That Man of Mine (19 page)

Mimi bit back a moan. The rest of the town, okay, but her own Bunco Babes?

“Just because we had sex doesn't mean we've reconciled.”

“Fair enough,” Frida pointed out. “But if you still like each other enough to shag, then you like each other enough to play Bunco. It's really not fair, you know, to the rest of us. You'll mess up the numbers and Kitty is absolutely killing herself to host this year.”

The rest of the room murmured in agreement.

“Okay, so that's taken care of,” Shea said as if Mimi had just agreed to come. Which, she supposed she did. “Oh, and don't forget. This year we have a theme for couples Bunco. It's famous couples throughout the ages. Moose and I are going as Anthony and Cleopatra. Isn't that awesome?”

“But Nick and I are going to be Anthony and Cleopatra,” Pilar said.

“We have first dibs,” Shea shot back.

“You look nothing like Cleopatra! I, on the other hand, won't even have to wear a wig!” Pilar protested.

Bunco was put on hold as everybody began to argue about which famous couple they would come as, with no one backing down. It seemed Anthony and Cleopatra was the hands down favorite. Eventually, there was no choice. Kitty pulled out a pen and paper and began writing down couple combinations. She put the pieces of paper into a hat and passed it around. “Everyone pick. And that's it. What you get is what you get. No more arguing.”

Frida got Bonnie and Clyde and Lauren selected Napoleon and Josephine.

Shea's face fell when she pulled out her slip. “
Adam and Eve
? Are you kidding?”

“Let me clarify that,” Kitty said, “Adam and Eve
after
they got kicked out of the garden. Not before.”

“In other words, no nudity? That's kind of…disappointing.” The thing about Shea was that she could be completely serious here. Or not.

Pilar squealed when she pulled out her slip of paper. “Anthony and Cleopatra!” She immediately looked contrite, however, in what Mimi assumed was an attempt to be humble.

Mimi was the last one to pick. She stared at the paper. It seemed strangely coincidental. But there was no way that this could have been rigged.

“Who did you get?” Pilar asked.

“Rick and Ilsa.”

“From
Casablanca
? Wow. Isn't that like, one of your favorite movies?” Frida asked.

Mimi nodded.

“Okay, so is everyone happy now? Can we go back to playing Bunco?” Kitty asked.

They went on to play for another hour before calling it a night. Mimi was just getting into her car to go home when her cell phone pinged. It was a text from Allie.

Come by my place when you're done with Bunco tonight!

Uh, oh. Mimi hoped this wasn't what she thought it was.

*~*~*

A
llie flung the door
open before Mimi could even knock. “I saw you pull up in the driveway and I couldn't wait.” Her brown eyes glittered with happiness. In the background, Roger Van Cleave, Allie's roommate and business partner, chuckled.

Allie had been living with Roger, a prominent member of the Gray Flamingos and a former photojournalist with
Life
magazine, since she'd moved to town over a year ago. It was an odd matchup to be sure, but it worked. Allie was like the granddaughter Roger never had, and she'd needed a mentor and a place to stay. In the beginning it had made sense. The two of them had resurrected the old town newspaper, The Whispering Bay Gazette, an endeavor that had taken lots of hard work (and lots of coffee, according to Allie) to make happen. But it was time to move on. In just a couple of months, Tom and Allie would be married and she'd move into his little house near the beach. Mimi hoped Roger wouldn't be too lonely. But she suspected Allie would still spend a lot of time here, married or not.

“Don't just stand there, come in!” Allie pulled her into the living room. Mimi had been to Roger's house countless times but she always felt a sense of awe in this place. Pictures of Africa, Australia, and South America decorated his walls. All places Roger had once been to and taken photos of. He'd also had a stint working at
National Geographic
. There was barely an inch of wall that wasn't covered in some exotic location.

“What's going on?” Mimi asked.

“Just this!” Allie ran down the hallway and came back holding up a long halter style ivory colored gown. It was simple. And elegant. And chic. And about as different from Buela's dress as you could get. “I know I promised you I'd wait and we'd go shopping together, but I couldn't help myself. Can you believe this is off the rack?”

“So…it's your wedding dress?”

Allie made a face. “Well, of course it's my wedding dress. I know what you're thinking, it's not actually from a bridal shop, but it's perfect. It's exactly what I've always dreamed of.”

Mimi took another, longer look at the gown. Allie was right. It was a lovely dress. The style suited her tall slim form. Mimi could see her in it now, with her long dark hair pulled back in a simple chignon and a few flowers in her hair. It was simply…Allie. Buela's dress on the other hand, now seemed fussy and overdone. Why had Mimi ever thought Allie would want to wear it?

“She's done nothing but stare at it ever since she brought it home,” Roger said with a grumpy cheerfulness.

“It's gorgeous,” Mimi said.

“I knew you'd love it, too! So, am I forgiven for not waiting for you?”

“Of course. Don't be silly. There's nothing to forgive.”

Allie grabbed her into a hug. “I know we've been planning this wedding for a while, but now that I have my dress it makes it all seem real, you know?”

Mimi nodded. She was happy Allie had found her dress, she really was. This wedding wasn't about Mimi or anything or anyone else; it was about Allie, and what
she
wanted.

Speaking of which…

Mimi thought about what Zeke had said about Sam Grant. That Allie wouldn't want to hear from her father. She had been so sure that Zeke was wrong about that, but maybe he was right. Looking at Allie's choice for a wedding dress made Mimi question her own judgment. Not that there was anything wrong with the dress, but it wasn't what Mimi would have picked for her.

It was a conceit to think that she knew Allie better than her own brother. Maybe Zeke had been right all along. About everything.

“S
he said
no
to
the dress?” Lauren asked in disbelief.

“Not exactly. She just said yes to another dress.” Mimi carefully hung Buela's dress back up in her closet. Lauren had done a gorgeous job with it. Tucking in a bit of lace and freshening up the organza overskirt. She'd even added in a small bouquet of artificial flowers that she'd sewn onto the pale lavender silk ribbon interwoven into the gown's waistband. It was a detail that Mimi would never have thought of. That tiny splash of color gave the dress an extra oomph, making it look completely new and strangely enough, modern. In a very old-fashioned kind of way. Lauren told Mimi once that as a girl she had dreamed of living in New York and becoming a fashion designer. Lauren's dream had come true, right here in little old Whispering Bay.

“Couldn't we show Allie both dresses and let her pick between the two?”

“You didn't see the look on her face when she showed me the dress she bought,” Mimi said. “I just think, knowing Allie, if we show her Buela's dress now, she'll be afraid to hurt our feelings and end up wearing it out of a sense of obligation. I've mentioned Buela's dress a couple of times and she's never shown any real interest in it, so…I think we should just respect her decision and go with it. I should have asked her outright before I had you go to all the work of revamping it.”

Lauren sighed heavily. “No worries. I
loved
working with that old fabric. And who knows? Maybe Claire will want to wear it one day.”

“Quick, take that back. Let me get Claire through high school and college before you get her married.”

 Mimi ushered Lauren out into the living room and handed her a glass of iced tea. It was nice having a friend over, even if Operation Wedding Dress hadn't turned out exactly the way she'd planned. Zeke had taken Cameron (and Toby) for an overnighter at the fishing cabin and Claire was at a friend's house working on her senior English project. With the kids busy with their own lives, Mimi found herself, more often than not, alone most evenings. Well, not exactly alone. She had Toby and Buttercup. Cleaning up Toby's drool was almost a full time job. She actually kind of missed having him here tonight.

Lauren sat across from her on the couch and watched as Mimi poured herself some wine. “How are things going on the college front?”

“Really weird. It's been almost two weeks since Claire announced she's going to community college and I've hardly gotten the chance to really talk to her. Between my job as mayor and all her end of the year senior activities, it's like we're two ships that cross in the night.”

Buttercup jumped onto the couch and began to her rub herself against Mimi's thigh. She scooped up the growing kitten and settled her on her lap.

“So she got accepted to a couple of other state colleges, but Florida State is the one she really wanted?” Lauren asked.

Mimi nodded.

“Maybe she just doesn't want to leave Buttercup,” Lauren teased, reaching out to pet her.

“Maybe,” Mimi mused, “But I doubt it.”

“So, what about your dress? What are you wearing as matron of honor?”

“Allie said I could pick whatever I wanted so I thought I'd go shopping next week. I just have so much on my plate right now.”

“The
Spring
Into Summer
festival?”

“That, plus approving the city budget, and trying to make everyone in town happy at the same time, which of course, is completely impossible. I'll be honest, I really didn't think it was going to be this hard. Bruce Bailey made it look easy.”

“Oh,
please
. You're a thousand times better than Bruce.”

Mimi smiled and sipped her wine. It was nice of Lauren to say that, and as her friend she appreciated her loyalty, but right now Mimi was pretty sure that wasn't the case.

*~*~*

M
imi studied her proposal
one last time. She was meeting Zeke at The Bistro for a late lunch, then staying for her
Spring Into Summer
festival committee meeting. She'd done an extensive outline: the budget for the band, the procedure for charging for concert tickets, how much security they'd need. Every detail she could think of (and every detail Bettina could think of as well) was all mapped out. She'd stayed up till three in the morning working on it and was paying the price for it today. She stifled a yawn and took another swig of her large coffee.

It was after one but the place was still packed with customers. Zeke walked in the door and everyone turned to look. Mostly because he was the chief of police, and that in itself demanded attention. But also because he looked like a god in that uniform. Mimi sighed.  He spotted her and began walking toward her table.

“Sorry I'm a few minutes late,” he said, taking the seat across from her. Normally, orders were placed at the counter, but Frida herself came over to see what they wanted to eat. Probably as a courtesy, but the curious look on her face told Mimi she was more interested in figuring out what was going on with their relationship than she was being an attentive café owner.

 Mimi glanced around the restaurant. Everyone tried not to stare but it was obvious all eyes were either discreetly, or not so discreetly, aimed at them.

Mimi ordered a salad and Zeke got a sandwich. He waited till Frida left to say, “Is everything all right?”

“Sure, why wouldn't it be?”

“It's just we don't normally meet up for lunch. Even when we were…”

“Together?”

“We're still together,” he said tightly.

“But not living together,” she clarified.

“Just say the word. It'll take me about five minutes to pack up my stuff from the cabin.”

Don't give in. Don't give in
.

It was the mantra running through her head these days.

She lowered her voice. “Are you ready to talk to the counselor about your father?”

Zeke gave her a dark look. It was all the answer she needed.

Mimi shifted in her seat. “I asked you to lunch because I wanted to talk to you away from Claire and Cameron.”

He stilled. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yeah, it's good.” She felt herself flush, which was ridiculous. He was her husband. The father of her children. She was acting like a sixteen-year-old asking the captain of the football team out on her first date. “Couples Bunco is in a few weeks and, you know, we've always gone before and—”

“Of course I'm going with you to couples Bunco. Did you think I wasn't?”

“No, I just…under the circumstances…” She shrugged. “We're doing a theme this year. Famous couples. We got Rick and Ilsa from
Casablanca
.”

Their food came and Zeke dove into his sandwich. “Does that mean I get to wear a fedora?”

“No fedora. But definitely a white tux.” Mimi took another sip of her coffee and tried to envision it. He would look gorgeous, as usual. She'd have to come up with something equally spectacular. Maybe Lauren could help her.

“How are the wedding plans coming along?” he asked. “I hope you don't think I've dumped all this in your lap. I'll be happy to do whatever.”

“Take Tom out for a beer?” she suggested.

Zeke made a grumpy noise.

“He's going to be your brother-in-law. The two of you should be friends.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Let me think about it.”

A prickly sensation skated up Mimi's spine. Like she was being watched. Which, she probably was. Out of the corner of one eye, she could have sworn she saw Mrs. Bruner over at the next table take a picture of her and Zeke with her cell phone. If Zeke saw it, he chose to ignore it.

“So, what are you up to after lunch?” he asked.

“I have my
Spring Into Summer
festival committee meeting.” She hesitated, then handed him her outline. “This is a proposal I hope to get through the committee this afternoon. Do you mind taking a look and telling me what you think?”

Zeke laid down his sandwich and began reading through the papers. Mimi expected a quick perusal, but he took longer than she thought he would, like he was studying each and every little detail. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She couldn't tell from the expression on his face and she found herself beginning to squirm. Any second now, her foot was going to have a seizure.

He handed her back the paper. “Ten grand for Fatback Bubba and the Rattlesnakes, huh? You think they're worth it?”

“For what I hear they're worth it, plus some.”

“Okay. I think it's good then.”

“Really?”

“Actually, it's better than good. I think it's brilliant.”

The way he looked at her made
her
feel brilliant, too. She let go of a pent up burst of air.

“I thought you said the committee was broke. How are you going to get the money to pay the band in advance?”

“We have enough for their advance and the rest we can negotiate.” So it was a
tiny
white lie, but Mimi already knew how Zeke felt about Doug. If he knew that Doug was helping her with the band money he probably wouldn't think the whole thing was so brilliant after all. “And I'm completely doing away with the promotion budget. For one thing, the festival is already well known to everyone in the area, so we're going to go with using social media and local newsprint. And maybe some free radio air time if I can convince the area DJs.”

He nodded. “That's smart. What can I do to help?”

Mimi hadn't thought that Zeke could help, but if he was offering… “Maybe we can tighten up the security budget? I think this band will draw a big crowd, but we really can't afford to increase the number of off-duty cops we hire.”

Zeke munched on his sandwich thoughtfully. He finished it off and wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin, then laid it on the table. “I can't make any promises, but maybe since the festival is financially tight this year, I can convince some of the guys to do security for free. As a community service.”

“
Really
? For free?” Her head began to spin. Normally, the off-duty cops were paid after the festival, so it wasn't an expense to worry about in advance, but if they could pocket that money into next year's budget, it would go a long way to putting the festival back on top.

“Like I said, no promises,” he said carefully. “But I'm pretty sure I can swing it.”

Which meant, yes, he could do it. Zeke never hinted at promising anything he couldn't deliver. It was one of the zillion things she loved about him.

Impulsively, she reached out and grabbed him into a hug. “I could kiss you right now.”

Amusement and heat glimmered in his eyes. “I think we have an audience.”

Mimi froze. She glanced to the left, and then to the right. A sea of cell phones filled the air as the restaurants' patrons snapped photos or took video. “You've got to be kidding,” she muttered.

Zeke shrugged like he wasn't bothered by it. She, on the other hand, was tired of this mess. First Burger World, then Mrs. Manley, and of course Cindy from police headquarters, and who could forget Bettina, or Shelby from the beauty salon whispering in Momma's ear? And now this… She might be one half of Whispering Bay's “power couple”, but she and Zeke deserved some privacy.

Mimi straightened in her seat, then stood to address the restaurant. “Hi, everyone,” she said, trying to be friendly. After all, she was mayor. She certainly didn't want to come across as a shrew or anything. “Zeke and I sure do appreciate your interest in us, but despite the fact that we're both civil servants of this community, we're also a private couple and—”

“Are the two of you back together or not?” someone yelled.

Mimi thought it came from the back. She turned and an elderly gentleman, a friend of Gus and Viola's from the Gray Flamingos whose name she couldn't remember, waved at her. It left her no choice really, except to smile and wave back.

Zeke just shook his head.

“Um, so, back to your question. As I was saying—”

“Are you gonna answer or not? Because I have twenty bucks riding on this.” This time it was Joey Pappas, Gus's son, who wanted to know.

People were making bets on whether she and Zeke were back together? What was
wrong
with this town?

“I'm afraid no, we're not back together yet.”

The entire restaurant began to buzz. A low chorus of boos could be heard from the counter area.

“I'm sorry, we don't mean to disappoint anyone but—”

“What was the point of calling 911 and gettin' Zeke out there if not to get back together? I mean, didn't the two of you
do it
?”

Okay, this was
definitely
out of bounds here. She didn't need to explain herself to anyone, but on the other hand, she
was
mayor and her life should be an open book. Only there were chapters that were definitely off limits. As in, her and Zeke's sex life.