She starts towards the door, but then turns back to me, holding up the card.
“Wait, doesn't everybody in Mayberry here know who you are? Is anybody going to give me any trouble over trying to use your customer card?” she asks.
I laugh.
“It's not quite that bad. But if you want to make sure next week's community newspaper isn't emblazoned with a headline about an FBI consultant getting hassled at the grocery store for identity fraud, go through the line with the young dark-haired man named Gabriel. Tell him you are my best friend, and I sent you,” I tell her.
Bellamy looks at me suspiciously.
"Is this some sort of elaborate attempt at fixing me up with someone? You have your sights set on getting me paired off with some cute, sweet guy from around here, so I'll move to your sleepy little town and start popping out babies?" she asks.
I blink at her a couple of times.
“Well, Gabriel is about twenty-three, so he is a baby, and he's here taking care of his sick grandma, so... no.”
“Damn. That would have been nice,” Bellamy says. She looks over at me and grins. “Oh well. You know I love all that hustle and bustle and grime back in D.C. I'll get by.”
“Good to know,” I tell her.
Bellamy flashes me another smile and heads out on her grocery mission. She seems perfectly content, but I can't help but wonder if there was more to that joke than she is really putting on. Last year I was absolutely positive she and Eric were on the slope toward being together. I developed my close friendships with both of them separately, and for many years the two of them only really tolerated each other for my sake. Their personalities clashed, they annoyed each other professionally, and for the most part, were very poor candidates for occupying the same space.
But that all started to shift when Greg went missing. They didn't run into each other's arms or instantly bury the hatchet. It was more of a begrudging alliance, so we could all support each other.
Bellamy was never very close to Greg, but Eric was good enough friends to be Greg's emergency contact. It was when I was sent to Feathered Nest on my first undercover assignment after six months of desk duty that they really started communicating. They helped me with all the crazy twists and turns in my life over the last couple of years, gradually drifting closer. Honestly, it seemed a relationship was inevitable.
But something happened after Jonah and Anson were arrested, and Greg was murdered. Now it seems that brush with a potential future has my best friend longing for something more.
Chapter Eight
The cinnamon rolls have the whole house smelling delicious. I'm just drizzling the tops with cream cheese icing when the front door bursts open, and Bellamy comes rushing back inside. Her eyes are wide and her face flush with color.
“What is it?” I ask. “What's wrong?”
She shakes her head.
“Nothing is wrong. You won't believe what just happened,” she says, sounding excited.
“You found a cute, sweet guy to sweep you off your feet so you can come be my neighbor?” I tease.
She shakes her head again.
“No,” she says.
“You discovered a new flavor of bagel pizzas we've never had before?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head again, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
“B, if you keep shaking your head like that, it might fall off. Just tell me what's going on.”
“You won,” she tells me.
I stare at her, waiting for her to continue, but she just keeps looking at me with bright eyes and an open mouth.
“Yeah,” I say after a few silent seconds. “I'm definitely going to need more than that.”
“You won the big sweepstakes,” she clarifies.
“And I'm going to need a little bit more than that, too,” I raise an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
She lets out a sigh of exasperation and sets the several grocery bags she’s holding in each hand down on the kitchen floor. Digging in her jacket pocket, she pulls out an envelope and holds it out to me.
“The sweepstakes at the grocery store,” she explains. “It's been going on for a few weeks, and you are the big winner.”
“I didn't even know there was a sweepstake going on at the grocery store,” I frown. “What happened?”
“I went to the store and picked out everything we could possibly want to eat, just like you said. Then I went and found the register line Gabriel was running. I told him I was there for you. You're right, he's a really nice guy and was perfectly happy to accept the card from me. I swiped it, and he got all excited and told me you won the sweepstakes. The manager came out and gave me this envelope to give you. It has all the information about your prize.”
“What is it?” I ask, taking the envelope and examining it.
“You’re not gonna believe it,” she says with a little too much mirth in her eyes. “It’s an incredible prize.”
“What? A couple of free tickets to the county fair?” I set to work, opening the flaps of the envelope.
“No. Think bigger.”
“I don’t know, B. One of those cash gift cards for some high amount?”
“Even bigger!”
I let out an exasperated sigh and finally get the envelope open. “Just tell me what it is.”
“A week-long all-expense-paid vacation for three to an exclusive island resort!”
“What?”
I pull the paper out of the envelope and read the words. My mouth falls open in shock. It’s just as Bellamy said. A perfect getaway to a remote island hideaway in the Caribbean. Windsor Palms Resort, the finest in luxury and convenience, nestled on the idyllic island of Windsor Island.
“Seriously?” I ask. “That's a pretty impressive prize for a sweepstakes I didn't even know was going on.”
I start toward the
