“What a lovely way to spend my birthday evening. Thank you,” Katherine said as they loaded into her car.
Molly sat up front with Katherine, then turned in her seat. “You could have the front, you know. Your legs are a little longer than mine.”
“I’m good. Glad you enjoyed dinner, Mom,” Sam said from the back, winking at Molly.
Katherine pulled out of the parking lot of the Greek restaurant they’d chosen, about a half hour outside of Britton Bay. Molly glanced back to make sure Sam was texting Brandon and Calli to let them know they were on their way. Once they were on the highway, music playing softly in the background, Katherine glanced in her rear view at Sam.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve invited Brandon over for dessert tonight. I asked him to come around eight. I have some of Bella’s new peanut butter squares,” Katherine said.
Sam sat forward, resting a hand on his mom’s shoulder. “He’s part of your life, Mom. I don’t mind at all. Though I would mind if we didn’t have birthday cake to celebrate. Molly and I picked one up.”
His mom looked over at Molly. “You two didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s your birthday. Of course we did,” Molly said.
“I’m a very lucky woman,” Katherine said.
The ride home was uneventful, but butterflies swirled in Molly’s stomach. They’d been working for weeks on this surprise, and with the way news slid through the town, she was shocked they’d managed to keep it quiet. She hoped that everyone was there and that they’d had no trouble setting up. They hadn’t been given a huge window. After Molly had returned from Cora’s, she’d tried to convince Katherine that they should go do some shopping before dinner just to give their friends more time, but Katherine had just wanted to sit on the deck with her and Tigger and said there was no reason to bring Sam home early from work.
Here we go, she thought as Katherine pulled into her driveway. It wasn’t by accident that Sam had told her to take the route that led to the back of the house instead of the front. He’d said Chris had texted about an accident, and suggested an alternate road that would keep the cars and twinkle lights out front a surprise to the last minute.
“What a gorgeous night,” Katherine said as they got out of the car. She started for the back deck.
“Let’s go sit on the front porch and wait for Brandon,” Sam said.
Katherine stopped in her tracks and stared at her son. “Are you suddenly missing him?” Her lips tipped up in a smile and her gaze shimmered with amusement in the dusky evening.
“It’s a nice night to sit on the porch. You and Molly got to do it earlier. Come on,” Sam said, holding a hand out for her.
Molly bit the inside of her lip and followed behind them. When Sam turned his head to make eye contact, she mouthed, “Subtle.”
“What?” The word and Katherine’s breath whooshed out as the large white canopy shining with twinkle lights came into view when they rounded the side of the house.
Katherine looked back at Molly and then at Sam as a couple dozen people stepped out of the shadows and yelled “Surprise!” At the front was Brandon, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt along with his heart on his sleeve, holding a gorgeous bouquet of the yellowest flowers Molly had ever seen.
Her hands flew to her mouth as she took in the surroundings. Their friends and family had used the time well. Pots of flowers lined the edges of the tent, music played from outdoor speakers, a few tables and several chairs had been set up, and a Happy Birthday sign hung from one pole to another over a dessert table that held not only an array of delicious treats but Bella’s three-tiered masterpiece.
Brandon stepped forward and passed the flowers to Katherine, love shining in his eyes. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
She threw her arms around him, crushing the flowers between them then pulled back with a laugh and did the same to Molly and Sam.
“I can’t believe you guys did all of this,” she cried when she stepped back, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Come on, don’t cry, Mom. Of course we did this. It’s your birthday. We love you.” Sam pulled her close for another hug.
“We do,” Brandon said.
He and Sam locked gazes and Molly slipped her hand into her boyfriend’s, proud of him and happy for Katherine when her son nodded, a genuine smile on his face.
“Let’s get this party started,” Calli called, coming over to hug Katherine.
It was the first of dozens of hugs as people surged forward to greet her and say, “Happy Birthday.”
Molly did a brief walk around, making sure that everyone had drinks and the presents were all on one table, and saying hello to the guests. Though Katherine was loved by what seemed like the whole town, Sam and Brandon had taken care of the guest list, inviting mostly just close friends and family.
A few couples started to dance fairly early into the evening and Molly settled on the sidelines, truly enjoying the laughter and chatting, the music, and the sweet energy emanating from inside and outside the large white canopy tent.
Jill came up beside her, passing her a glass of punch. “You guys did an excellent job.”
Molly grinned at her friend. “It was definitely a group effort. Any trouble getting everything set up?”
Jill shook her head. “Nope. Went off without a hitch. Usually things like this do though when you’ve got so many hands.”
“I need to introduce myself to your mom, but I’m still feeling a bit guilty about operation haircut.”
Her friend’s loud laughter turned eyes their way, including Sam’s. He was chatting with his mom and a couple that Molly didn’t recognize.
“You’ll get your chance. She’s over there by the desserts chatting with Bella. And also, that cake is amazing. Why don’t we go take a closer look and I’ll introduce you now? I promise she’s not scary.”
Instead of waiting for an answer, Jill looped her arm through Molly’s and tugged her toward the dessert table. Since they’d known they were taking Katherine out for dinner to get her away from the bed and breakfast, they’d agreed to do a dessert bar instead of appetizers and such. As much as Molly wanted to sample every treat on the table, now seemed like a bad time since she really didn’t want to face Sam’s aunt.
Too bad. Jill stopped in front of a dark-haired woman, about the same height as Molly. She wore a flower-patterned sundress and a light pink sweater over top. Though she was only Katherine’s sister-in-law, they resembled each other in the fact that neither of them looked anywhere near their age.
“Ahh. The infamous Molly Owens,” Anne said, setting a bite-sized cookie down on the plate she was holding. “Editor of the newspaper, catcher of my nephew’s heart, puppy rescuer, crime solver, and undercover hair operative.”
Molly burst out laughing, all of her nerves fluttering away on the evening breeze. “I see my reputation precedes me.”
“That it does, my dear. That it does. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Anne, as you know. And this is my husband, Don,” she said as a tall, gray-haired man joined them.
They shook hands and chatted about everything with an ease that shouldn’t have surprised Molly. Since the minute she’d driven into this town, almost everyone had been friendly and welcoming to her. Spending an evening with these people could make an outsider feel like they’d been around forever.
When Sam wandered over a few minutes later, greeting his aunt and uncle, they excused themselves and went to dance. Sam grinned down at Molly.
“Are you having fun?” He looped his arm around her shoulder as they stood on the edge of the makeshift dance floor.
Molly leaned her head into the crook of his arm. “I am. You did good.”
Sam turned his head and pressed a kiss to Molly’s forehead. “I’d say we all did.”
She was about to ask him if he wanted to dance when Sarah and Chris wandered over. Sarah was dressed in a pretty floor-length dress the color of the sky with a white cardigan over it. Chris looked relaxed in jeans and a button-down shirt. Molly pressed her hand to Sam’s chest, learning closer into him.
“Nice party,” Chris said, his hand linked with Sarah’s.
“It turned out great. Mom is thrilled. Thanks for all your help. The sign looks great, Sarah,” Sam said.
She glanced over at it. The huge letters were painted in bright colors with cupcakes and presents around the border. “Thanks. It turned out well. I can’t wait to get into that cake.”
They laughed and Molly agreed. She looked up at Sam. “We’ll let people mingle and dance a while longer and then sing to her?”
“Sounds good. Doesn’t look like anyone is in a rush.” He gestured with his chin toward Brandon leading his mother onto the dance floor, a dreamy look in Katherine’s eyes.
“One by one, all the single men in this town are disappearing,” Jill said as she and Bella joined them. She pointed between the two couples and then gestured to the paired-up dancers. “We’re going to have to scout men from other towns. Oh, wait, Molly already started doing that for some of us.”
Jill snickered and gave Bella a little shoulder shove. Bella’s cheeks turned bright red.
Sam’s grip loosened around her shoulders and he looked down at her. “Something I should know, babe? Matchmaking on the side of all the other things?”
Molly shook her head, sending Jill a narrow-eyed glare. “No. I hired Gavin and that’s it. Well, I also talked to a couple of other candidates, two from the University of Portland and they’re coming up for interviews and both male so…hmmm…maybe I am scouting single men.”
They all laughed, Bella included. Chris glanced at Molly. “Gavin? That’s the waiter from last week?”
Jill answered for her with an emphatic nod. “Yup. He’s a cutie. And a good writer.”
Bella looked down at the ground. Jill nudged her with her hip. “And he has good taste. Seems he’s already addicted to Bella’s goodies.”
The baker’s head snapped up and she glared at Jill, then looked at the others. “He likes the baked goods. That’s what my former friend means.”
Putting an arm around her shoulder, Jill hugged her friend close. “Aw. Don’t be like that. I just want you to be happy. With or without a guy, but if it’s with one, I want him to deserve you.”
The quiet lull raised the question of where Callan was. Bella sighed. “I think I’m just fine being single. If you think Gavin’s so cute, maybe you should ask him out.”
That solved one mystery: Bella and Callan were broken up.
“Nah. Not my type. No workplace romances for me,” Jill said.
The subject shifted as they chatted about any and all topics that had nothing to do with what had been on everyone’s minds. It was a nice reprieve from discussions about murder, but when Chris caught Molly’s gaze, her shoulders stiffened.
“Are police officers allowed to dance with newspaper editors?” she asked, hoping the joke would keep everyone else’s mind away from where both of theirs had clearly landed.
“As long as said newspaper editor isn’t stepping on my toes—literally, this time—it shouldn’t be a problem. That okay, babe?” Chris kissed Sarah’s cheek.
“Of course. When you’re ready for someone to step on your feet, just call me over,” Sarah said.
Everyone laughed but Chris leaned down and whispered to her, loud enough for Molly to hear. “You can step on my feet any time.”
Sarah grinned up at him as he kissed her before taking Molly’s hand and pulling her onto the dance floor.
“You guys are a great couple,” Molly said as she placed her hands on his shoulders. The slow song made it easy to talk and move. She wasn’t a bad dancer; she just didn’t have much opportunity to do it.
“We are. I want to ask her to move in with me,” Chris said, his eyes staring over Molly’s shoulder, likely at the girl in question.
“What’s stopping you? If you say it’s too soon, I’ll tell you the one thing I’ve learned is that someone else’s timeline of when things are appropriate doesn’t matter. If it feels right, you do it.”
Chris met her gaze, held it for a moment. “It’s not that. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. And I love her. But it’s not easy living with a cop. I work long hours, have to leave in the middle of the night sometimes. Until recently crime hasn’t been a huge issue, but the things that come up, especially lately, can take their toll. After a particularly rough shift, I’m not always in the best mood, and I’d hate to come home and take that out on her.”
Molly smiled. She wasn’t the only person who’d moved to town and found a good man. “Talk to her. She loves you and knows what she’s getting into. She moved here all by herself, away from her family, and started her own successful business. She’s shy but she isn’t afraid to share her opinion. If she doesn’t want to, she’ll say so.”
“You’re fairly smart when you’re not annoying me.”
Molly grinned and squeezed his shoulder. “Same. So?”
He didn’t even pretend not to know what she wanted. He pulled her the slightest bit closer. “Beau inherits nothing. Everything goes to the kids, with the lion’s share going to Vivien. No clue why it’s not split equally among the kids. Vivien flew in four days before the murder. She was probably already staying at her mother’s house when it happened.”
“So she lied about several things.”
Chris nodded. “Definitely. She and Tiffany know each other from L.A. Vivien is in charge of hiring for her mother. Whether or not they knew each other before the play, I don’t know. But Vivien was the one who sent Tiffany out here to be Magnolia’s assistant.”
Molly pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, digesting that information. “They could have been working together. Were there fingerprints on Magnolia’s neck? Like could you tell if she was strangled by a man or a woman?”
Chris’s jaw tightened. Molly knew it was hard for him to share details that weren’t supposed to be public knowledge. The fact that he was doing so spoke to how much he believed in Judd.
He shook his head and leaned in, putting his mouth closer to her ear. “No. She was strangled with some sort of fabric. Not sure what. They’re testing the fibers they found. But a tox screen showed she had sedatives in her system.”
Someone had drugged her beforehand? To make it easier to kill her? That seemed so strange. Or maybe it was smart. Molly wasn’t sure since it was hard to think like a killer.
The song was winding down. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Chris said, his voice low. “Beau filed paperwork for a divorce on the day she was murdered. He brought them into city hall and they timestamped them. Three forty-two.”
Molly had already been at the theater by then. And Magnolia had already been dead. It wasn’t Beau. So, what was he hiding?
The song stopped and Molly stepped back while blinking several times, her brain spinning. Before another song could start, Sam’s arm wrapped around her from behind.
“Time for cake,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. As the guests and Katherine moved toward the table, he whispered in her ear, “It can wait, babe. Whatever it is that has your brain turning, we can talk about it later.”
Molly turned in his arms and smiled up at him. “You’re right. Of course. Let’s sing to your mom.”
They joined the others as Bella lit the candles. Molly told herself to focus on the moment, being part of this celebration and this family. But in the back of her mind, she thought about Magnolia’s family and wondered if instead of celebrating her, one of them had killed her instead.