Page 14 of A Spot of Trouble
“Speak for yourself.” Ethel inched her walker closer to the window of the cupcake truck and held out a hand. “Don’t mind Mavis, Vi. The only reason she doesn’t want one is because she’s watching her figure.”
Opal waggled her eyebrows and reached for I18. “You meanLarryis watching her figure.”
“What?” Violet propped her elbows on the tiny counter of her cupcake truck’s window and peered down at Mavis blushing fiercely below. “Mavis! Do you have something going on with Larry Sims?”
She probably should have seen this coming. Mavis’s happy baby yoga pose had seemedextrahappy ever since the quiet older man with the rotating collection of knit cardigans had moved into the senior center three weeks ago.
“Absolutely not. Don’t be ridiculous.” Mavis squared her narrow shoulders. “We have nothing in common. The man barely leaves his room. He’s practically a recluse.”
“Have you tried luring him out?” Violet asked. “Maybe invite him to join us in the lobby tonight. Everyone on the island loves bingo.”
Opal shook her head. “It’s hopeless. He’d have to missJeopardy!,and he’s apparently a big fan. When it’s on, everyone in the building can hear him screaming out the answers from behind his closed door.”
Violet offered Mavis a hopeful smile. “He sounds really intelligent.”
Nibbles sighed dramatically, turned three circles, and collapsed into a minuscule pile on her blanket.
“Maybe so, but as I said, I’m not the least bit interested in him. He has acat.” Mavis shuddered in feline-induced horror. “A fluffy gray Persian.”
“I see.” Violet nodded.
No wonder her tiny dog seemed to have a mammoth-sized opinion on Mavis’s potential beau. It was the age-old dilemma—could a dog person ever be truly happy with a cat person?
Violet glanced at Sprinkles lounging on the back window seat of the Airstream in the area she always kept cordoned off with a pet gate so her Dalmatian could accompany her to work every day. Sprinkles was a handful…even for a true dog person. Violet knew this about her Dalmatian. Tossing a cat into the mix would only end in frustration.
Still, it didn’t take Alex Trebek-level genius to see that Mavis might be harboring a secret crush on Larry Sims, fluffy gray Persian or not.
“Speaking of romance…” Opal cleared her throat. The three older women all exchanged knowing glances. “We wanted to talk to you about your fire marshal.”
A burst of laughter exploded from Violet’s mouth. “Ha. Good one.”
Theywerejoking, weren’t they? Opal, Mavis, and Ethel probably knew more about the feud between the police and fire departments than Violet did. They’d been around back when it started, which meant they were fully aware of its seriousness.
They’d also taken turns holding Violet’s hand last year after her humiliating breakup with Emmett. Since then, every time a fireman looked her way, her friends threatened him with bodily injury. Her brothers had started referring to the trio of older ladies as “the OG Charlie’s Angels.”
They didn’t seem to be laughing along with her right now, though, which definitely seemed odd. “Wait. You’re not seriously suggesting there’s anything remotely romantic between me and Sam Nash, are you?”
No one said a word.
“And he’s hardlymyfire marshal.” Violet waved her hands and a dollop of frosting flew from the tip of her pastry bag, landing conveniently on Sprinkles’s snout. The Dalmatian licked it away with a swipe of her tongue.
Opal frowned. “Actually, he is. Technically speaking.”
Okay, fine. Maybe he was, but only insomuch as she was a tax-paying resident of Turtle Beach and she lived in his jurisdiction. He didn’tbelongto her, like Sprinkles did. Although the thought of keeping him on a leash wasn’t without merit.
“We couldn’t help noticing the sparks between you two yesterday,” Ethel said. “Everyone did.”
“Well, everyone’s wrong.” Violet straightened, and her head hit the top of her cupcake truck’s window with a bang.
Ouch.She blamed Sam for the goose egg she’d probably have tomorrow. Everything had started going horribly wrong the moment he’d strolled into town with Cinder in tow. He’d disrupted the town’s delicate Dalmatian equilibrium, and now things were going haywire. It was the only logical explanation. Even Mavis, Ethel, and Opal had been affected. Clearly.
“Too bad, because your dogs looked absolutely precious together,” Mavis said.
Violet thought about the way Sprinkles and Cinder liked to greet each other by touching the tips of their heart-shaped noses together. Mavis was right. They were sweet together—far sweeter than Violet felt comfortable admitting.
“Perhaps we were mistaken.” Opal bit into her cupcake.
Ethel regarded Violet over the top of her purple glasses. “He’s awfully handsome, though.”
