I actually already made a note to ask you about that. I don’t plan to offer that cake any more. It would seem…I don’t know, disrespectful somehow.”
Gia breathed a sigh of relief. “Please, come sit for a minute or two. I have coffee already made, and I just took out a fresh batch of muffins.”
The two looked at each other for a moment, then nodded and followed Gia to the counter. They each sat, leaving one stool free between them.
Savannah sat on Alyssa’s far side, and Gia rounded the counter. She poured coffee, then offered a selection of muffins from the trays she’d brought out earlier to cool so she could restock the glass-covered cake dishes on the counter.
Carlos took a banana chocolate chip muffin.
“Mmm…that smells delicious.” Alyssa chose a cranberry, one of Gia’s new recipes for the holidays. “But this will have to do since I’m allergic to chocolate.”
“How about I’ll let you know when I make a batch without the chocolate chips?” Gia offered, happy she’d decided against the cranberry, white chocolate ones she’d originally planned on. She left nuts out of the banana muffins, since a lot of people were allergic, but she hadn’t thought about those people with chocolate allergies.
“That sounds perfect, thank you.”
“Sure thing.” Gia plated two more cranberry muffins and slid one in front of Savannah. The most obvious place left for Gia to sit was on the empty stool between Alyssa and Carlos, but that seemed weird, so she kept her plate in front of her and opted to stand facing them across the counter.
Silence screamed through the café as the four nibbled on muffins and sipped coffee, and Gia was hard pressed to find a topic that didn’t include murder. “You guys know Trevor pretty well, right?”
“Sure.” Carlos answered, narrowing his eyes. “Well enough, I guess. Why?”
Alyssa remained quiet.
Gia hesitated, but then figured what the heck? Someone had to say something to cut the tension Carlos and Alyssa had ushered in with them.
“I was thinking of getting him a GoPro for Christmas—you know, the one with the strap you can wear on your head to capture things like bungie jumping and sky diving from a first-person perspective—but I realized I don’t know if he has one. Do you happen to know?” She sure hoped he didn’t since the gift was already wrapped and under the tree in hers and Savannah’s suite at Trevor’s mansion. She’d originally thought it would be great for filming when he went kayaking, and had even thought of getting one for herself since she enjoyed the scenery so much whenever he took her, and then the salesman had told her all the other great uses he might get out of it. It had seemed perfect. Too perfect, considering he could have gotten one for himself if he’d wanted one.
Carlos was already nodding.
Gia’s heart sank.
He swallowed his bite of muffin then took a sip of coffee. “He’d like that a lot. He’s talked about getting one before, and maybe even starting one of those vlog things everyone’s doin’ nowadays, but he never did get around to it, far as I know.”
“Oh, thank you. I’m so glad to know he’ll like it. He’s not easy to buy for.”
“No, I’d imagine not.”
And with that the silence returned, like a vacuum threatening to suck them all into a void of awkwardness.
Thankfully, Alyssa returned to the business at hand, and Gia took a big bite of muffin. “So, Savannah, do you want to go back to your original cake, or would you like me to stop by with pictures for you to look at for something different?”
“No, thank you, but I think the original one is good. It wasn’t that I didn’t love that one, just that the cascade of mistletoe and berries pouring down the other one was so beautiful.”
“You know, I could do the same thing with different flowers, maybe poinsettias or holly?”
“Oh, yeah?” Savannah tapped a nail against her coffee cup. “Hmm…maybe, but aren’t poinsettias poisonous as well.”
“Oh, I don’t use real flowers. Only fondant and icing, sometimes candy if needed.”
“So how do you think the nightshade got onto the cake without you guys noticing?” Though she tried to clamp her teeth together and stop the flow of words before they erupted, Gia failed miserably.
Carlos ground his teeth together, his jaw clenched.
Alyssa just shook her head. “You know, I’ve asked myself that same thing about a million times. We made the whole cake, though a smaller version than we’d have made for the wedding, and left it on the counter just inside the kitchen door.”
Gia kept her mouth shut, since she had no idea if Hunt had shared his suspicions that only the one slice, or maybe two, had been poisoned.
“It sat there through the group tasting all of the other foods, so I suppose someone could have added the real leaves and berries.” She frowned. “Though I don’t see how I wouldn’t have noticed that.”
Carlos chimed in. “There was such a nice breeze that day that I opened the back door from the kitchen because it got hot back there with all the ovens and stove burners going, so I suppose someone could have come in—”
Maybe the elusive Ethan, who might or might not have been hanging around earlier than he’d admitted to, depending on who you asked.
“Plus, the door between the kitchen and the rest of the shop was open so Alyssa could run back and forth, and the restrooms, lounge, and a table with a phone are all right there outside the door.”
Since Gia hadn’t gone into the back of the shop, she had no idea of the layout past the dining room and lobby. “What is the lounge for?”
When Carlos didn’t answer, Alyssa took over. “Mostly because we had extra space, but it also gives customers some privacy if they want to talk about what they want, or a place to take younger children to entertain them if they act up, or make a phone call to a relative who couldn’t attend the tasting. Pretty much an all-purpose room for the convenience of our guests. And since the restrooms are on the far side of the lounge, you have to pass through it to get to them.”
Carlos once again took over. “I suppose it wouldn’t have been too difficult to poke your head in on the way by and add a handful of berries or leaves. The counter with the cake would have been out of sight from most of the kitchen, and I had a lot to do that day, what with them wanting a million different choices…”
“None of which they could agree on,” Alyssa added.
Since they both seemed willing enough to talk about it, and no matter what might be going on between them in private, they seemed to have each other’s backs and be presenting a united front on this matter, Gia pressed. “What about after the cake was cut?”
“After Alyssa put the whole cake on a tray and rolled it out for them to see, she returned it to the kitchen where I cut generous slices for each of them.”
“What about mine and Savannah’s slices?”
Carlos just looked at her.
“I cut those myself,” Alyssa said. “After I served the others, I came back and cut a couple of small ones for you two and set them aside until you came in.”
So, theoretically, anyone, including a random stranger who walked in the back door, somehow snuck past Carlos who was cooking in the kitchen, poisoned the cake, then slid unnoticed out either the front or back door, could have done it. The thought of it all started to give Gia a headache, and she suddenly found a new appreciation for the work Hunt and Leo did every day. “When you served the cake to Robyn’s party, was everyone there?”
Alyssa chewed on her bottom lip, her gaze searching out Carlos’s.
He nodded. “It’s not anything the police haven’t asked, Alyssa. And I doubt Gia or Savannah plan on gossiping about whatever you tell them.”
“Oh, no, of course not,” Gia quickly reassured them. “Whatever you tell me is between us.”
“Well, when I brought the cake in, the room was empty. I don’t know where everyone was.” She blushed and lowered her gaze. “To be honest, I didn’t really care. Their constant non-stop bickering had already given me a headache, so I just set the slices out in front of each place setting, including the one guest who hadn’t shown up yet, and went back to the kitchen. The next I heard from any of them was when you came in and all the screaming started.”
“You didn’t see Isaac and Robyn come back in?”
“Nope. I served the cake and went back to my office to take a couple of ibuprofen for my headache.”
Savannah finished off her muffin and brushed the crumbs from her fingers onto her plate. “So that means at some point after you set the cake slices out, someone could have added the poison to Robyn’s?”
“I suppose,” Alyssa admitted.
“We saw Robyn and Isaac out front, then they went inside and Isaac came back out again alone to make a phone call. Did you see him come back in?” Gia asked Alyssa.
“No. I must have been in my office or the kitchen during that time.”
“What about Jeremy? Do you know where he was?”
Her gaze shot to Carlos, then skipped back to Gia.
Gia realized her mistake a moment too late. If Alyssa had any idea where Jeremy was when Robyn was poisoned, she had no intention of mentioning it in front of her husband. But Gia couldn’t help but remember the span of time when she and Savannah had entered Rinaldi’s and Alyssa had been nowhere to be found. Had she been somewhere with Jeremy? If so, she might be his only alibi. And he hers.