“Thanks,” he said when the bartender handed him a beer.
“Hey, pal.” Cody, his coworker at HFFD, took the barstool beside him and ordered a beer. “So listen, I was wondering, now that you and Em are no longer dating, how you’d feel about me asking her out?”
Josh forced a smile when all he wanted to do was rip Cody’s head from his shoulders. “Sure. Go for it.” This wasn’t about Josh and his feelings. This was about Em. She deserved to get out and have fun, even if it wasn’t with him.
“Thanks, pal.” Cody grinned, then slapped him on the back before walking away.
“I hope that doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass, buddy,” said a deep voice beside him. Josh glanced at the man leaning against the bar. It was Ellie’s husband.
“What do you mean?”
He pointed his beer bottle at Em and Cody, who were now talking in a corner. “I’ve been where you are. Actually, I was sitting on that very stool when I told a man he was welcome to date Ellie. And I have a feeling the reason I did is the same as yours.” He clapped a heavy hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Take my advice. If you love the lady, let her know.”
Josh didn’t correct Ellie’s husband. He just nodded. But their situations were far from the same. Ellie had dumped her fiancé long before she’d gotten involved with her now-husband. She wasn’t still in love with her ex-fiancé like Em was in love with Brad. Ellie’s husband hadn’t been competing with a ghost.
A wet nose nudged Josh’s hand, and he looked down to see Gus staring at him with his sad eyes. “Hey, boy,” Josh said, sliding off the barstool. He crouched in front of Gus and accepted a hug. “Thanks, buddy. I needed that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Okay, what is going on with you? You’re all smiley, and it’s freaking me out,” Todd said to Em as he parked his butt on the edge of her desk.
“Of course I was smiling. Gwen just told me her dog loves my biscuits, and she ordered three dozen more.”
Gwen swiveled in her chair, facing them. “She doesn’t love your biscuits. She adores them.”
Todd crossed his arms and cocked his head. “Really? You’re not just trying to stroke Em’s ego so she’ll take a shift for you?”
Em hadn’t been back from vacation for more than a day before Gwen asked her to take one of her shifts—which Em was proud to report she hadn’t—so there might be some truth in Todd’s remark. Still…
“Hey,” Em said, “I’ll have you know Gwen’s dog isn’t the only one that loves my biscuits. The chief’s dog loves them too, and so does Gus. I already have orders for ten dozen more.”
She’d gotten bored on the weekend. It wasn’t the same without Josh hanging around. But they weren’t fake-dating anymore so she hadn’t been sure how he’d feel about an invitation to hang out. Actually, after he’d talked to her at Highland Brew Friday night, she’d had a feeling he wouldn’t be receptive to the idea of spending time with her. He’d thanked her for the cupcakes, mentioned he’d sent her a pic of the team eating them, and talked about the game and about how proud he was of her for standing up for the Sisterhood at the town hall meeting—a normal conversation that hadn’t felt normal at all.
So instead of risking rejection, she’d filled her time making doggy biscuits for Gus. She’d made so many of them that she’d brought them to work with her Monday morning, and they’d been gone before noon.
“Okay, don’t get defensive. It’s just that I’ve sampled your cupcakes.” Todd shrugged. “I guess dogs aren’t as fussy as humans.”
Since Em had sampled one of her cupcakes, she understood what Todd meant. She had no idea why dogs seemed to like her cookies either.
Gwen held up her phone. It was a photo of her shih tzu with two of Em’s cookies on Instagram. “I told you to come up with a name for your business, Em. Everyone’s asking who made the doggy biscuits.”
Todd leaned in to check out the photo. “Okay. Those pumpkin and witch cookies are adorbs. I even want to try one. Gwen’s right. You need a name for your business if you want to capitalize on the publicity.” He tapped his forefinger on his lips. “How about Pawsitively Delicious?”
“Umm. I—” Em began before Gwen cut her off.
“Barks and Biscuits!”
“The Dogmother!”
Em held up her hands. “Stop. As much as I appreciate your ideas, I’m not starting a doggy biscuit business. I’m just doing it for fun. It’s relaxing. I bake when I’m watching TV.”
“Oh, like knitting,” Gwen said. “I do the same thing.”
“I do paint-by-numbers,” Todd said.
Em pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.
“Hey.” He swatted her. “They’re high-end–looking paintings, even if they are paint-by-numbers.” He opened his phone, showing her what looked like a professional oil painting on the wall.
“Oh wow, that’s really beautiful,” Em said, and she wasn’t kidding.
“Em’s right. It’s a gorgeous painting, Todd. If I didn’t know—” The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted Gwen.
They looked over their shoulders to see their boss standing there. “If the three of you are finished talking about your hobbies, I’d suggest you get back to work. Todd and Gwen, I expect an update on the threatening letters and swatting incident at Seaton House by two. Em, the Chamber of Commerce has a meeting tonight at seven. I’d like you to attend as community liaison to discuss their plans for Halloween.”
“Sure.” So much for fulfilling her dog biscuit orders tonight.
As soon as the chief disappeared from view, Gwen moved her chair in front of Em’s desk. “The Herald has been asking the chief for a statement about the swatting at Seaton House. They’re inferring that someone in the department messed up and that O’Brien has been falsely accused.”
Todd hopped off her desk, grabbed his chair, and rolled it beside Em. “Any ideas? Gwen and I don’t have anything. We contacted the telephone company to trace the spoofed phone number and came up empty.”
“First of all, no one accused O’Brien,” Em said. “So my guess is, if he is behind it, he’s using the Herald to find out where we’re at on the case.” Em woke up her computer. “It’s not like someone needs technical expertise to spoof a caller ID, right?”
“No. But I did a little research into swatting and the first instances seemed to have been in the online communities, especially the video-gaming streams. So what do you think? O’Brien’s son is probably into video games and more technically savvy than his old man. Any chance he put the kid up to it?”
“A couple weeks ago, I might’ve said yes, but I’ve gotten to know Drew. He’s a good kid, and his relationship with O’Brien isn’t great. I can’t see him doing something like that for his stepfather. Plus, when I lectured the team about swatting, I didn’t see any signs of guilt on his face. His or anyone else on the team for that matter.”