Free Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera

meet another person with an adventurous spirit who connected with nature and made
     her smile as much as he did?
    Gently, Kim picked up the bird and placed it in the box, then walked back with it
     into the shop.
    “You’re bringing that thing in here?” Andi asked, her eyes wide. “What about germs?”
    “I’ll keep it in the box by the side door in the back party room,” Kim said, carrying
     the bird across the room.
    Mia and Taylor followed, squealing with delight.
    A NDI’S SQUEALS LATER that afternoon were of a different kind, more like a burst of outrage. She held up
     the Cupcake Diary. “The thief left a ransom note.”
    Rachel looked up from the tray of red velvet cupcakes she had just brought out from
     the kitchen. “In our Cupcake Dairy?”
    “The diary was missing since this morning, and I was afraid maybe the Cupcake Bandit
     stole that, too. But I just found it here on the end of the counter with this written
     inside.”
    Kim walked over by Andi and read the note aloud, squinting to decipher the poor handwriting:
    I have a doll. Astoria Column. 6:30. Bring the cupcakes. Chocolate.
    “Does he mean 6:30 today?” Andi asked, turning the book around to read the note again.
    Kim shrugged. “He doesn’t mention any other day.”
    A half hour after Andi called his private number, Officer Ian Lockwell entered the
     shop. Andi showed him the note and explained how Mia’s doll had gone missing.
    “I’m afraid I can’t write a report over a missing toy,” Officer Lockwell told them.
     “Or order a stakeout.”
    “But if he shows up to exchange the doll for the cupcakes, we can catch him,” Andi
     insisted. “And find out who he is.”
    “I’m sorry,” Officer Lockwell told them. “The person who took Mia’s doll and the thief
     who stole your cupcakes might not be the same person. Plus, you have to think—what
     kind of crazy person would do something like this? Sounds to me like a child.”
    “The video showed pale hair and the elbow of an adult,” Andi argued. “And the people
     at the Scandinavian Festival said it was a man. He was selling the cupcakes for money.”
    Officer Lockwell sighed. “I’m working at the station tonight, and there’s no way the
     department is going to invest precious money or manpower to catch a dollnapper.”
    “Someone’s got to take the cupcakes to the column,” Andi said, lifting her chin. “Except
     Rachel and I have to head back to the festival. We told Heather and Theresa we’d be
     back with the next load of cupcakes ASAP.”
    Kim watched her sister turn toward her and gasped. “Why are you looking at me?”
    “You’re the only one who can do it,” Rachel told her. “You need to go on a recon mission
     to catch our cupcake thief.”
    “I—I can’t go alone.” She shook her head. “I’m not the type to hide in the bushes
     and scout out criminals.”
    “You don’t have to go alone,” said a smooth, friendly voice behind her. “I’ll go with
     you.”
    She spun around. How did Nathaniel manage to sneak up behind her?
    Andi and Rachel clapped their hands, and each gave her a big smile.
    “Sounds like a plan,” Rachel said and gave her a knowing look. “Be sure to take a
     blanket. The air might be cool tonight.”
    Kim rolled her eyes. Rachel was a blatant matchmaker who didn’t know when to stop.
    “I have a blanket in the saddlebag of my motorcycle,” Nathaniel told her.
    “You brought your motorcycle?” Kim asked, unable to keep her excitement out of her
     voice.
    “I thought you might like another taste of adventure,” he said and grinned as he took
     her hand.
    K IM HELD THE binoculars up to her eyes. The box containing a dozen chocolate cupcakes with creamy
     chocolate icing sat on the stone bench near the hedges toward the back side of the
     Astoria Column. The ransom note had not said where to put them, and she thought if
     she chose a place in the open, the thief wouldn’t make the exchange.
    “It’s 6:30,”