Page 31 of The Fine Art of Faking It
If her friend hadn’t recently vomited, Eden would have kissed her on the mouth.
“Iamin work mode,” Donovan insisted. “And, as such, I’m not allowed to let my personal feelings cloud my judgment even if I would knowfor certainthis is a waste of time and an unfortunate and embarrassing inconvenience for some of us.”
Eva crinkled her nose and debated. “I’m not sure if you’re forgiven yet.”
Donovan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “May I please just ask my questions so we can all put this behind us?”
“Fine, but I’m calling Beckett first,” Eva announced. “Eden deserves legal representation.”
Eden put her hands up. “Okay. Let’s take a breath. Eva, thank you for wanting to protect me. But I don’t need a lawyer. On the day in question, I was making and serving breakfast for my guests. There were about twelve people who can place me here during the morning. Thewholemorning. I have a list of their names and contact information.”
Davis had remained quiet for far too long in Eden’s opinion. “Is that good enough for your father?” she snapped at him. “Or would he prefer that the sheriff hauled me out of here in handcuffs?”
“I’m not going to answer that truthfully,” Davis said with an embarrassed grin. “Let’s just say my father is a hard man to persuade.”
“Well maybesomeoneshould try it sometime,” Eden said, boring holes in him with her eyes.
Donovan cleared his throat. “If you have that list handy, I think we can call it a day.”
“I’ll get you a copy,” Eden said primly. She strode from the room, head held high, and congratulated herself on not punching a hole in the plaster wall.
Back in her office with her stack of paperwork and ignored to-do list, she printed a copy of the guest information and folded it neatly, if a little violently, into an envelope.
She was headed in the direction of the library when she heard Eva’s voice coming from the sun porch on the back of the house.
“Yes, Iknowthey’re under the same roof, Bruce. But how are they supposed to fall in love if Eden’s being questioned inhisfire investigation?” Eva was hissing.
Eden ducked behind the doorway and held her breath… and her bile.Fall in love?With Davis?No wonder Bruce and Ellery had shown up on her doorstep with him. Those sneaky sons of Beautification Committee members had been waiting for an opening to force her and Davis together. And the destruction of his house had provided the perfect opportunity.
“I’m only saying that I don’t think having Eden accused of a crime against Davis is very healthy for their relationship.”
Oh,hellno. Eden crumpled the envelope in her hands. No one played puppet master with Eden’s life. She tip-toed past the door and hurried into the library. Davis was gone, but Donovan was studying the shelves smiling boyishly at his wife’s romance novels.
“Here are my witnesses,” Eden said handing over the mangled envelope.
“Look, Eden, I’m sorry about all this. I’m just doing my job.”
“Yeah, well, so am I. Any further questions, Sheriff?” Eden asked with a hint of frost. She’d forgive him.Eventually.
“No, ma’am. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna find my wife and get out of your hair. Oh, and, if you don’t mind, I’ll take that umbrella stand and have it cleaned for you. Eva’s… a little under the weather.”
He hurried out of the library as if his pants were on fire with the vomit-filled umbrella stand under his arm. Eden gave herself a moment to just sit and stew, sinking into the chair in front of the fire and picking up her now cold tea. The woven tote on the floor next to Eva’s chair caught her eye. As did the hot pink binder with the wordsBeautification Committee Rules & Regulationsscrawled down the spine.
She cast a glance over her shoulder and, seeing no one, snatched the binder out of the bag. This could be the key to getting the nosy, matchmaking troublemakers off her case.
This could free her forever from Davis Gates.
She heard a noise in the hallway and unceremoniously stuffed the binder under her seat cushion. Eva reappeared, flushed and happy again. The joys of hormones and new marriages, Eden supposed.
“Sorry about… well, literally everything that happened in the last thirty minutes,” Eva offered.
“Eh,” Eden shrugged, trying not to feel guilty at her thievery. “Let’s eat cookies and pretend everything is normal.”
* * *
Dearest Beautification Committee Member,
Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the honorable, venerable, deeply respected keystone of our community. If you’ll forgive me for waxing poetic, I like to think of us as the “heart” of Blue Moon Bend.
