Éclair and Present Danger by Laura Bradford Page A

lit-tle while,” Renee managed between teeth clatters. “Th-that wa-ter is c-cold.”
    â€œOh.” Mr. Nelson dropped the hose, lifted his left forearm into view, and consulted his watch. “Well, I better head inside. The noonday weather report will be coming on in four and a half minutes, and I need to see what the day will bring.”
    Winnie retrieved the hose and pointed at the sky with the nozzle. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be sunny today, Mr. Nelson. There’s not so much as a cloud in the sky.”
    â€œYou never know, Winnie. You never know.” And then he was gone, hobbling down the driveway and up the front steps to their porch with a speed he rarely possessed—unless Renee or a weekday forecast was at the other end.
    â€œWas it something I said?” Renee asked.
    â€œNope. It was something you did.”
    â€œWhat did I do?”
    â€œYou covered up the T-shirt he intentionally soaked.” Slowly, Winnie moved around the car, spraying off soap as she went. When she reached the end, she waited for Renee to catch up and then handed the woman a can of soda from the cooler. “Thanks, Renee. For everything. I’m not sure I could pull this thing off without you.”
    Renee tossed the car-drying towel onto the chair, took a sip of soda, and then added her body towel to the mix. “Think that’ll get him back out here?”
    â€œNot until the weather report is over.” She leaned against the pin oak tree at the edge of the property and took a sip of her own soda. “You haven’t asked about my time at the ambulance district with Master Sergeant Hottie. You feeling okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” Renee said, shrugging. “Just missing Ty, I guess.”
    â€œHe’s only with Bob for two more days.” She looked at her friend closely and noticed some unfamiliar circles under the woman’s eyes. “Are you sleeping?”
    â€œSome.” Then, with a flick of her hand, bubbly Renee was back. “So tell me . . . how’d it go?”
    She considered pressing Renee on the subject of her recently finalized divorce and the resulting split custody schedule, but she let it go. Her friend needed a distraction from life, not a rehashing. When Renee was ready to talk, she’d talk. “It went well. Greg is really nice. He thinks my—”
    â€œNice?” Renee shouted. “Nice? I don’t want to hear that he’s nice!”
    â€œWell he is. And as I was starting to say, he thinks my idea for the Emergency Dessert Squad is great.”
    Renee finished off her soda with two long pulls, set the can down on the chair next to the towels they hadn’t used, and reached for Lovey. Instantly, the cat settled into Renee’s arms and began to purr. Loudly. “Anyone with a brain in their head would think it’s a great idea, because it is. Did he let you look at one of the ambulances?”
    â€œYup. And I came up with an idea for those desserts that call for a drizzle of icing or glaze.” It was hard not to feel a little hurt by the affection her new cat seemed to show everyone except her, but she shook it off. Besides, she had bigger fish to fry. “When we deliver them up to the door on the gurney, I’ll drizzle on the topping via an IV bag.”
    â€œAn IV bag?”
    â€œThat’s right. And it will hang from an extendable pole just like a real IV bag would.”
    â€œCute.” Renee stroked her hand down the top of Lovey’s neck and then returned her fingers to the same general starting place to administer a well-received scratch. “We’ll have to figure out a way to keep the chocolate warm so it stays at the right consistency, won’t we?”
    â€œYes, but I don’t think that will be too difficult. We won’t have to hang the bag until we’re unloading the ambulance for delivery.” She set her half-empty can