Page 85 of In the Arms of a Hero

“I see. Then congratulations to your stepdaughter. Will she be joining us, or are you simply on a fact-finding visit? I ask because it helps if I know exactly the bride's vision for their wedding, including photographs. Sometimes, you understand, a young bride disagrees with her parents' ideas.”

Her comments seemed to surprise Carol, but she quickly countered, “Believe me when I say that my stepdaughter will go along with whatever my husband and I choose. We are paying for everything, after all.”

Beginning to see the handwriting on the wall that this meeting might not go as well as she had hoped, she nodded and decided to send the woman most of her information through the Internet and keep today’s meeting short.

The server brought over the coffee for Carol, and Belinda, who had already set up Aaron’s laptop, turned it around and began showing pictures from her website that she’d taken of other local weddings. She went through her new client spiel and hoped her enthusiasm was greater than her energy. She caught Carol staring at her carefully and felt the need to explain. “I’m sorry, but as I said on the phone, I’m recovering from an injury. Actually, it was an injury and then surgery, so I assure you that I’m recuperating, but I am now rather tired. I can send you an email with a link to my website so that you and your daughter?—”

“Stepdaughter. I assure you that I am not old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. Um… then you can look at my website to see what you and your stepdaughter might like, and it will have a comprehensive cost estimate.”

“I love what I see so far,” Carol said. Leaning toward the computer, she pointed at the screen and said, “Can you tell mewhere some of these pictures were taken? We are still looking at venues.”

Warming to the subject with Carol’s interest, Belinda shifted in her chair to more comfortably point with her right hand, scrolling through several and giving the information.

Carol also shifted and reached over to grab her coffee cup, fiddling with the cream and sugar before putting her hands back in her lap. “Oh, this coffee is so good,” Carol said after taking a sip of hers.

Belinda nodded. “My sister has a local coffee supplier that she uses for her roasted beans.”

Looking down at Belinda’s cup, Carol asked, “Are you not going to have any?”

“Yes, but I also know my sister is bringing out some fresh pastries, and for me, coffee is better when I have something to eat with it.”

They pivoted back to the computer, and a few minutes later, Bess walked out from the kitchen with a platter of apple turnovers.

“Here they are, just as I promised,” Bess declared with an undertone of forced brightness. She set the platter onto the table with unnecessary force, knocking Belinda’s coffee cup over. The sudden movement sent Belinda and Carol leaping from their seats while Bess mumbled hurried apologies.

Belinda hastily grabbed napkins and searched her sister’s face for clues to Bess’s too-wide smile, which seemed painted on. Despite Bess’s apologies, her tone betrayed an underlying tension. As she reached for napkins, pain shot through her shoulder at the abrupt movement. Weaving slightly, she steadied her stance against the table, and her grip white-knuckled as she grasped the edge.

Carol’s sudden gasp drew Belinda’s attention to the window, where she glimpsed sheriff’s vehicles pulling up outside thebakery. Frozen in place, she could only watch in confusion as the situation changed quickly. “What is going on?—”

Before she could process the scene outside, the moment was interrupted when Carol pulled a small gun from her purse and aimed it directly at Belinda. Fear crystalized in her veins, freezing her to the spot. Adrenaline raced through her body, but staring at the barrel of the gun, she felt no fight or flight. There was simply the numb terror locking her body into place. Not a muscle moved, and her gaze stayed pinned on the weapon.

While her muscles may not have worked, her ears were well-tuned to the sounds around her—the slamming of vehicle doors outside of the bakery and the shouts of law enforcement. Bess stood so close that Belinda could’ve reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand if she hadn’t been so afraid. Instead, her grip tightened on the edge of the table, hoping her legs would not give out from under her.

Bess.It suddenly slammed into Belinda that while the gun was pointing toward her, she was not the only one in danger.Bess. Arthur. Sally. The other servers.

She had no idea who Carol was but could only imagine she must have been involved with whoever had shot her.

“You can’t possibly think this is going to work,” she said, her head slowly moving back and forth. “Whatever you’ve done, whoever you’re with, this will only make things so much harder on you.”

“Shut up,” Carol growled.

A slight movement beyond Carol's shoulder caught Belinda’s attention. From where she was standing, she could see the outside of the bakery, now surrounded by law enforcement vehicles, men and women in uniform, and weapons pointing toward them. A noise came from the kitchen, and she wondered if they had also slipped through the back. She had no idea where Aaron was in the gathering but felt he was somewhere close by.

A voice called out, “Eileen Matherson. This is the North Heron Sheriff's Department. Put your weapon down, and keep your hands where we can see them.”

Belinda kept her eyes on Carol—or rather, Eileen, and watched emotions crash against each other like waves on the sand. Anger. Fear. Frustration. And she could see how desperately Eileen was trying to figure out a way to control the escalating situation.

“Eileen Matherson. There’s no way out of this except for you to surrender. Drop your weapon and lift your hands.”

In the instant Eileen glanced to the side, Belinda jerked the small table upward with her right hand, knocking it into Eileen’s legs, at the same instant that Bess’s arm flung out with the tray in her hands, slamming it into Eileen’s arm.

The gun skittered along the floor as Eileen staggered back. Belinda kicked it out of reach as Bess flung her body into Eileen, and they both fell to the floor. Aaron’s dad rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Belinda and gently pushing her behind him.

“You bitch! You pointed that gun at my sister!” Bess screamed as she scrambled to hold Eileen down on the floor.

At the same time, the bakery was flooded with law enforcement, led by Aaron, and his eyes were filled with concern. Brad rushed in and plucked Bess off Eileen, allowing the deputies to haul Eileen to her feet, clapping handcuffs on her while reading her rights. Eileen’s screams of indignity filled the small shop.

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