Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10) by Mary Maxwell Page B

trustworthy. I bet
she’d be a good ally if I’m ever assaulted on the street in front of the post
office some random night.’”
    “Hey! Don’t make fun of the guy.”
    “Sorry,” Zack said. “I was just
teasing. But I’m serious about your eyes.”
    “Trustworthy?”
    “Very,” he said. “Not to mention
beautiful and captivating and sexy.”
    “They’re also probably bloodshot at
this point,” I joked. “I think it’s time for me to call it a night.”
    “Okay, sweetheart. Want me to come
over and tuck you in?”
    I closed my eyes and pictured him
walking through the door of my apartment and down the hallway to the bedroom.
He’d be dressed in a sleek black tuxedo, carrying a bottle of champagne and two
glasses along with a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. After putting the goodies
on the nightstand, he’d sweep me into his arms and press his lips to my—
    “Katie?”
    Zack’s voice shattered the fantasy.
    “Huh?”
    He snickered softly. “You were
falling asleep, beautiful. Why don’t we say good night? I’ll stop by Sky High tomorrow
morning for breakfast.”
    “That sounds perfect,” I said.
    “Love you,” Zack whispered.
    “Ditto,” I replied. “More and more
and more each day.”

CHAPTER
17
     
     
    Julia’s face was speckled with dozens
of tiny brown spots when she walked through the door the next morning at five-fifteen.
    “Don’t ask,” she grumbled.
    I smiled. “Okay.”
    I watched while she dropped her
jacket and purse on one of the stools near the back counter, trudged to the
coffee maker and filled the mug that I’d left waiting for her.
    “It’s nothing contagious,” she said
after her first sip. “They’re from a Sharpie.”
    The revelation left me smiling.
When Julia glanced over, she scowled furiously for a moment or two before a
case of the giggles replaced the sneer.
    “What happened?” I asked as she laughed
uncontrollably.
    “Emma!” She clamped one hand over
her mouth to stop the snickering. “She asked me where freckles come from.”
    “And you told her they were from a
felt-tip marker?”
    “No, no! Of course not! But she’s
five, so I thought a demonstration might be helpful. Jared had taken Will and
Shep to Garfunkel’s to shop for baseball gloves, so Emma and I were at home doing
art projects. Out of the blue, she asked me about freckles. Since she’s a
visual learner, I drew a little face on a sheet of construction paper and
explained that freckles form when our skin is exposed to sunlight.”
    “Okay,” I said, walking over to
refill my cup. “How’d the make-believe freckles get from the piece of paper to
your face?”
    Julia shrugged. “After Emma got
bored with drawing, she wanted to watch Frozen again, so we—”
    “For the ten millionth time this
week?”
    Julia laughed. “Fourteenth,” she
said. “But who’s counting?”
    “Sorry,” I said with a shrug. “I
interrupted.”
    “That’s okay,” Julia replied. “We
went into the living room, I put in the DVD and about two seconds later I fell
asleep.” She raised one hand and used it to circle her face. “All of this loveliness
was done while I was dozing,” she added. “Ninety-six spanking new artificial
freckles drawn with permanent black ink.”
    “Who counted them?”
    “Jared,” she answered. “When he and
the boys got home and I woke up.”
    “And what happened to Emma?”
    Julia smiled. “Like mother, like
daughter,” she said. “After she finished with my freckles, she took the Sharpie
into the bathroom and did the same thing to her chubby little cheeks.”
    “You can probably get those off
with makeup remover wipes,” I said. “Or rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball.”
    “Oh, I know.” She smiled. “And we
will. But Emma decided that we had to keep them for at least one full day.”
    “Because they’re so cute?” I asked,
resisting the urge to laugh again.
    “No,” Julia said. “Because her
father announced that they’re works of art