"What's going on?" I asked.

Katy's wide-eyed stare met me over the top of the box she'd deposited on the counter. "I'm so glad you're here. I need a favor and I can't trust anyone else. The post office just delivered this box."

Nerves skidded off her as she twisted her high ponytail, tightening the strands.

I pinched my lips together in thought. Katy normally had an easy-going personality. Nothing rattled her. If she was concerned about this box and needed a favor, it had to be big.

Her being nervous made me nervous. "Does your favor involve this enormous box?"

I poked the box, and it didn't move against the smooth counter. It made a slight shaking noise when Katy set it down, but was obviously heavy. I checked the sides, giving them a good glance. Nothing liquid leaked from the corners.

Probably not a dead body. Although Katy was careful. She'd wrap it in something protective and plastic. But the odds of Katy being able to carry in a dead body on her own were slim.

Back to not being a dead body then.

Katy casually threw her arm over the top of the box, but it was taller than her while on the counter, so she only had her wrist and fingers over the top. "Maybe."

Hmmm.

"What's in it?" I asked, scanning the entire box, so I missed nothing.

In the past, I'd have jumped at the chance to help Katy. She was one of my best friends, but I had a lot on my plate at the moment. And I hadn't forgotten the time she called me at two in the morning for a favor, and I ended up having to climb a tree to rescue her from Pierce's roof when she'd gotten stuck trying to spy on him and his then fiancée.

I tore my favorite pair of ripped jeans. A real rip ruined the integrity of the man-made rips.

"It's a surprise for Pierce," she answered, giving up on trying to lean against her jumbo box casually.

My eyes narrowed in more suspension. "Is it a bomb?" They might have been a couple now, but Katy spent most of her life trying to foil Pierce's plans. They didn't have what I considered a healthy beginning to their relationship, even if it they were super happy now.

Katy scoffed, but it took her a full twenty seconds to deny my question. "No."

"Is it a good surprise or bad surprise?" I stuck my finger under the top flap and tried to lift it to peek inside.

A hand quickly fell on mine, stopping the movements along with a healthy layer of clear tape. Katy slapped my hand away until I tucked it in my apron.

"It's a post-Christmas surprise, but I can't give it to him yet."

That answer made me even more skeptical. "Is it on a timer?"

Katy rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter, giving me an even bigger scoff. "Vonnie, it's not a bomb."

She couldn't blame a girl for asking.

"Okay, I'll help. What do you need?"

My best friend's eyes lit up, and her smile almost reached her ears. "Nothing much. Just hide this box for a few days. Two tops. Don't let Pierce see it."

That wasn't too bad. Much better than I expected. "Sounds good. I can stick it in my closet."

Even if someone tried to rob me, they wouldn't be able to find anything in there.

Katy clutched at the box like I'd said I'd drown her baby. Her arms didn't even reach around the entire thing. "Noooo. It can't be out of your sight. Keep it with you at all times."

"All times?"

She nodded and eyed the box a little too... lovingly. "All times."

"You one hundred percent promise it's not a bomb?"

"Vonnie," she said, exacerbated. "I don't hug bombs."

You can't be too sure with Katy.

A customer walked through the door, and Katy nudged the box in my direction. It barely moved against the counter, and I quickly learned why as I struggled to get it to the floor at my feet.

"Okay, okay. I'll monitor it at all times."

Mack, Ridge Jefferson's father and the owner of the town's only hardware store, stepped up to the counter. "Hey, Vonnie, can you get me two chocolate chip cookies and a coffee?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Jefferson."

I turned to prepare his order as Katy resumed her position against the counter. "Does Ridge know you're ordering two cookies?" She narrowed her eyes again as she stared at him.

Mack stared right back. "No, and we're not going to tell him. I'm a grown man, and I want to eat two cookies in peace." He looked so out of place with the Pepto pink walls and bold jewel-toned chairs behind him.

She nodded, leaning back from him as I passed over the coffee and small bag of cookies.

I waited until Mack gave us a wave as he walked out of the bakery door. Anessa had the world's pinkest bakery, but somehow that didn't stop the men of Pelican Bay from getting in for their daily fix. At some point, they learned to overlook the décor and bright pink walls. The most apt description of the place being, "It looks like Barbie threw up in here."

Anessa liked pink, and we didn't argue with her. She might take away her famous, and most sought after in the whole county, cookie recipe if we did.

"You promise this isn't like the last box?" I asked Katy once the door closed behind Mack and the bell quit ringing.

Her mouth fell open. "We agreed never to discuss that again."

Silence fell between us as I slowly raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. It took her way too long.

With a headshake and a heavy sigh, she answered, "I promise it's not like the last box."

"Okay, with that settled, I have to talk to you." I kept my voice low, hoping they couldn't pick up our words on the video if we whispered. Ridge never explained exactly what he could hear or see on his surveillance equipment.

Katy leaned against the counter, getting closer to hear me. "What? Did you put it on the Facebook group? Want to give me the updates on Broadrick? I know you're hiding something."

"This is personal." I leaned in too. "And I'm not hiding anything." Mostly.

Katy's eyes grew enormous. "That means you are. Have you more than talked with Broadrick?" she asked.

"No." I slapped her arm to dislodge the hand she'd used to cover her mouth and hide her smile.

"I want to meet him."

"Absolutely not. He's not staying." My answer rushed out and Katy pinched her lips tightly.

"If you say so."

I totally said so. Even if she didn't believe me. I didn't trust Broadrick to stick around. At one point, he told me we'd be together forever. He said I'd be the girl he'd marry, and look how that turned out.

The liar Broadrick MacGregor could not break my heart a second time.

A terrible clatter came from the kitchen. The metal clang of a stack of pans tumbling to the ground wafted in the air as we stared at one another.

I froze, letting only my gaze meet Katy, but holding my breath. "Stay here."

Katy nodded.

"Rescue me if I scream," I said right before pushing past the swinging metal doors separating the two spaces.

"Totally," Katy promised.

At first glance, the kitchen was empty. I snuck into the space with short steps and grabbed a wooden spoon off the counter, holding it out in front of me. Not my best choice of a weapon, but it had to be enough.

A stack of sheet pans lay scattered across the kitchen floor. Great. Guess I figured out my afternoon plans.

Dishes.

I searched the spaces, but didn't find any weirdos hiding in the corner. We'd have to blame gravity on the spill, but something about the solution sent nerves skittering against my spine. Pans didn't randomly fall over without a reason.

The ovens were on low and I was the only person in the kitchen, but something about it was quiet. Too quiet. We needed a clock or something to break up the silence. I gave the place one last scan and my gaze froze on the fridge. The large door to the cooler sat ajar.

Did I leave it that way? My stolen chocolate evidence couldn't afford to melt any more than it already had in my coat pocket.

Honestly, it probably wasn't a great idea to bring in a possibly poisoned chocolate into the bakery. Even if the lab found nothing in the samples. Something about these chocolates had to be suspicious enough to worry Anderson. Why else did he run it through analysis?

Cool air danced out from the small slit in the open door as I approached. I'd give the chocolate a check and then get back to Katy. I needed advice from a close friend. Especially if she planned to agree with me that Broadrick had to go.

"It's safe. I'll be right out," I yelled to Katy to keep her from searching for me.

With my hand on the handle, I leaned into the cooler and froze, a silent scream ripping from my chest against my open mouth.

"What in the mother fucking shit?" I whispered as my eyebrows hit my hairline at the man hiding in the cooler.

He smirked, lowering his fingers from his lips, and pushed a large cookie tray of pre-made chocolate chip dough balls back onto the shelf. There were three missing from one corner.

"Babe." He wiped his hands against his dark wash jeans and I did my absolute best not to stare at the way his thermal shirt hugged his chiseled abs underneath it.

I motioned for him to get out of the cooler. "Don't babe me, Broadrick. What in the hell are you doing?" I whispered.

He followed me out of the freezer. "Eating cookie dough."

"Obviously. What are you doing here eating cookie dough at my job?"

Broadrick stepped around the scattered sheet pans. "I thought we needed to talk."

I wasn't ready to talk to him. Katy had to tell me what to do first. "How long is your leave?"

Normally, he'd get three days away before being called back to duty. If I could put him off another twenty-four hours, he might go away. I placed a hand against my chest, over my heart. The thought of him disappearing again caused me to miss a breath.

I also did not lean in to try and get one last sniff of his cologne.

"Vonnie, I left the service," he said, giving me a half shrug and bringing the ball of cookie dough he somehow snuck out of the cooler to his mouth.

I didn't believe him the first time he said it and still didn't.

"You keep saying that, but what do you mean?" I snatched the ball of dough away from him.