Page 24 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘I just… we aren't sure exactly where she is…’
The women stared up at her from the pool with their eyes wide.
‘I’m sure she's fine,’ Iris assured them. ‘It’s Estelle we're talking about. She wouldn't have just wandered off.’
Annie redirected her attention to Iris, who sat on the edge of the pool, hand over her growing baby bump.
‘Right. Iris is right. Estelle wouldn't have just wandered off for no reason. I’m sure she'll turn up. I wanted to check here and see if maybe she came to her class, but clearly, she didn’t so I will continue looking.’
‘What if you don't find her? She can’t miss the wedding!’
‘She won’t miss the wedding. I will find her.’ Annie put her hands on her hips in her most confident pose, but the women still looked somewhat horrified. Annie sighed. ‘Can you all keep this to yourselves, please? I really don't want to worry the bride and groom.’
The group nodded in agreement as though they would never even think of spreading this news all over town.
‘I’m serious, ladies. I’m counting on you now to keep this to yourselves, and if you see Estelle anywhere give me a call. Okay?’
‘You got it, Annie. We want this wedding to be perfect,’ Marissa said with a smile.
Annie ignored the tightening knot in her neck at the mention of the wedding being perfect. Of course it would be perfect. She’d make sure of it; stiff neck be damned.
‘Okay, back to your workout,’ she said as she nodded to Iris to turn the music back up.
‘Come on, ladies! Let's see those jumps. You can go higher than that,’ Iris called to them as Annie hurried out of the pool area.
By the time she’d made her way back to the desk, Mac was still talking to the stern employee, except now she had a giant smile on her face and was finding Mac to be quite hilarious.
‘There you are,’ Mac said, looking up as Annie approached the desk. The employee shot her a disapproving look. Apparently, she wasn’t thrilled that Annie had taken her own private tour.
‘We should really be going now,’ Annie said with an apologetic smile.
The woman’s glare deepened. ‘Make sure you take your paperwork and bring it back when you’re done,’ she said to Mac, pushing a stack of forms that Annie was positive could be filled out online across the desk to him.
‘Thanks, Tina. You’ve been super helpful,’ he said, that damn smile aimed in her direction again.
Annie groaned and grabbed him by the bicep that certainly didn’t need any more time at the gym, tugging him away before he could invite Tina from the Y to the wedding.
‘Yeah, thanks, Tina!’ Annie called, dragging Mac toward the door.
‘Did you find out any info?’ Mac asked when they were back in the parking lot.
Annie blew out a long breath, the air clouding in front of her. The sky was gray and cold. She was glad most of Jeanie’s out-of-town relatives had arrived this morning, because they were predicting snow later and having half the guest list stuck in a snowstorm didn’t make for a perfect wedding.
‘No, nobody has heard from her today.’
Mac frowned as he climbed up into the truck. Annie met him inside.
‘Where should we look next?’ he asked.
Annie tipped her head back on the seat, eyes closed, trying to breathe out some of the tension that was creeping into her skull. The last thing she needed was a headache. She opened her eyes at a strange but familiar sound to find Mac shaking a small bottle of painkillers. He popped the top, raising his eyebrows in question. Annie was too tired to argue. She held out her hand and Mac tapped two small pills into her palm.
‘Thank you,’ she grumbled, reluctantly accepting the Advil as a peace offering.
‘What was that? I didn't quite hear you,’ Mac said with a teasing grin.
‘I said. Thank. You.’ Annie enunciated each word clearly and loudly until Mac laughed.
‘You are welcome. Now where to next?’
