All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) (22 page)

***

Tess kept an eye on the clock as she made a vegetarian quiche. Logan was late this morning.

She’d left a big note on the front door handle asking him to come and see her. She wanted to know what his reporter friend had said last night, and what she planned on doing next.

She added garlic, mixed herbs and cheese to the egg and milk she’d already mixed together. She’d half expected Logan to give her a call last night, but he hadn’t. It had been a long night. She’d spent most of her time tossing and turning and getting no sleep.

Tess jumped when someone knocked on the front door. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked into the café. Logan was standing outside with his running gear on and sweat trickling down his face. She opened the door and let him in.

“I stayed the night with Dylan.”

“Oh.” Tess locked the door behind him. “How did you end up at Dylan’s house?”

“I went there after Jilly left the restaurant.”

“Does that mean it was a good or not so good dinner?”

Logan walked through to the kitchen and took a glass out of the pantry. “Dinner was good, but she wants to write an article about Senator Gibson.”

Tess sat on a kitchen stool and stared at Logan. “She can’t.”

“She can, and she’s going to.”

“Does she have any evidence that he was supplying drugs to Evie?”

Logan finished his glass of water. “She’s spoken to a few people, but she hasn’t got anything concrete.”

Tess felt like her whole world was collapsing. “Does she know about me?”

Logan nodded. “She knows about your modeling career, about Evie, and about the Senator. She wants him to face criminal charges for what he did.”

“I want that too. But doesn’t she realize he’s dangerous? He has friends who know how to bury a story. He’ll destroy her career, then come after me.”

Logan pulled some paper towels out of the dispenser on the wall and wiped his face. “I have a plan.”

Tess dropped her head into her arms. She’d had a plan, too. A plan that involved running a café in Bozeman, having a happy life. “Jilly can’t write her article without solid evidence that will stand up in court. I need to call her and tell her what happened last time.”

“She knows what happened last time. She’s going to write her story regardless of what you say.”

The timer on the oven beeped and Tess took out a tray of chicken pot pies. “What’s your plan?”

“Do you want to put the other pie in the oven?” Logan looked at the vegetarian quiche she’d been making.

As soon as he’d mentioned Jilly’s article she’d forgotten all about the quiche. She looked down at the half made mixture and poured the filling into the pastry shell. She added sliced tomatoes and Parmesan cheese to the top. There were five different vegetables in the quiche, but right at the moment she didn’t care how healthy or good it would taste. All she cared about was the article Jilly wanted to write.

While she’d been daydreaming, Logan had washed his hands. He lifted the quiche off the counter and slid it in the oven “How long?”

“Forty minutes.” Tess watched him move around the kitchen with the ease of someone who’d been working here a long time. Except he hadn’t been working, not officially anyway. Sometimes he made breakfast for her and Annie. He’d helped make salads and put together more panini and toasted sandwich combinations than most people knew how to make.

She didn’t know why he’d made her café his halfway mark on his morning run. She’d thought that after Connie’s wedding he would have stopped dropping in, but he hadn’t. She enjoyed Logan’s company. Most of the time.

Today, she wasn’t so sure. Especially when he had a determined frown on his face. “Tell me about your plan.”

“I need to write a story about Senator Gibson before Jilly does.” Logan held his hand up when she started to interrupt. “Hear me out first. Senator Gibson’s ex-wife has all of the evidence a court needs to make a conviction.”

After everything that had happened, Tess wasn’t trusting anyone’s word on what they might or might not have. “How do you know she’s telling the truth?”

“She showed me the files. The Senator was meticulous when it came to his finances and business transactions. His hard drive has the dates he bought drugs, supplier details, the works. I had the information checked by a lawyer and there’s enough evidence to send him and his suppliers away for years.”

“Does Jilly know you’ve talked to the Senator’s ex-wife?”

“No, and she won’t get the chance. The story will be with my editor by eleven o’clock today and published tomorrow morning.”

Tess felt sick. “You can’t do it.”

“I’m focusing on Marcie Gibson’s story about her husband. He supplied other models with drugs. I won’t mention your name or Evie’s.”

“But other reporters could look into what happened and do exactly what Jilly did. They might connect the stories from three years ago and find me. What if Senator Gibson does the same thing? He doesn’t know I’m here, but if he found out I could be in trouble.”

“I’ve thought about that, too. Mom’s arriving this afternoon from Seattle. You can go to Yellowstone National Park tomorrow with her and Dylan.”

Tess didn’t move. She wouldn’t run away and do what she’d done last time. “Annie doesn’t start work until seven o’clock. I’ve got to get everything ready. After the café is sorted, I need to make the meals for Pastor Steven. I can’t take the day off.”

“Dylan isn’t leaving until eight o’clock, so you could still bake in the morning. Annie will be here to help you and Kate arrives in the afternoon. They’ll be fine. I’m sure Molly or Emily would give them a hand for a few hours.”

Tess knew it would take more time than any of her friends had to help in the café. She did have two other people she’d hired before to help when someone had been sick. But that was beside the point. She wasn’t running away.

“I’m not going anywhere and you can’t write a story about Senator Gibson. I can’t hide for one day and expect everything will be back to normal after that. I’ve got the rest of my life to think about.”

Logan walked across to the plastic trays Mr. Kussack had left in the café that morning. He separated the trays until the custard and raspberry bread knots were in front of him.

Tess watched him inhale the sweet smell of the glazing. “Are you even listening to me?”

“I am, but I’m also admiring these buns.”

Tess glared at him. “You don’t normally have such a sweet tooth in the morning.”

“It’s been a long night. Can I have one? I’ll leave the money beside the cash register.”

“You don’t need to worry about leaving any money. You do enough around here.”

Logan chose one of the buns and bit into it.

Tess waited until it was half eaten before trying to talk some sense into him. “Why aren’t you going with your mom to the Park?”

Logan swallowed the mouthful of bun he was chewing. “I’ll be deflecting the calls I get from other reporters. If I encourage their interest in Marcie, it will keep them away from you. I asked Dylan if he wanted to go. He can look after you and mom better than I could. He hasn’t been out to Yellowstone, so you could be their tour guide.”

“I’m not going.”

Logan finished his bun and licked his fingers clean. “I’ve got a story to write. I’ll see you at lunchtime.”

“I’m not going, so don’t think you can talk me into doing what you want me to do.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said dryly. “Talk to Annie. See what she thinks.”

“I don’t need to talk to Annie and you’re not going to write a story. Your plan won’t work.” Tess glared at his back as he walked out of her kitchen. Not only wasn’t he listening to her, he wanted her to take his mom on a sightseeing tour. And then there was Dylan. The man positively screamed danger. How anyone could go anywhere with him and not attract attention was beyond her. He probably carried a gun and knew how to use it.

Logan wasn’t sending Dylan with her to spend the morning in the sunshine. He wanted Dylan to babysit her. She didn’t need anyone looking after her because she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d stay right here, get the café ready for their first customers and pretend she wasn’t involved in the story she didn’t want Logan to write.

And then she’d head upstairs at the end of the day and wait for disaster to strike.

***

The next morning, Tess looked up when the kitchen door opened.

“Are you ready to be our tour guide?” Dylan stood in the doorway looking all outdoorsy in his khaki pants, white t-shirt, and cotton shirt.

“Logan must have forgotten to tell you that I’m not going.” Tess flicked her gaze to the clock on the wall. “I thought you would have left by now?”

“I’ve been waiting in the truck with Logan’s mom. He must have forgotten to tell you we’d be waiting out front.”

The gleam in Dylan’s eyes told her he found her stubbornness amusing. The rest of his face hadn’t moved from commando cool. It was scary to think she was getting used to his non-existent body language.

Tess frowned. “Logan didn’t forget to tell me you’d be out front. I chose to ignore it. Annie went outside ten minutes ago and told you to go without me.”

“So she did.” Dylan didn’t move. “Seems like we’re at one of those impasses.”

Tess threw a handful of mixed herbs in the pie filling she was making. “No, we’re not. I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’m staying here.”

“Logan asked me to look after you, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I’d suggest you get Logan’s mom out of the truck then. I can make you a cup of coffee and you can enjoy the ambiance of the café for the rest of the day.”

Dylan shook his head. At least she thought he had, but that could have been her imagination. “Not happening. You’re coming with us.”

Tess lifted her brow. She could be equally as expressive as Dylan.

He didn’t look impressed. “I want to see Yellowstone National Park. If I have to look after you, I can at least get a free tour out of the deal.”

Annie pushed past Dylan. “Sorry, but I need to get the mop. Oliver Tanner just spilled his chocolate milkshake all over his little sister.”

As soon as Annie’s body connected with Dylan, he did the unthinkable. He actually moved. Fast. He looked so befuddled that Tess wouldn’t have believed it unless she’d seen it with her own eyes.

Annie hadn’t noticed that something out of the ordinary had just happened. She zoomed into their storage room and came out wheeling their cleaning cart.

Dylan made sure he was out of harm’s way when she ran back into the café.

A woman with short black hair and worried blue eyes joined Dylan in the kitchen. “Do you have another cloth you could give me? The chocolate milkshake has gone everywhere.” She glanced at Tess and smiled. “You must be my son’s almost girlfriend.”

Tess forced herself to smile. It wasn’t Logan’s mom’s fault that her son was an idiot.

“Almost?” Dylan had suddenly decided to become interested in the conversation going on around him. “I thought Logan told you it was all a misunderstanding?”

Mrs. Allen sent a dazzling smile toward Dylan. “I live in hope.” She glanced around the kitchen and saw the paper towels on the wall. “These will do.” She dribbled water on them, then headed into the café.

Tess washed the scone dough off her hands and followed Mrs. Allen. It was bad enough that her son helped out in the kitchen. Mrs. Allen didn’t need to clean up spilled milkshake as well. When she saw the mess Oliver had made she understood Annie and Mrs. Allen’s need to get things clean.

Oliver Tanner’s little sister was sitting in a highchair licking chocolate milkshake off her arm. Oliver’s dad was using every napkin he could find to wipe the milkshake off the rest of her. The floor and checkered tablecloth were coated in the same sticky mess.

Tess found another highchair and put it beside Mr. Tanner. “Do you want to move Maddy into here?”

He looked at the highchair, then at Maddy’s dress. “I didn’t bring a spare change of clothes with me.” He looked so upset that Tess knew something else was going on.

Brian Tanner’s wife had left him six months ago. From what Tess had seen and heard, he was doing a great job of raising his children on his own.

Tess looked more closely at Maddy. “Wait here.” She walked into the kitchen and took a couple of clean tablecloths off a shelf. By the time she made it back into the cafe, Annie and Mrs. Allen had the table and floor clean. Dylan was holding a giggling Maddy in the air while her dad wiped her dress down.

Tess flicked one of the tablecloths open and folded it in half. “I helped Sally at their last school Christmas play. We made shepherd costumes out of sheets. If you’re happy for Maddy to wear a tablecloth toga style, we can get her cleaned up in no time.

Brian looked so grateful that Tess felt embarrassed. “Thank you. It hasn’t been a good morning.”

“It’s no problem. Do you want to change her in the kitchen?”

Brian nodded and Dylan put Maddy on the floor beside her father.

Maddy wobbled across to Dylan and held out her hand. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the big man with the frowning face.