Cupcake Explosion (Cupcakes 4)

When we were all seated around the table, our slices of pizza on my square white plates, Carmen grinned at me and said, “This is nice.”

“It is,” I agreed, then we all dug in.

We asked the kids about school and talked a bit about the wedding, but it wasn’t until the kids were off doing homework, the table was cleared, and the dishes were done, that Carmen and I took our wine to out back to sit at my patio furniture while the dogs ran around.

“So, I have a couple things to run by you,” I began, laughing as CB nipped at Rufus’s legs as he tried to get away from her.

“Shoot.”

“Okay, well, first, I’ve been thinking about hiring someone on . . . to do some of what I did when I worked for Moose, but to also help with paperwork and stuff. I don’t want to totally step back from doing investigative work, but it would be nice not to do it all myself.”

“Done,” Carmen said, sitting up and looking at me, her face full of excitement. “Look no further, I’m your girl.”

“Really?” I asked with a laugh. “What about your job?”

“Most of the work I do for the Gazette, I can do from home. I usually just go into the office because I like being around everyone. The patch I gave over to the new guy, and the blog I do in my free time for fun. If I don’t have time to do post, it’s no problem, or I can schedule ahead,” she said, clasping her hands together pleading. “You know I love working with you, and I think we work well together. I’m happy to do anything you need . . . organize, write reports, take pictures of people being bad, whatever.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” I admitted. “I think you’d be perfect for the job. You have experience investigating, doing research, and the few times you’ve gone with me on a case, we haven’t gotten in too much trouble.”

“Yay!” Carmen exclaimed. “I’m so excited. When do I start?”

“It doesn’t have to be right away, you can take whatever time you need to get things settled at work. You let me know when you’re ready and we’ll figure it out.”

Carmen did a little dance in her seat, then picked up her wine and settled back.

“What’s the other thing?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“You said you had a couple things to run by me. The job is one thing, what’s the other?”

“Oh, uh,” I took a sip of wine and hoped she didn’t think I was overstepping when I said, “I want you to give Bran another shot.”

“What?” she asked, sitting back up and putting her glass on the table. “But, I told you, Lila, our date was awful. Like, awkward with a side of boring, and a dash of why are we doing this.”

“I know, but after talking to you, and now having spoken with Bran, I really think the problem is that you’re both putting each other on this pedestal, that is so high and lofty that no one could ever live up to it. You were both nervous, and crazily think that the other person is too good for you, when in reality, you guys are both amazing, kind, funny, hot as hell, people.”

“I don’t know . . .”

“Look, what if you guys just talked, over coffee or something, and were totally honest about the reasons you’re nervous. I could even come along, to act as a buffer, and, if things go bad, we can all go our separate ways. And by that, I mean I’ll still be friends with both of you, but I won’t try and fix you up with each other anymore . . . deal?”

Carmen thought for a moment, then sighed and said, “Fine, it’s a deal. But you have to be there.”

She frowned, and I knew it was because she’d really liked him and had been extremely disappointed when their date hadn’t worked out. But, that was also why I knew if I could just get them together and get past the awkward stage, things would be great.

They liked each other. They belonged together. And I wasn’t going to be happy until they both realized it.

“HAVE FUN WITH your dad,” I called cheerfully to the twins.

Elin turned and waved, but Lena just kept walking without so much as a goodbye.

Sigh.

Not sure what the night would bring, I decided to dress like I was going out for a nice dinner, but not go overboard, like I was going clubbing.

Once I was ready, I blew kisses to the dogs and headed out to Mrs. Phillips’ parents’ place. Once there, I pulled into a different spot a couple houses down and kept my gaze on the house.

While I was waiting, I started a couple games of Words with Friends with Bea and Shannon. They always beat me, but I was determined to win one of these days.