Nine

“Excuse me?” Bliss gave the lunatic the look he deserved and pressed past him to step inside. She would’ve slammed the door in his face, but for a big guy, he moved awfully fast.

In more ways than one, if his pickup line was to be believed. Pickup line. Bliss groaned at the pun and kept walking.

“Wait, what? What did I say?”

“Get out of my clothes and get into your truck?” She pressed her forefinger into his chest. “Since when does that line work, buddy? Surely not with this girl.”

His face went white, and he began waving his hands frantically. “Oh no, Bliss, that’s not what I meant.”

Hands on her hips, Bliss stared him down. “Then what did you mean?”

“I just meant those clothes have got to go.”

She left him standing beside the counter. “Go home, Bobby. I’ll tell Neecie to call you when she gets in.”

“I don’t have time to wait for her.” Heavy footsteps echoed behind her. “I need you, Bliss, and I need you now.”

Bliss stopped short and whirled around, nearly slamming into his chest. As she backed up two paces, she made the odd observation that he smelled quite nice.

Bobby shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry. I just meant that I can’t take you dressed like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like that.” He pointed to her ponytail, then allowed his gaze to slide past her purple LSU Tigers T-shirt to land on the sidewalk.

She looked down at the grass stains on her shoes and the gray sweatshirt wrapped around her midsection. He did have a point. Still. . . “Who said I was going anywhere with you?”

“Bliss, you have every right to tell me no. I mean, I haven’t exactly been saying all the right things, and we did almost kiss each other yesterday, which would have been a huge disaster.”

A huge disaster? Ouch. She bit her lip to keep from responding.

Bobby started pacing. “And you’re the last woman I want to ride to Lafayette with.”

Ouch again.

“I’d much rather take someone like Neecie who doesn’t make my brain feel like scrambled eggs.”

Scrambled eggs? That might just redeem the last comment. And the ones before that.

If she could decide exactly what he meant by it.

“How am I doing here, Bliss?” Bobby sighed and stopped pacing to turn and face her. “Look, I’m not good at this. I’m just a dad trying to do the right thing for his daughter.”

Bliss leaned against the wall and crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m still not clear on what the right thing is, Bobby. How is dragging me to Lafayette in a party dress going to help your daughter?”

“It doesn’t have to be a party dress. Just not something so. . .”

Her raised eyebrow stopped his words. “So?”

“Please?” Bobby met her stare. “All I’m asking is for you to ride with me to Lafayette to check out the only wedding planner in three parishes who hasn’t hung up on me.”

“Why do I need to come? Can’t you do this yourself?”

“I thought of that.” He paused. “Your mother said it would be like sending a woman to Sears to buy tools.”

Bliss tried to keep her expression neutral. “Well, I can see your point, but this is my day off. I was planning to—”

“Please?”

So much emotion in one little word. Still, it wasn’t the word but rather his eyes that proved to be her undoing. Despite all the stupid things he said while trying to be brilliant and persuasive, his eyes sent her scurrying upstairs.

“Make a pot of coffee for the road, okay?” She paused midway up the steps. “You do know how to make coffee, don’t you?”

She came downstairs twenty minutes later, expecting to smell coffee perking. Instead, she saw Bobby sitting at her table reading the morning’s edition of the Latagnier paper and sipping from a brown paper cup with the words Java Hut emblazoned in black beside a gold fleur-de-lis.

He smiled when he saw her, then gestured to a matching cup sitting on the counter. “And you didn’t think I knew how to make coffee.”

Bliss shook her head. “Let’s get this mission started, Bobby, before I change my mind.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He punctuated the statement with a crisp salute before snagging his coffee cup and trotting behind her out to the sidewalk.

Retrieving her keys, Bliss aimed them at the lock on her shop door, then paused to pull her reading glasses from her purse. Bobby chuckled and headed for the truck to open the door for her.

“So, where are we going again?” Bliss asked as Bobby backed the truck out onto Main and headed north.

“Lafayette.” He pointed to a slip of paper folded in half and sitting on the console between them. “A place called Divine Occasions.”

“That’s a nice name.” Bliss retrieved the paper and recognized her mother’s handwriting. “Hey, I know where this is. Mama and I checked them out when I was thinking of opening my cake shop. As I recall, the elderly ladies who ran the place were very helpful in giving me advice.”

“Good, then you can help me find them.” He paused to smile. “And then you can translate.”

“Translate?” Bliss watched as he turned just past Latagnier Elementary and headed for the interstate. “As I recall, they spoke perfect English.”

Bobby accelerated onto the highway before glancing her way. “Maybe so, but it’s already been proven that I don’t speak female.”

“You’ve got a point.”

“Hey,” he said a few minutes later, “thanks for coming with me.” He gave Bliss a sideways look. “Honestly, I’m terrified I’m going to mess this up for Amy.”

Bliss’s heart lurched. How sweet was this? “I won’t let you do that, Bobby.”

True relief crossed his face. “I appreciate this more than you know,” he said slowly. “More than I can say.” He paused. “But then, we’ve already established that I don’t speak female.”

They shared a laugh, then fell into a companionable silence.

“Hey,” he said a few minutes later.

Bliss shifted in the seat to face him. “Yeah?”

His gaze swept over her. “You look nice,” he said. “Really nice.”

“Thank you.”

“I appreciate you doing this. Coming with me, I mean.”

“So you said.” She smiled. “Really, I’ve done everything today that I planned. Well, except that book I was going to read. Haven’t gotten to that yet.”

“Well now,” he said with a wink. “I guess I should step on it so you can get back quickly. Wouldn’t want you to miss reading your book.”

Bliss’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, right. How about you concentrate on being careful instead of fast? I’m kind of over car wrecks.”

“What does that mean?” He signaled to change lanes, then shot her a look. “I’ve never been in a wreck in my life.”

“Well,” she said slowly, “you’re the lucky one then.”

Leaning back against the leather seat, Bliss closed her eyes. She knew Bobby was probably looking for an explanation, but the walk she’d taken combined with the hot shower had her relaxed and feeling as limp as. . .

“Bliss?” The word floated softly toward her through cotton-thick clouds. “Bliss?”

Her eyes flew open. Where was she? Heart pounding, Bliss leaned forward only to be snapped back by some sort of restraint.

“Hey there, slow down, darlin’. Let me get the seat belt for you.”

Bobby. The truck. A gas station. Beyond that, a freeway.

Slowly these things began to make sense. She was accompanying him somewhere.

Bliss took a deep breath to slow her racing heart, then let it out as Bobby leaned toward her and unsnapped the seat belt. When she met his gaze, he grinned.

“What?” She swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand lest she’d been drooling.

“You talk in your sleep.” He opened the door and climbed out, then closed the door behind him.

Bliss watched him slide his credit card, then pump the gas. When he returned, she was ready with a swift response.

“I do not.”

Bobby started the truck. “You don’t what?”

“I don’t talk in my sleep.” She buckled her seat belt.

“Bliss,” he said slowly, “if you’re asleep, how would you know?”

That question alone silenced her for the rest of the short trip into Lafayette. The navigation system on the truck led them directly to Kaliste Saloom Road and Ambassador Caffery, then into the parking lot of a shopping center.

“What’s the name of this place again?” Bobby asked.

“Divine Occasions,” Bliss said. She pointed to the far end of the center. “Best as I can remember, it was down there. See the tire center? The place should be just across from it.”

Bobby nodded and pointed the truck in that direction. “There. I see it.”

He drove past a card shop, two restaurants, and a place that sold Christmas decorations year round to pull the truck to a stop in front of Divine Occasions. Or, at least the place where Divine Occasions used to be.

Bobby sank back in the seat, eyes closed. “This is awful.”

“Wait a second,” Bliss said. “There’s a note on the door. Let me go see what it says.”

While the showroom was empty, the note on the door left hope the store might still be in operation. “It says they’ve moved.”

His eyes opened. “Are you sure?”

“I think so.” Bliss rifled through her purse until she found a pen and last Tuesday’s receipt from the market. “Just a second, and I’ll get you the new location.” She jogged back up to the door and wrote down an address. “Got it.”

She climbed into the truck and handed Bobby the paper, then buckled her seat belt while he programmed in the new address. A moment later, a mechanical voice told them which direction to turn to leave the parking lot.

“I know I keep saying this, Bliss, but I just can’t mess up this wedding.” His face showed the desperation he must feel. “Amy’s all I’ve got, and I can’t let her down.”

Bliss rested her hand on his arm. “Look, I think you’re putting way too much pressure on yourself. If Amy were worried about you messing anything up, I doubt she would be so casual about the whole thing.”

He gave her a sideways look before braking at a red light. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m wondering why she hasn’t been pestering you about this.”

Bobby seemed to think about this for a moment. “Well, she’s been busy. The first two weeks, she was negotiating that new contract with the British cargo company. Did a good job of it, too.” He paused to smile. “I talked to her when that was complete.”

“When was that?”

“Couple of days ago.” He shrugged. “Why?”

“Did she ask about the wedding?”

“Only in passing.” Bobby paused. “She asked how it was going. At the time, I thought it was going just fine.”

“Did she press you for details?” Bliss’s eyes narrowed. “Or did she seem more interested in the contract?”

“You ask interesting questions, Bliss. Let me think a minute. Yeah, I guess I’d say the conversation was about the contract. How excited she was to get a better bargain than she went over there for. She was really excited about that.”

“I see.”

“What?” Bobby’s face wore a stricken look. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing. I’m just asking questions.” She removed her hand from his arm and rested it in her lap. “Don’t pay any attention to me. I don’t even know Amy. For all I know, she’s crazy nuts for this guy she’s marrying and can’t wait to tie the knot.”

Bobby took a sharp left turn at the next intersection and pulled into the parking lot of the Lafayette Parish Savings and Loan. As he threw the truck into park, he reached for his cell phone.

Bliss’s eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing, Bobby?”

“One second.” He punched a number into the phone, then held it to his ear. “Calling Amy. I need an answer to your question.”