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Sarah had rolled into town right after the annual Spring into Summer festival, an all-day event of arts and crafts, local entertainment, and food booths. It was held the second Saturday in June and drew tourists from all over the Florida panhandle. This year’s event, however, was more memorable than most. As the town’s mayor, Mimi Grant was in charge of the event and she’d somehow managed to get country music’s biggest star of the year, Billy Brenton, to give a concert. There had also been a robbery involving the city manager, Doug Wentworth, who was currently sitting in the Santa Rosa County jail awaiting trial.
“I bet Mimi is glad the position has been filled.” Sarah had never been interested in politics before, but Mimi had confided to her the other morning that without a city manager, the town budget was a big old hot mess.
“Mimi’s not the only one who’s glad that position was filled,” Gus said, meeting Viola’s happy gaze.
“Am I missing something here?” Sarah asked.
“The new city manager is my niece Jenna,” Viola explained. “She’s been working down in Clearwater for a few years now as an assistant city manager, so this is a nice step up for her.”
“That’s great!” Sarah placed an affectionate hand on Viola’s shoulder. “Congratulations to the proud aunt. When does she start?”
“In a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to properly introduce her to Whispering Bay.”
Betty Jean craned her neck past Sarah to stare at the door to the café. “Speaking of city politics, here comes Whispering Bay’s number one power couple.”
Everyone turned to see Zeke and Mimi walk into the restaurant. Even if he hadn’t been wearing a police uniform, Zeke was the kind of guy who would have commanded attention. Mimi, who was four months pregnant with their third baby, wore a brightly colored cotton shift that Sarah instantly recognized as an original Baby Got Bump retro maternity design created by Lauren Miller.
Baby Got Bump was located next door to The Bistro and was both a factory and a showroom for one of the fastest growing businesses in the country. Lauren and her staff were regulars at the café, so Sarah had gotten to know them pretty well. Once upon a time, Lauren had been married to Tom Donalan. They had a son, Henry, whom they co-parented in what had to be the world’s most amicable divorce. She was now happily married to Nate Miller, one of the two practicing physicians in town, and due to have a baby by the end of summer.
“Well, hel-lo, Mr. Police Chief,” Betty Jean purred. It was no secret that Betty Jean harbored a mighty crush on Zeke Grant. The fact that he was married and that she was old enough to be his grandmother didn’t stop Betty Jean’s routine morning flirtation. Luckily, both Zeke and Mimi were good sports about the whole thing.
Zeke nodded to the little group. “How are you folks doing this morning?”
“Lots better now that we’ve seen you. And of course, you too, Mimi,” Betty Jean added quickly but without much conviction.
Mimi smiled indulgently.
“The usual?” Sarah asked.
Mimi nodded. “That would be great, thanks.”
The usual was a black coffee for Zeke, a decaf tea for Mimi, and a bagel and scrambled eggs for each of them. They settled into a table near the front of the restaurant and Sarah brought them their order. A few minutes later, Tom Donalan and his construction crew arrived. The crew made their way to the stairs in the back of the kitchen that led to the apartment. Tom sat down at the table with Zeke and Mimi, and Allie joined them for her morning break.
Sarah brought Tom a large coffee. “How are things going upstairs?” she asked him.
“Right on schedule.” Tom placed an arm around his wife. He and Allie made an attractive couple. They were nice, too. But then, with the exception of a few grumps, everyone in Whispering Bay was nice.
“Right on schedule, huh? Which is?”
“It should be done just in time for Frida and Ed’s return at the end of August.”
“Oh.”
He looked at her funny. “Something wrong? I know the construction noise is bad at times, but it can’t be helped.”
“I just thought how convenient it would be if I could stay upstairs instead of the beach house. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and bake. If I use the industrial ovens here it would give me a big head start for the morning. I could set up an inflatable mattress. I’m pretty low maintenance.”
“But I thought you loved the beach house,” Mimi said.
“Oh, I do! And I so appreciate you letting me stay there. It’s been great. I…well, you never know when your brother might want to use his own house.” As in, now.
“No worries. Luke is off on some oil rig. Then he’s going to Alaska or someplace like that. As far as I know, he has no plans to come home anytime soon.”
Sarah hated lying to Mimi, but if Luke wanted his sister to know he was in Whispering Bay, then he should be the one to tell her. “He sounds like a busy guy.”
“Yeah, he lives quite the life,” Zeke said.
Mimi’s blue eyes shone with mirth. “Careful, babe. You sound a little jealous there.”
