Temptation Trails - Page 170

“It’s a big job,” Doris said. “We just want to support them the best we can.”

“All right.” I scribbled a few notes. “Nut-filled goodies for about a hundred by Sunday. And I’ll include a box of nut-free goodies too, in case anyone is allergic or just doesn’t like them.”

“Such a good heart,” Doris said. “Thank you.”

“Do you want anything before you go?”

“Yes, but pick for me,” Louise said. “I’ll turn around so I won’t see. I want to be surprised.”

Doris’s eyes brightened. “Good idea. Me too.”

The door opened and another customer walked in.

But not just any customer. It was Matt Rudolph.

Well, at least I knew he wasn’t a serial killer.

While Doris and Louise stood with their backs turned, I chose a strawberry cream cheese cupcake for Doris and a sugared lemon cupcake for Louise. I packed them up in small to-go boxes and slid them across the counter.

“All right, ladies. Surprises are in the boxes.”

“What do we owe you?” Louise asked.

“You know your money’s no good here. Go on, go cause some trouble.”

They both smiled and took their cupcakes. Matt inched up behind them, standing slightly too close. Louise turned around and startled, almost dropping her box.

“Oh my goodness, young man. I didn’t see you there.”

“Sorry,” Matt said and took an overly large step backward.

“Bye, honey.” Doris waved as she and Louise left.

My familiar smile at Doris turned into my customer service smile. “Hi there, Matt. What can I do for you?”

“Hi, Harper.” He was wearing his true crime T-shirt again. “I’m happy you’re here. I didn’t know if you were going to reopen the bakery.”

“Yeah, we had to close for a little bit.”

“I heard.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t launch into questions about the ordeal. With his passion for true crime stories, I thought he’d want to hear the whole thing straight from me. Word had gone around town about what had happened, so there was no way he didn’t know at least some of the awful details.

Maybe he was actually reading the room on this one.

Although I knew he wasn’t behind everything that had happened, I still had one unanswered question.

“Matt, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did you leave a teddy bear in a gift bag on my car a while ago?”

He sighed. “Yeah, that was me.”

“You didn’t leave a note.”

“I know. I forgot about that part.”