Susan Mallery - Falling for Gracie

Questions crowded his brain. Who had done this and why?

Riley moved his box to the edge of the table and crossed to the window overlooking the rear of his property. Just then a familiar Lexus sped down the driveway.

Pam! He swore long and loud, then reached for his cell. Gracie picked up on the first ring. “How you feeling?” he asked.

“Better. The fever’s gone. Alexis has fed me and I just had a shower. I think I’ll live.”

“Good to know. I have a situation here. I’m delivering the cake, but there’s already one here. I also just spotted Pam heading away from the scene of the crime.”

Gracie gasped. “Is that what she was doing with my cake pans? Making a cake for the benefit? But why? And how does it look?”

“Like crap. I don’t get it. What’s the point? This can’t be to get her business. No one will know she baked it.”

“No, but they’ll think I did. Taste it.”

“What?”

“Taste it. I have to know if it’s horrible.”

“Hold on.”

Riley eyed the pink boxes, then grabbed a fork from the pile by napkins and stuck it into the small layer cake close to him. He sucked in a breath, then took a bite.

“Jesus,” he said as he spat it out. “What’s wrong?”

“Salt instead of sugar. At least I think that’s it.” He grabbed a paper napkin and wiped off his tongue. The horrible flavor lingered.

“Riley, you have to get her cake out of there. She’s trying to make sure I can never recover from the scandal about my cakes. Get hers out and put mine in its place.”

“Will do.”

“Can you call me when you’re done? I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Normally those were words to make him head out to sea, but not this time. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just want to talk about the election.”

Damn. “What do you know?”

“That you’re in trouble.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“How?”

He eyed the table. “Look, I need to get the cakes changed. I’ll call you when I’m done, then come by. Fair enough?”

“That’s great. Thanks.”

He clicked off his cell phone and dropped it into his pocket. Then he collected two of the small boxes from Pam’s cake and carried them back to his car.

It took him three more trips to get Gracie’s cake inside. He set it up as best he could and was leaving with the largest layer of Pam’s cake when a guard met him at the top of the stairs.

“Not so fast,” the burly man said. “What have you got there?”

“A cake. Two were delivered by mistake.”

The other man didn’t look convinced. “We just got a call that someone would try to trade out the cakes as a joke. Something about the election and one of the candidates wanting to make a fuss.” His eyes narrowed. “Funny how you just happen to look like that guy running for mayor.”

Riley couldn’t believe it. Pam had sure as hell covered her bases on this one.

“This isn’t what you think,” Riley said as he tried to inch his way around the guard. “The new cake is in place and it’s delicious. Take a bite of it if you don’t believe me. This is the bad cake.” He held out the box in his hands. “Big mistake to eat this one.”

“You just hold it right there. I’m going to have to call this in.” The guard reached for his walkie-talkie and pushed a button.

Riley tried to judge the distance to the front door and wondered if he could make a run for it. When he heard the guy on the other end of the conversation say “Hold him,” he knew he didn’t have a choice.

He started down the stairs, noticing too late that someone was coming up the stairs-a big guy carrying a case of wine. Riley went left, the guy went right. They ended up on the same step and tried to avoid the crash.

It happened anyway. The impact knocked Riley off his feet. He grabbed for the railing, slipped and reached for it again. The cake went flying. The other guy lost control of the box of wine. Riley and the other man fell at the same time, bouncing down the stairs in a tangle of arms and legs.

When they hit the ground, they landed onto wine-soaked cake and a floor full of glass.

Every part of him hurt. Riley knew this couldn’t be good, an opinion that was confirmed when he heard sirens in the distance and getting closer.

THE CELL PHONE woke Gracie early the next morning. Her first thought was that whatever bug had gripped her had been firmly squashed. The second was that Riley had never called or come by. Was this him?

“Hello?”

“Gracie, it’s Mom. Have you seen the paper?”

“Huh? No.” She rolled over in bed. At least she knew this time whatever scandal it was couldn’t be about her. She hadn’t left the house in two days.

“It’s Riley,” her mother said. “He was arrested.”

“What? Are you kidding?”

She scrambled out of the bed and hurried to the front door. After flinging it open, she raced to the edge of the porch where the morning paper waited. A quick glance at the headline had her cringing.

“Mayoral Candidate Arrested for Drunk and Disorderly Conduct.”

The picture showed Riley covered with cake and surrounded by broken wine bottles in the foyer of the historic mansion.

“I’m going to throw up,” she whispered as she walked back inside and closed the door. “This is all my fault.”

“You were sick in bed. Alexis told me.”

“Exactly. I got sick so Riley took the cake over for me. Only Pam had already been there to put a nasty-tasting cake in its place. He was helping me out and somehow things went wrong.”

“Then I guess you’re going to have to fix them. How can I help?”

The support made her eyes burn. “I don’t know, but as soon as I figure something out, I’ll be in touch.”

“I’ll be waiting. We’re here for you, Gracie. I want you to know that.”

“I appreciate it, Mom. I’ll let you know.”

She hung up and quickly punched in Riley’s number. Several seconds passed before he answered.

“Are you okay?” she asked frantically. “I just saw the paper. What happened?”

“I just got home and I need to take a shower,” he said. “Come on over and I’ll tell you everything.”

She had a thousand questions, the first one being why he was just getting home.

“They kept you in jail?” she asked, outraged.

“It’s a long story.”

“Okay. Go take your shower. I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll leave the front door open.”

Gracie dressed in record time and made her way to Riley’s house. She felt a little weak, but a big breakfast should take care of that, she thought. After parking in the driveway-at this point what did it matter if anyone saw her car there-she walked inside and headed upstairs.

She found Riley in his bedroom. He’d already showered and shaved and was just pulling on jeans as she walked in.

After a brief thought that she was sorry to have missed the good part of watching him dress, she moved close and hugged him.

“This is all my fault, and I’m really, really sorry.”

He pulled her against him. “It wasn’t you. It was Pam and circumstances. Don’t blame yourself.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

The melty sensation began instantly, but Gracie told herself this wasn’t the time to get distracted. There were too many other things to worry about.

“What happened?” she asked when he drew back. “How did you end up covered in cake? And who arrested you? And why didn’t you get home until this morning?”

He released her and picked up a shirt on the bed. After shrugging into it, he started on the buttons.

“One of the guards figured out I was taking out a cake as well as bringing one in. Someone had called to warn security I might try to pull something.”

“You? That’s crazy.”

“I saw Pam driving away, which means she saw my car. I’m guessing she made the call to get me in trouble and it worked perfectly. The guards tried to detain me, I didn’t want to stay. What I didn’t see was the liquor guy coming up the stairs. We collided and both went down. The wine broke and we fell in it and the cake.”

Her breath caught. “What about all that glass? Are you hurt?”

“A few cuts. Nothing serious. Then the deputies arrived to take me away. There was enough blood that we had to stop by the hospital first.”

“Blood? Where?”

He pulled up his shirt and turned so she could see the bandages on his back. There were five and none were very big.

“Did they have to pick any glass out?” She asked, feeling more horrible by the second.

“Some. I have a couple of stitches.”

She winced. “I’m so sorry.”

He dropped the shirt and set his hands on her shoulders. “Not your fault. Remember that. This is Pam’s doing and by God, she’s going to pay.”

Gracie wanted to ask how, but she had other, more pressing questions.

“Why didn’t Mac release you right away?”

Riley tucked in his shirt. “He wasn’t on duty and the damned deputies wouldn’t call him. They didn’t want me to call anyone either. They finally did let me and I got in touch with Zeke who drove out to Mac’s house, but he wasn’t there. Apparently Mac and Jill went out of town for the night. Zeke called around to hotels in Santa Barbara until he found them. Mac drove back and let me out.”

“And I slept through the whole thing,” Gracie said mournfully.

“You were sick. Alexis left when you fell asleep. Don’t sweat it,” he told her. “I’m fine now.”

“So how are we going to get Pam?” she asked.

“Too bad she’s a woman. If she was a guy I’d just go beat the shit out of her.”

“We could confront her and threaten her. That would be good.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “You have your camera in your car, just in case we find something interesting?”

She grinned. “You bet.”

They drove to Pam’s house and parked right in front.