Baker’s Law (6 page)

Marissa sat staring at the girl. She didn’t know what to say.

Lexi glanced back over her shoulder. Her friends were packing up to leave. “Will you
be here later? Like after six?”

“I’ll be here ‘til we close at seven.”

Lexi gave a quick nod and turned without another word.

“What was that all about?” Kya tucked a rag into the pocket on the front of her apron.

“I have no idea.”

As the girls were leaving, Marlie came barreling through the door. “Mar, you will
never in a million years believe who I spoke to today.” She was dressed in a bright
yellow sheath dress with tan high heels. Her blond hair was pulled up in a loose bun
at the back of her head, and she had a large Coach tote bag slung over her shoulder.

“I can’t believe you two are twins,” Kya whispered before she headed toward the kitchen.
“I’m outta here, boss. See ya tomorrow.” She waved over her head.

Marissa smiled at Kya’s departing back, then looked at her sister. “Who?”

Marlie beamed. “I was just sitting at my desk looking over the latest bridal catalog.
I wouldn’t even think she knew my name much less my phone number.” She pointed at
an orange crème cupcake. “Can I?”

Marissa took the cupcake from the case. “Who was it, Lee?” She used her sister’s nickname
hoping it would spur on her tale. When they were little, with such similar names,
she’d been designated Mar and her sister Lee. Too many times Marissa’d been unsure
if she was in trouble when their father would yell
Mar-Lee.
Was it the both of them, or just her sister? After a while, though, she was too well
behaved to be doing anything wrong, so she’d been able to ignore him.

Her sister had the same mischievous glint in her eye now as she had back when they
were little and she was up to something.

“Who, Lee?” Her sister’s excitement was infectious.

Marlie bit into the cupcake. “This is so good.”

“If you don’t tell me who you spoke to…”

“Relax,” she said around a mouthful of cake. When she swallowed she said, “Before
I tell you, though, I need you to do me a huge favor. You have to promise me.”

Marissa frowned. Her sister had asked her for many favors over the years, none with
such a hazy preface. “What’s the favor?”

Marlie picked at the wrapped edge of the cupcake. “I have a new client and I need
some help. Will you act as my assistant? It won’t be all that time-consuming, but
I need an extra set of hands. Not to mention it will make my business look better
if I have an ‘assistant.’”

“I guess.” Weddings were months and months of planning. She’d be able to schedule
her employees around the wedding activities and the times she had to prepare for parties.

“You have to promise. Say, ‘I pinky swear’.” Marlie bounced on the balls of her feet.

“You’re calling out the pinky swear?” Since they were six and hatched a scheme to
sneak out Duff’s favorite cassette tape so they could play it—and promptly broke it—they’d
pinky swore every time one needed the other to cover for them. They’d never broken
a pinky swear. And Duff never found out they were the ones who destroyed his copy
of Van Halen.

“Yes, it’s that big of a deal.”

Marissa leaned over the counter and held out her pinky to her sister. “I pinky swear,
I’ll be your assistant.”

Marlie squealed and latched on her finger for their elaborate handshake.

“Now tell me.” Marissa grabbed a cupcake for herself and sat with her sister at the
closest table. “Who called you?” She took a bite of the black cherry cupcake.

“None other than Bunny Carlisle.”

Marissa didn’t even taste the food as she chewed. It had been almost a full week since
she’d seen Jax Carlisle and that was after nearly twenty years. Why hearing he was
getting married sat so heavily with her… Probably because the moments she did sleep
over the past week, she’d done nothing but fantasize about the man. “That’s…great.”

“It’s more than great. It’s going to be the wedding of the year.” Marlie dragged her
finger across the top of the icing and scooped some up. “There’s only one catch.”

Marissa frowned around another bite of her food. There was always a catch. Her mouth
was too full to ask, but she didn’t need to—Marlie plowed right on anyway.

“It’s a less than a month away.” Her sister swiped at her mouth with a paper napkin
and folded it neatly on the table.

“What is?” she asked when she finally swallowed. “The wedding?” Marissa’s easy schedule
was quickly flying out the window. “Why so fast?” Why such a speedy wedding after
he’d just moved to town? Not to mention, why was Bunny involved? The last she’d heard
they weren’t on the best of terms. Was it an olive branch to get back in his mother’s
good graces? Though, that was a hell of an olive branch. “Can you get a wedding done
under a month?”

Marlie pouted, as if Marissa had insulted her, then she said, “I can get it done.
Most of the details are in place. Bunny has already fired the three previous wedding
planners.” She leaned closer. “Actually I think I heard the last one walked out and
forfeited her fee. Anyway, it’s more or less overseeing the finishing touches.”

For the next two hours, Marlie ran over the details that were already in place from
the previous planners. Most of the details were already set in motion. Why couldn’t
the Carlisles just proceed on their own? When she wasn’t helping her customers, she
made notes of what Marlie needed her to do.

“I have a face-to-face with Callie and Bunny first thing tomorrow morning. Do you
think you could tag along?”

“Where is it?”

Marlie looked away briefly and mumbled, “At the country club.”

Marissa’s stomach pitched. It was bad enough she’d agreed to help her sister with
the Carlisle wedding. To have to go to the Oak Hollow Country Club was almost too
much. She’d worked there in high school, not fancy or rich enough to become a member.
But she’d been good enough to wash towels and table linens. “You’d go back there?
After what they did?”

Their father had worked at the club for nearly twenty years, the last five as the
head mechanic. Marissa and Marlie’s senior year in school, all the white towels and
linens had turned up pink. Marissa had been the last one on duty, and though they
were white and in the closet when she’d left, she’d been promptly fired. As had her
father. They said if he didn’t agree to it, they’d press charges against her for property
damages.

Even though her father believed in her innocence, he didn’t want to chance that the
incident would adversely affect her and her chances in college.

“That was nearly seventeen years ago. Dad got over it, why can’t you?” Marlie crossed
her arms over her chest and pouted. “You pinky swore, so you’re going. It’s one wedding,
a wedding that can really put my name out there. It won’t be that bad.”

The bell over the door chimed. Marissa gave her sister one last lingering “how could
you” look then turned to greet her customer. “Speak of the devil. There’s your groom
now.” Marissa nodded her head toward Jax.

Marlie swiveled in her seat. “Where?”

“At the door?”

“No.” Marlie jiggled the pen in her hand. “Who’s that?”

Marissa leaned into her sister and whispered, “Who’s the wedding for?”

“Bunny’s daughter, Callie. You remember her, don’t you? She was a few years behind
us in school.”

Relief washed through Marissa with so much force she swayed a little on her feet—though
she had no reason for it.

She did remember Callie. As a matter of fact, she’d always suspected Callie was the
one who’d turned all the linens pink. She’d seen the girl lurking in the back hallways
of the club the night of the incident, but it wasn’t as if Marissa could accuse her
of doing it. And she’d only been eleven or twelve at the time. She’d been a spoiled,
rich brat, but not deliberately malicious.… Marissa gave a mental shrug. Given that
Callie Carlisle had gone through three wedding planners already, it sounded as if
things hadn’t changed much.

She turned her attention to Jax. “Good evening, Chief.”

Jax removed his hat and nodded to Marissa and her sister. He sure did make that OH
uniform look good. Marissa gaped a moment, worried he could read her mind as he held
her gaze. She fought off the urge to fan herself.

“Ladies.” He interrupted her thoughts. “I came to check on how you’re doing. Any more
break-ins?”

“Break-ins?” Marlie’s head whipped around and she pinned Marissa with her narrowed,
blue gaze. “When did you have break-ins? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Behind her, Jax shifted and his eyebrows rose.

“It was no big deal. I didn’t want to worry you.” Marissa moved around her sister
and turned her attention to the chief. “All’s well. My brother came out and fixed
the door.”

“Duff came over here? You told one of the guys but not me?” Marlie stood, then slammed
her hands on her hips.

“Like I said, I didn’t want to worry you. And I was a little afraid you might overreact.
Silly me.” She rolled her eyes. “Marlie, you remember Jax Carlisle from high school.
He’s the new police chief.” That cooled her sister’s jets.

“I heard you were moving back.” Marlie morphed from freaked out, concerned sister
to businesswoman—emphasis on
woman
—and went to shake Jax’s hand. “Congratulations on the job.”

He gave her a quick, polite shake, but his gaze didn’t linger on Marlie. A fact that
gave Marissa even more relief than when she’d heard he wasn’t the intended groom.
Though, that might be totally premature. She didn’t know a thing about him. She normally
swore by her instincts about people, but he could be getting ready to celebrate his
twentieth wedding anniversary and have half a dozen kids at home. His mother was tightlipped
about the foal she couldn’t keep corralled.

“How does it feel to move back to Oak Hollow? Have you gotten settled in yet?” Marlie
peppered him with questions. “Must be a rough move for a household.” Leave it to her
to ask the questions Marissa had been wondering.

Jax gave a quick chuckle. “It’s good to be home. Settled just fine and moving me and
my dog wasn’t all too traumatic.”

He was single.

Marlie turned her back on Jax for a brief moment and gave a quick brow waggle. And
all Marissa’s hopes dashed. Not too many men were immune to her sister’s charm and
beauty when she turned it up.

As Marlie asked Jax another barrage of questions, Marissa glanced at her watch. It
was about an hour until closing time. “If y’all will excuse me…” She hurried behind
the counter and plucked out the unsold cupcakes she’d take over to her dad later.
She’d just finished packing up the box when Jax came over to the counter.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been by sooner to check on your shop. I did beef up patrol and
have them coming by more frequently.”

Marissa nodded. “I’ve seen them. Thanks.”

“Would you mind if I check out your door?”

“My brother did a good job on it. But I don’t mind.” She waved him around the counter.
“Marlie, will you keep an eye on the front for a sec?”

When her sister nodded, Marissa ushered Jax to the back to look at the door. “My brother
said it looked a little too intricate for a teenager to have drilled through the layers
of the door. But he also said the hole looked pretty old. I’ve been here less than
a year, so who knows how long the shop’s been vulnerable.”

Jax didn’t comment, just squatted before the door and ran his fingers across the repair
job. Finally he stood. “Looks good.” For a long moment he looked her over.

Marissa had to fight not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“I want to apologize.”

She frowned. “For?”

“The other night, calling you by your high school nickname.”

* * *

Jax had gone and done it again. The moment he’d brought up her nickname all the color
fled from her cheeks and the smile in her eyes fell flat. The first time he’d said
it, he hadn’t known why it’d warranted such an extreme response. Midweek, he’d run
into Otto Kendal and later gone out and had a beer after work. They’d played catch
up and gone over some of the people, Jax’d run into since moving back to town. When
he’d mentioned Marissa’s name Otto had laughed.

“She didn’t slug you for calling her that?”

Jax picked at the label on the bottle. “Why would she?”

“She hated that name.” Otto downed the rest of his beer and leaned back in his chair.

“How do you know?”

“Come on, Jax. She was fat, with braces and glasses. Some of the guys would walk behind
her mooing. They called her Moo-Moo Llewellyn and it finally just got shortened to
Lulu.”

Jax’s gut had twisted. Then he’d asked, “How do you remember that? She was grades
behind us.”

He shrugged. “I heard it a couple of times when she’d follow her dad around at work
up at the club.”

Jax had forgotten all about her father. Mr. Llewellyn had been employed at the club
for years. Marissa’d worked there eventually, too. After he’d moved to Austin, he’d
heard they’d both gotten fired, but he never knew why.

“Who knew she’d end up not half-bad,” Otto had commented.

Not half-bad? She was so much more than
not half-bad.
She was a beauty. Even back in school, while, yeah she might have been how Otto described
her, half the kids in school looked like that at one time or another. She’d been cute
if a little awkward at times. And he would never have classified her as fat. She’d
had burgeoning curves as a fifteen-year-old—that now, even under her jeans, a T-shirt
and an apron, he could tell had developed quite nicely. In school, she’d always had
a smile on her face and been ready to help out if someone needed it. He was surprised
he remembered so much about her. It wasn’t like he’d paid that much attention. But
in a school full of followers and hangers-on, she’d stood out by being neither.

After he’d left Otto that night, he’d felt like such an ass. He would never have used
her nickname if he’d known how or why it got started.