Auf'd (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Two)

Chapter 5

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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.