“How about devil’s food cake donuts for the groom, and angel-food cake donuts for the bride?” she asked with that grin of hers.
“That’s it,” I said. “It’s perfect.”
“Suzanne, I was just joking,” Momma said.
“You may have been,” Grace replied for me, “but I think it’s excellent, too. Suzanne, you can ice the angel food cake donuts with white icing, and the devil’s-food cake with chocolate. Done and done.”
“Hang on. Before we get too excited about this, I need to run it by Emily first,” I said as I reached for my cellphone. “She might not find it as amusing as we do.”
A few minutes later, I hung up and stared at Grace and Momma.
“What did she say?” Grace asked.
“She loved it,” I said. “Momma, you hit a home run with that idea.”
“I hope you didn’t tell her that it came from me, Suzanne,” Momma said.
“I told her that it was a group effort after much consultation and deliberation,” I replied with a grin. “Why, did you want solo credit?”
“No, I can live with what you said just fine.” I saw her looking at her e-reader. “Was there anything else I could do to help?”
“No, you can go back to your book,” I said as I kissed her cheek. “Thanks again. You’re a genius.”
“Hardly,” Momma said, but she wasn’t entirely unhappy about my praise.
“Now that that particular dilemma is solved, I’d better take off,” Grace said.
“It’s early still, and that’s coming from a woman who has to get up in the middle of the night,” I replied.
“I know, but if we’re going to go sleuthing tomorrow afternoon, I have some work to do at home tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven,” she said.
“Let me at least walk you out,” I said.
“Sounds great. Good night,” Grace said to my mother as she left.
“Night, dear. Pleasant dreams.”
After Grace was gone, I came back in and told Momma, “I think I’ll try to catch up on some of that sleep I’ve been missing lately.”
“We both know that you can never catch up,” Momma said.
“No, but I can make a stab at it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I don’t even think she heard me. That must be some book. After she finished it, I was going to see if I could borrow it myself.
It sounded like a real winner.
I tried not to think about Jake as I lay in bed, but it was hard not to. What was going on with that man? I couldn’t imagine him not being in my life. If he’d just tell me what was wrong, I might be able to fix it, but this silence was just driving me crazy. I’d have to find a way to track him down tomorrow even if I had to drive to Raleigh to do it.
I wasn’t going to give up without giving it everything I had.
After I came to that conclusion, sleep came much easier than I’d expected, but my alarm clock still rang much too early for my taste.
Chapter 10
It had been business as usual at the donut shop the next day when I was surprised to see Reggie Nance come in. Sure, he’d been a longtime customer of mine, but after the way he’d lied to us the day before, I was kind of shocked to see him show his face at Donut Hearts.
“What can I get you?” I asked him as formally as I could. I wasn’t fond of the way he’d acted the day before, but that didn’t mean that I could afford to alienate any of my customers at the shop.
“I’ll have the usual, Suzanne,” he said with a frown.
“Coming right up,” I replied as I started selecting a dozen random donuts for his office. It was a weekly ritual of his, and under other circumstances, I would have welcomed his business. After I boxed a good selection, I taped the lid and slid the box across the counter. I quoted the price, and Reggie paid promptly.
He started to pick the donuts up when he hesitated. “Those smell really good today. I think I have time for a coffee and a glazed donut here.”
In all the time he’d been coming to Donut Hearts, he’d never lingered at the shop. What was going on? “Absolutely,” I said as I quoted him an additional price.
He paid, and I put his coffee and donut on a tray. “There you go.”
“I’ll just eat this at the counter, if that’s all right with you.”
I nodded. “It’s fine.”
I turned my back and started consolidating donuts on the trays so Emma could start washing the empty ones when Reggie cleared his voice and spoke up. “Do you have a second?”
“I’ve got all the time in the world. I can work and talk at the same time,” I said, keeping my back to him.