That Man of Mine (Whispering Bay Romance 3)

Mimi had gone to the Piggly Wiggly to stock up on flour and baking soda. She was unloading groceries from her minivan when Mrs. Manley came limping at full speed up the driveway. Pretty spry for an eighty-year-old who’d recently had a hip replacement.

“What on earth!” Mrs. Manley laughed. “All that commotion last night. I thought the street was burning down!”

“No, thank God for that,” Mimi said. “I’m so sorry you got woken up.”

“Oh, honey, it wasn’t your fault. I mean, you had no control over those armadillos. Of course, it was awful convenient that Zeke had to come out, too.”

Mimi shifted from foot to foot. “Well, yes, I’m grateful that so many first responders showed up, because, I mean, you never know.”

What was Mrs. Manley getting at?

“And now the two of you are back together! So all’s well that ends well. And I don’t for a minute believe you schemed up this whole damsel in distress routine. Men!” She winked at Mimi. “They do love helpless women, don’t they?”

Mimi could feel her blood sizzle.

“You think I staged that whole scene last night to get my husband out here?”

“Oh, honey, don’t get upset. I’m totally on Team Mimi!” Then she scurried off, stopping only to wave before she went back inside her house.

Baking phase one began after that. Mimi punched dough until her knuckles felt raw. Then the kids h

ad come home. She’d been thinking all morning on how to tell them the story, but of course, they already knew.

Claire was mortified. “Mom, please tell me you didn’t call the cops because two armadillos were doing the nasty by the side of our house.”

Cameron was unabashedly gleeful. “I think it’s awesome. I wish I’d been here to see it. I could have taped it and put it on YouTube.” He gave Toby a hug. “And this guy! Dad said it was his barking that woke you up, so now we know he’s a good watchdog!”

“Yep, Toby’s the best. So…your dad told you?” Mimi would love to know exactly how Zeke had recounted that little story.

Cameron nodded. “Uh-huh. He took Henry and me out to lunch.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

Baking phase two had followed shortly after this conversation. And now, two whole days had gone by and still no word from Zeke. She hoped he wouldn’t think she’d brought all these baked goods to the station in hopes of running into him.

Cindy jumped up from her place behind the reception desk to help her. “Well, aren’t you sweet?” she crooned, taking the pies out of Mimi’s hands. Between the two of them they arranged all the goodies by the coffee pot, so everyone could help themselves.

It had been a long time since Mimi had been to the station in the middle of the day like this. Momma was right. Cindy did look good. She’d lost weight and her skin was absolutely glowing. As for the extensions, Mimi thought they were a bit much, but hey, who was she to rain on anyone’s parade? If Cindy was happy, then that was the important thing.

“I want to thank everyone for all they did the other night,” Mimi said. “I know this isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a start.”

Cindy bit her bottom lip like she was trying not to laugh. “Girl, I’ve worked here ten years and I thought I’d heard some pretty weird 911 calls in my life, but yours beats the cake.”

Mimi had dialed the police station directly, not 911, but it basically amounted to the same thing, so it would have been churlish to correct Cindy on that.

“Is…are people talking about it this morning?”

Cindy was staring at a sugar cookie with lust in her eyes. “What? Oh, well, uh, yeah.” She shrugged. “But don’t worry, this is Whispering Bay. Something new will happen and it will all blow over.”

“True.” Mimi glanced at the closed door to Zeke’s office.

Cindy followed her gaze. “So…is it true? Are you the chief back together?”

“No, we’re still separated,” Mimi admitted.

“Oh! I thought. Well, that explains it then.” Cindy lowered her voice. “Mrs. Manley was at The Bistro this morning telling everyone that the chief had spent the night back at his house.”

“She was, huh?”