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Brandy had parked about a block from the restaurant, and she was now heading to the drugstore as well.
“Not anymore,” Steph replied. “She was talking to the hostess. I’m assuming she’s sitting down in the lobby waiting for Mystery Guy Named Greg.”
“Okay. I hope to get to you before he shows up. Don’t want any run-ins with my mom’s date.”
Steph scoffed. “Right. Especially since you’re her mini-me.”
“Yeah …” Brandy sighed. “See you in a few.”
Steph pocketed her phone and pretended to look at a greeting card rack while keeping an eye on the sidewalk across the street. Maybe she’d overreacted, maybe they all had, but better safe than sorry, right?
The drugstore door opened, and in waltzed Brandy. She was several inches shorter than Steph, making her petite and almost wispy looking. Currently, her shoulder-length blonde hair was covered by a floral scarf, and she wore huge sunglasses. Her signature pearls would give her away to anyone from Everly Falls, especially her mother.
“That’s quite … obvious.” Steph arched her brows. “Undercover?”
Brandy’s lips pursed. “Something like that.” She joined Steph at the card rack and looked toward the window. “Seen him yet?”
“We literally hung up like fifteen seconds ago.” A motion caught her attention, and she grasped Brandy’s arm.
“Is that him?” Brandy asked.
Both women looked toward the man who’d come around the corner. He wore a button-down, khaki pants, loafers …
“It’s definitely him,” Steph said, even though she’d only seen his picture for a handful of seconds earlier that day. “Same mustache. Same paunch.”
Brandy puffed out a breath of air. “I don’t like the way he walks.”
Steph arched her brows. “What’s wrong with it?” As far as she could tell, he walked normally.
They watched in rapt silence as he slowed in front of the restaurant, checked the watch on his wrist, then pulled open the door and disappeared inside.
“He has a watch,” Brandy mused. “Old-fashioned, or creepy?”
“A lot of men wear watches still,” Steph said, not sure why she was defending a total stranger whom she was currently stalking.
“Yeah, but he’s too young and too old,” Brandy said. “Older men wear them because they aren’t tied to their cell phones. Younger men wear them to show off that they’re wanna-be scuba divers. But men in their forties? It’s weird.”
“Hmm,” Steph mused. “Maybe you’re right.”
A couple heartbeats passed.
“Hungry?” Brandy asked.
“Don’t even think it,” she said. “There’s no way we can go in there and have your mom not notice us.”
Brandy adjusted her giant sunglasses. “She’ll be so caught up in her date, she won’t be paying attention to the two women wearing scarves in the corner booth.” She pulled out a scarf from her small beaded purse.
How it fit inside, Steph wasn’t sure. “I’m not wearing this.” But she took it anyway and shook it out. “My red hair will be like a flashing beacon no matter how much I can get covered up.”
“Either you come, or you don’t,” Brandy said, handing over the keys, too. “Sit in the car and wait, or try the chicken enchiladas with me.”
Steph stared into her friend’s lake-blue eyes. There were times when Brandy could be a pushover, but this wasn’t one of them. “What’s our excuse? Your mom told me about a Mexican restaurant in Wintree, which we both know only has one Mexican restaurant.”
Brandy pretended to think. “I dragged you here on short notice because Ian was busy—and I had a coupon to use.”
Steph sighed. “You do like couponing.”
“I do.” Brandy linked their arms and steered her toward the door. “That’s our backup explanation, but I’m betting we don’t get caught.”
