Free Fudge Brownies & Murder by Janel Gradowski Page B

stressed enough about becoming a daddy. He could use some help just in case the first encounter with his mother-in-law goes south. I doubt Carla's mom will be anything like yours, but you never know."
    "Not to mention, he has a new murder case too," Amy added as she slipped off her robe and climbed back under the covers. "I can't change my family or what happened with them in the past, but I can enjoy the present. I still have a few minutes to spare."
    She had just maneuvered on top of Alex when her phone began chortling from its place on her nightstand. Alex laughed and pulled her head down to his for a lip balm-melting kiss. "It's probably Shepler making sure you aren't abandoning him. Go save the poor guy."
    Amy's knee caught in the sheet as she tried to gracefully and sexily roll off of Alex. Neither goal was accomplished. By the time she snatched the phone off its charger, she was tied up in the sheets as if she were a crazy person in a straitjacket. At least she tried.
    "Hello."
    "Hey Amy, it's Brooke."
    Not whom she was expecting. While she chatted with the food truck owner, Alex got up and headed toward the bathroom. He held up two fingers, pointed them at her and then the bathroom. Then he waggled his fingers over his head in a convincing rendition of the Itsy Bitsy Spider song's pantomime. She nodded. A shower for two sounded like the perfect way to end their reunion morning.
    But when she joined him under the rain showerhead, some of her good mood had evaporated. Brooke had picked up some more information from vendors at the market. It didn't seem to be related to Esther Mae's murder, though. Unless her ghost was causing trouble. There had been a rash of shoplifting thefts over the last week, with booths losing everything from packages of homemade peanut butter cups to expensive sterling silver necklaces. Brooke had stopped by the bakeshop to tell Sophie about the problems, but she had wanted to let Amy know too. Just in case the information didn't get passed on the next time she worked. There were more troubling things afoot at Clement Street Market.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Amy stared at the wall of glass. People were supposed to watch planes come and go from the vantage point inside the airport. She was watching tiny, icy snowflakes pelt the giant window. Carla's mom's plane was half an hour late, and Shepler was a nervous wreck. Oh, he was trying to look cool. He had on his stony, serious work face as he stared at his phone's screen. But out of the corner of her eye, Amy could see the phone shaking in his grasp.
    "Are you excited or scared now that the baby is almost here?" she asked.
    "Hell yes, to both things." He slipped the phone into the breast pocket of his dress shirt. His green eyes glowed as though they were made of jade possessed by some ancient spirit. "It's exciting to know that a tiny person will be calling me Daddy soon. Even as close as a year ago, I wasn't sure that would ever happen. On the other hand, babies are so little and fragile. They cry, and you have no idea why. I'm afraid I'll break it."
    "I'm positive you'll be a great father. I've heard babies are pretty durable and forgiving. You'll do fine."
    Shepler ran his hand over his dark-blond buzz cut hair. "Yeah…I've heard that. Also heard that the birth is pretty wicked too. I know fellow homicide detectives who said they almost lost it when their kids were born. Are you sure you want to be there?"
    "You know I'll do anything for you guys. Carla has been my best friend for years. She asked me to help at the birth, so I'll be there even though I don't handle blood and gore well. Now, here I am impersonating a limo driver to give you a hand." She held up the notebook where she had drawn Carla's mom's name on it— Geri. "It's what BFFs do for each other."
    "I appreciate it." He exhaled loudly. "There is no rational reason for me to be afraid of a benign, law-abiding woman…yet I am."
    Amy leaned sideways and bumped shoulders with him.