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Everyone turns to look at me, including Mike, who seems confused.
Not that I blame him.
Making matters worse, the next customers through the door are none other than my brother, Sebastian, and my parents.
“Lucy!” Mom runs behind the counter to give me a big hug.
My parents are what I call reverse snowbirds. After living all their lives in Whispering Bay, George and Molly McGuffin bought a cabin in North Carolina where they spend summers to avoid the extreme Florida heat and humidity. Now that it’s November, they’ll be back in town through Memorial Day weekend.
“Are you all right?” Dad asks, following Mom behind the counter. “Sebastian filled us in on what happened last week.”
“Lucy, you’re a hero!” Mom wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. “I can’t believe my baby caught a serial killer! Is your head all right? Sebastian says this woman attacked you with a frying pan!”
The hostile looks Betty Jean and Victor were giving me just a minute ago are softened with the reminder that, yeah, I basically saved the town’s bacon. Maybe my parents’ timing isn’t so bad after all.
“I’m fine,” I reassure them.
Everyone starts talking at once, welcoming my parents back to town and reliving last week’s events. Paco barks to make sure we haven’t forgotten about him.
“Is this the dog I’ve heard so much about?” Mom bends down to scratch Paco behind the ears. He looks up at her with his big brown eyes, and I swear she practically dissolves into a puddle of goo.
“He’s adorable! Are you sure you can handle him? On account of your allergies?”
“I’m taking medicine, so yeah, I’m okay.”
“Because if you need a home for him, your dad and I could—”
“I’m good, Mom.”
Paco, the showboat, wags his tail as if to say mission accomplished! One more fan in town!
The line on the other side of the counter is now longer than ever. “I hate to break this up, but we need to start taking orders again.”
Mom pats me on the arm. “We’ll catch up later. You and your brother will come to dinner tomorrow.” She turns to Sebastian. “Don’t forget to invite Will.”
Sebastian nods like the good son he is.
“So where do you want me to unload?” Mike asks.
I’d almost forgotten all about him.
Unfortunately, Betty Jean hasn’t. “Let me get this straight,” she says to Mike. “You made a delivery last night, and now you’re making another one? This place sure must use a lot of flour.”
I simply cannot help myself. “That’s exactly right. He made a delivery last night, and now he’s making another one. And yes, we do use a lot of flour.”
Sarah bites her bottom lip.
I try to whisk Mike away, but Betty Jean is too quick for me. “Is Lucy telling the truth?” she asks him. “Did you make a delivery here last night?” Her eyes glitter in evil anticipation. It’s not enough that she’s kicked me out of her book club. Now she plans to humiliate me in front of half the town, my parents included, by exposing my big fat lie.
I cringe, waiting for the ax to fall.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Mike says. “I was here last night. But the order was wrong, so I had to bring the rest of it this morning.”
What?
Did Rocko’s nephew just lie for me?
I had no idea I was holding my breath until now.
