Fat Cat Takes The Cake

On the other hand, Principal Snelson and Mr. Hail had been deliberately defrauding defenseless older people for their own financial gain. They were just as evil as the others involved in this whole mess. She chuckled to think of Mrs. Snelson throwing her husband’s clothing in the dump. She had heard of women leaving their husband’s belongings in the front yard, even in the rain, but never driving them to a dump.

It looked like Dickie Byrd’s campaign had fallen through. The last time she drove past his headquarters, it was empty. A few of Monique’s posters still clung to poles and stared out from shop windows, but most were gone. Monique had been seen in the company of a local bank executive. Dickie, Rich, or whatever he was called now, had left town. Chase was confident he would run for office somewhere else eventually. He’d been politicking his whole life.

They were now in front of the Meet N Eat, since it lay along their regular route. Another few pounds of weight lifted when she thought about how she was through fending off the charming, electric Eddie Heath. A person who ran a health food place had nothing in common with a person who baked decadent cookie bars.

Julie was tied up with the rest of the real estate case, as well as an additional one she had been given in an e-mail late Saturday. She had yet to celebrate not being a murder suspect, but Chase was making plans for that. They would celebrate. Exactly where and how and with whom wasn’t clear, but Chase was thinking about it a lot. It would happen.

FORTY

“I’m sorry, Quincy,” Chase said. “I promise we’ll have a tree next year.”

Quincy loved the small artificial tree Chase usually put up in her apartment. He didn’t love the tree so much, though, as he liked batting the ornaments off and seeing where he could hide them.

This was the first year Chase hadn’t had a Christmas tree. She hadn’t had time, between going out to dinner with Mike twice, baking far into the night after that and every day since the Minny Batter Battle, and getting last-minute wedding tasks done in her spare moments. The reception seating was constantly being redone as regrets and acceptances came in. Some people “informed” Anna they would be bringing extra people. Had they never had to manage a wedding? It was almost impossible to fit in extra people unless enough guests canceled. Something had to give and it was her own tree.

Since the dresses had arrived two days before the wedding and Chase and Julie were at Anna’s late the last two nights getting them fitted, there had been no chance for a bachelorette party. Julie promised they would have one after the wedding, somehow, somewhere.

Now, getting ready to walk down the aisle of the wedding chapel, she knew everything was worth it. Julie stood in front of her, her more petite figure showing off the asymmetrical one-shoulder design a bit better than Chase’s did, or so Chase thought.

Chase peeked around Julie’s shoulder to see the men lined up in front. Bill’s son, Rick, stood beside his father. Next to Rick was an old friend of Bill’s whom Chase and Julie had met half an hour before the wedding. Bill was appropriately pale and nervous in his handsome dark suit.

The padded pews held Anna’s and Bill’s dearest friends and a few distant relatives.

Anna stood behind them and around the corner, out of sight of her intended until the proper, dramatic moment.

The music changed to Edvard Grieg’s ethereal “Morning Mood,” the cue for Julie and Chase to start down the aisle. Chase waited for Julie to get four rows ahead, then she started the slow, unnatural, bridesmaid’s gait: step, pause, step, pause.

Anna had tried to figure out a way for Quincy to act as ring bearer, but Chase prevailed in talking her out of that. What chaos that would have been!

Mike looked up at Chase as she passed, melting her heart with his smile and those deep chocolate eyes. Mallory, close beside Tanner in the next row, sat with her left hand casually on top of her right, displaying the diamond promise ring he had given her two days ago at Bar None. Inger sat with them, smiling and happy, her baby bump getting larger every day.

Professor Andy Fear sat with his arm protectively around Hilda Bjorn. Hilda gave Julie a huge smile as she passed. The older woman never tired of telling Julie how grateful she was that Julie had saved her from selling her house and had put “that bad man” in jail.