Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) by Anita Rodgers

tray off the bed and said, "Speaking of cake…"
     
    I groaned. "Who wants a cake now? Doesn’t anybody realize that I have a wedding to plan? What is it, your Aunt Myrna’s 50 th anniversary?"
     
    Ted wiggled a finger in his ear. "Easy babe, you’re going to wake all the dogs in the neighborhood." I swatted him, and he laughed. "What I was going to say is that since our birthdays are three days apart, Mom wants to celebrate them together. Okay with you?"
     
    I hadn’t thought about either of our birthdays since the engagement. Mine was Friday and Ted’s was on the following Monday. We were getting married in three weeks and birthdays didn’t fit into the crazed pattern of our lives. But what was one more party? "Sure, if we keep it simple. What did Melinda have in mind?"
     
    Ted shrugged. "Probably just family, a cake and some funny hats."
     
    I smirked. "What, no cruise? No theme? No funny costumes?"
     
    Ted tweaked my nose. "It’s best if you roll with it, honey."
     
    "Okay. But ask her to keep it simple. We’re already having the wedding at her house. I feel like I’m imposing on her."
     
    Ted swiped the last cupcake off the tray. "You have met my mother, right? Just let her have her mom fun, okay?" I nodded then burst into tears. He put his arms around me. "What’s wrong?"
     
    "Nothing. I just thought that it should be my mother planning this stuff. Birthdays, the wedding, the baby…" I wiped my nose with a napkin and shrugged. "Never mind. It’s just my hormones screwing with me."
     
    Ted pulled me closer and stroked my hair. "It’s not your hormones honey. Of course you’d want your mom to be here. I’m sorry she can’t be."
     
    I snuggled against him and sighed. "Me too."
     
    He tipped up my chin and said, "But everybody who loves you will be there. All your friends, me, Zelda and Joe." He laughed. "I can’t wait to see him in a tux."
     
    I made a face. "We’re not doing tuxes."
     
    "The hell we ain’t."
     
    "But."
     
    "No buts. Melinda is tuxing everybody up and there’s no point in arguing."
     
    I patted his chest. "You’re right, I’m being an ungrateful brat. Without Melinda, we’d be getting married in a tacky Vegas chapel."
     
    Ted took my hand and kissed my ring finger. "In three weeks, you’ll be my wife." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Are you scared?"
     
    I shook my head. "I thought I would be, but after I said yes, all the jitters went away."
     
    His eyes got dewy and his voice low. "Because you finally realized that we belong together?"
     
    I started to tear up too and whispered, "Yes."
     
    Ted kissed me, and we started to slide down, but I pushed him back. "Wait a minute, there’s something else we need to talk about."
     
    Ted groaned and swished his lips. "Now? What?" Quickly, I brought him up to speed on my part in the Atkinson case and the meeting with Joe and Dan that afternoon. He listened politely, but his body was tense and his jaw tight. "And?"
     
    I flinched. "Dan wants me to meet with Atkinson."
     
    Ted bolted up. "No. Absolutely not."
     
    "I knew you wouldn’t like that but…"
     
    Ted clenched his teeth. "But nothing. You’re not going into a room with a guy who killed his pregnant wife."
     
    "It was his girlfriend, not his wife."
     
    Ted shook his fists. "I don’t give a fuck if it was Mickey Mouse."
     
    I stroked his arm. "I wouldn’t be alone with him. Joe would be there too."
     
    Ted shook his head slowly. "No, Scotti. I don't want you anywhere near that guy."
     
    Ted’s bristling only made me want to meet with Atkinson. "Why? Are you afraid he’ll hurt me?"
     
    He sucked in his lips and took a breath. "You’re pregnant with our baby, and I don’t want you meeting with a baby killer. And I need to explain that?" He wagged a finger at me. "And don’t you dare go behind my back."
     
    I reared my head. "Or what?"
     
    He took a breath then spoke quietly. "Scotti, I’m your husband and the father of your baby."
     
    "My almost