Page 32 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“I hope my lateness doesn’t cause you to rush back to school after lunch, Velvet,” Vashti said.

“It won’t. I have no class period after lunch, so I’m good. I wish I could go home and take a nap. I did a girls trip to New York this weekend with my bestie.”

“I bet that was fun,” Bryce said.

“It was fun and exhausting.”

A friendly young lady came to take their order and they all ordered the same thing. Cheeseburgers and fries. Velvet ordered a strawberry shake and Vashti and Bryce ordered vanilla shakes.

They began making plans for Sierra’s bridal shower. “We can have the party at my place,” Bryce said excitedly. “We’ll tell Sierra that it’s one of Kaegan’s usual parties. That way, the guys will be invited, too. She won’t suspect a thing.”

“What will the guys be doing?” Velvet asked.

Bryce grinned and leaned forward, conspiratorially. “Here’s the part that will make it really fun. I think we should keep the details of the shower from Vaughn as well. Like Sierra, he’ll assume he’s coming to one of Kaegan’s parties. So, in a way this will be a groom-and-bride shower. I’ve talked to Sierra’s sister, Dani, and Vaughn’s sister, Zara, and they both plan to fly in to attend. While the ladies are inside with the bride-to-be doing typical bridal shower stuff, the guys will be outside helping Kaegan prepare and grill all the food. Plus, afterward, we’ll have all that muscle power to load the gifts into the car.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Vashti said.

Velvet thought it was a great idea, too. She had been invited to one of Kaegan and Bryce’s parties before. It had been nice with plenty of food. Kaegan was in the seafood-shipping business, and he had cooked everything fresh.

“And,” Bryce said, still grinning, “I’ve already talked to Ashley and Ray, and they’ve agreed to be in charge of the guest list.”

Less than an hour later, they had finished planning the surprise shower. “We covered everything in good time,” Velvet said happily. Then she looked around the restaurant and noticed Allen Bordeaux. He was restocking some of the supplies at the main counter. “Does Allen Bordeaux work here?” she asked.

“Yes. He’s the manager,” Bryce answered.

“The manager?”

“Yes,” Vashti said. “And, I have to admit, he’s done a great job. The service is always excellent. Since it opened, I understand this Spencer’s restaurant has won a number of awards. Just look at all those plaques on the wall.”

Velvet did. There were quite a number of them. “It’s odd that I’ve never seen him here before.”

“He was probably in the back in his office or something,” Bryce said. “I guess you heard about him being one of our hometown heroes. Like when Vashti put Catalina Cove on the map for her baton twirling, Al became known for baseball when he signed on to play for the Dodgers.”

“Did he attend school with you guys?”

“He graduated a few years after we did. I think he was in the same class as Sierra and Zara.” Bryce looked at Velvet, curious. “Do I hear feminine interest in your voice? He’s rather cute and considered a hottie around town.”

Velvet shook her head. “No feminine interest. His son is in one of my classes.” She was glad when the subject changed—namely to how great business was at Vashti’s bed-and-breakfast inn, Shelby by the Sea.

A short while later as Velvet got into her car to return to school, she couldn’t get over the fact that Allen Bordeaux was employed by the Spencer’s Corporation. That meant he worked for her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JAYE CHECKED HIS WATCH. Although there was still some daylight left, it was getting late. He’d expected Velvet to be home by now. Granted, he wasn’t privy to her comings and goings but being home before dark was usually the norm for her.

He was about to check his watch again when he heard her car pulling up. He had decided to tell her everything tonight. Not wanting to keep it from her any longer, he left his house and headed toward the front when he saw her getting out of the car. That’s when he noticed she wasn’t wearing what she’d had on that morning but a pair of tights and a matching hoodie top. He then recalled that someone had mentioned she taught gymnastics a couple of days a week. Her classes must have started up again.

“Hello, Velvet,” he said, knowing she hadn’t seen him yet.

Her head jerked in his direction. “Jaye? What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you.”

Her expression showed she was surprised. “I hope you’re not here to tell me something else about Webb Crawford.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then why were you waiting for me?”

---