“Sherlock!” I scream. “Go find help.” I look back at Archie as he staggers this way just in time to see Fish jump up on his chest. He swipes her off and sends her hurtling toward the waterline.
Bizzy! She cries as she sails through the air.
Misty dives Archie’s way with a primal cry and attaches herself to his leg. But it’s Lucky that jumps over Archie and tries his best to knock him to the ground.
“Jasper?” I turn my full attention back to the love of my life as his face bleaches an eerie shade of blue. “Jasper!” I scream his name at the top of my lungs just as another thunderous clap explodes over the cove, and this one elicits the faint sound of screams from the wedding party at the other end of the beach.
I glance over to see my sister standing with her legs straddled, her arms still outstretched with what I’m guessing is Jasper’s weapon in her hand.
Archie Alden lies motionless over the sand while Lucky runs a lap around him.
“Good shot, Macy,” I pant.
Soon, Leo Granger shows up with his weapon drawn, followed by an entire swarm of sheriff’s deputies.
And Leo quickly confirms what I already suspected—Archie Alden is dead.
A team of deputies begins to administer care to Jasper right away, and if they don’t get him to the hospital soon, there won’t be a wedding in our future.
In fact, there won’t be a future for Jasper Wilder at all.
Chapter 18
Clean shot to the upper chest, right next to his shoulder. Jasper will be forced to miss two weeks of work. Lucky for me, he’s still in great shape for the honeymoon.
Archie Alden won’t be in great shape for anything. Macy took him out with a single bullet to the heart. And the way she’s been touting that information, you’d think she was going to wear it as a badge of honor for the rest of her life.
Who are we kidding? She is most certainly going to wear it as a badge of honor for the rest of her life.
The men of Cider Cove have officially been put on notice. If they were wondering what she was capable of before, they sure as heck know now. Word on the street is, a Kevlar vest is required for all potential suitors.
It’s the last Saturday of September, a beautiful crisp fall morning, the day of the Cider Cove Beautification celebration—and it just so happens to be my wedding day. And in a cruel twist of fate, both are scheduled to begin at precisely one o’clock.
Mackenzie was right. I should have moved my wedding to Sunday. But I couldn’t bring myself to stand down to her. I guess I have an ego, and problem with pride—and the two of them have caused a collision course that’s set to take place in just a few hours.
Fish stretches to life as the early morning sunlight warms the living room floor through a partition in the curtains.
I can’t believe Mayor Woods wouldn’t move her silly beautification reveal. Fish gives a sharp yowl. Who cares about Main Street? The real beauty will be on the bluff in just a few hours and it will be you.
“No, it won’t.” I slump over my coffee. “I’m the only bride on the planet who couldn’t find a wedding dress, so I had to settle for something I was lukewarm about at the Sew Lovely Bridal Boutique. It was the only one that fit that I could remotely afford. Thank God it was on clearance.”
You’ll look beautiful in it. She mewls.
“I’ll look like a sack of potatoes. It has no waist.”
It’ll have you. That’s more than enough for Jasper. She traipses over and jumps up in my lap. Can you believe this is the last morning we have to ourselves before the fuzzball and his human move in?
A laugh bounces through me. “That’s right. Sherlock and Jasper have spent their last night in that cottage. They’re all ours from here on out.”
A knock erupts at the door, and I head over to find not one Baker man, but two.
I swing the door open with my heart pounding against my chest, Fish still in my arms.
“Dad? Huxley?”
“Bizzy Bizzy.” My father pulls me in for a warm embrace. All my life he’s greeted me that way, doubling my name while shedding his boyish dimpled grin.
“Did someone die?” I suck in a quick breath as I look to my brother. “It’s Mom, isn’t it? Is she in the hospital? Is there still time to see her?”
Huxley shakes his head. “No need to go dark, Biz. We come bearing good news. I got Mack to move the beautification reveal to ten o’clock. If you put some shoes on, you can see Georgie get all the accolades she deserves.”
“What?” I shriek with delight as I run in a circle doing just that before Fish and I run out the door. Lucky for me, Main Street is just up the way.
“There’s something else I think you should know,” Hux says as he and my father struggle to keep up with me.
A part of me wants to text Jasper the good news, but a part of me says maybe I should think about that whole it’s-bad-luck-to-see-your-groom-before-the-wedding thing. We’re not exactly dancing on a four-leaf clover here. We’ve got more dead bodies between us than most small-town morgues. I don’t think I should push my luck.
Dad jogs up next to me. “You might see Jasper there. Gwyneth asked if he could help carry a few things she picked up at the boutique.”
“Oh”—a breath hitches in my throat—“well, that’s fine. I don’t subscribe to that whole bad luck thing anyhow.”
Drats.
Fish taps her paw against my chest. I bet he’ll have Sherlock with him. I plan on giving him a proper Baker welcome to the family. Will we still be Bakers?
I lean into her ear. “It’s a surprise. But I have a feeling
