“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to keep this just between us, would you?” Hoping the desperation in her voice would sway him, Tobi added her best contrite, pleading expression, complete with fluttering eyelashes for good measure. One look into his blue eyes dancing with amusement and mischief was all the answer she needed.
“No, sweetness, that’s not going to work for me. Hell, even if I wanted to hide this from your men—and I don’t—I doubt it would be possible. Keeping a lid on something like this—pun intended—would be impossible under the best circumstances, and this is anything but.” Nodding in the general direction of the tow truck, Parker chuckled. “See those guys taking pictures with their cell phones? My guess is the first photos have already hit social media sites, which means Kyle and Kent will start getting calls in less than a minute.”
Opening his phone, Parker stepped away to place a call Tobi knew was to her husbands… just fucking dandy. Feeling her shoulders droop in defeat, she looked at her little car, wondering if it was salvageable.
“Damn it all to hell and back, this is what I get for trying to do a good deed.” Looking up, she wondered if God was having a good laugh… all this and talking to herself, too. Shaking her head as rays of sunlight danced over enormous white clouds, she couldn’t help wondering if her guardian angel was on break. Flipping dust bunnies, she probably retired and is boozing it up in some angel retirement home, telling all her old crony angel buddies what a train wreck her last assignment was.
“I wasn’t going to help with the cooking, you know, so there really wasn’t any reason for you to get all snarky.” Tobi shook her head at the irony. She hadn’t signed up to help with the prep or actual cooking at the school’s fundraiser, so she wouldn’t mess things up. The clatter of heels on blacktop startled her back to the moment as a sweet feminine voice sounded from beside her.
“Holy shit, you killed the Pillsbury® Dough Boy.” Charlotte Adler’s irreverent take on the situation was all it took—for the first time since this fiasco started, Tobi laughed. Leave it to a woman who could disappear at will to go straight to the whimsical. “If I’d known it was this bad, I’d have brought… well, I might have had to look up what to bring to help you with this one.”
“A big oven?” Tobi hadn’t noticed Israel Adler standing beside his very pregnant sister-in-law until he spoke.
“I wasn’t even going to cook, I swear. I’m not allowed to cook. Kitchens are dangerous.” Tobi watched a huge glob of dough drop from the window of her car onto the highway. “It looks like a little spook, doesn’t it?” As her car was pulled forward by the hoist, a passing motorist ran over the dough, which seemed to wrap itself around a tire. “Big surprise for them tomorrow when the giggling dough man is sitting fat and sassy in their driveway.”
“Sweetie, I hate to break it to you, but evidently, highways are even more of a hazard for you than kitchens.” Israel’s voice had softened as they watched her car slowly inching its way forward onto the back of a large flatbed truck.
“What happened?”
Charlotte’s straightforward question didn’t surprise Tobi. One thing she’d quickly discovered about her new friend, she tended to cut straight to the chase. Shivering against the cold wind blasting down the highway, Tobi thanked Israel when he removed his own jacket to wrap around her shoulders. It took her several seconds to answer as she tried to figure out how a simple outing had gone so wrong.
“I picked up the dough for a fundraiser at the kids’ school, and by the time I got it all loaded into the car, I was cold.” She was interrupted by the squeal of tires and the roar of Kent’s diesel pickup. Doors slammed nearby, but she didn’t turn away from the sight of her car being strapped down on the truck, dough still oozing from the broken windows to plop in large globs on the truck’s black bed.
“You got cold, sweetness? Did you turn on the heat in your car?” Warm arms encircled her, pulling her back against an even warmer chest. Kent nuzzled her hair, kissing the shell of her ear while he waited for her to respond.
“I didn’t think about the bags on the floor. As soon as the first tube popped open, I started to pull over but couldn’t find a driveway before more burst.” She felt a shudder work itself from her core all the way to the surface. Relaxing when he tightened his hold, she let out a deep sigh before continuing. “I couldn’t find a safe place to park before all hell broke loose. It was like a big chain reaction. Anybody who thinks that doughboy is loveable hasn’t been trapped with him and forty-nine of his friends when they decided to go rogue.” A chuckle from her side made her turn to see Parker, flipping through a small notebook.
“The one witness I got to before Pastry Patty here bribed his silence, swore it sounded like a shotgun going off in her car. He said he saw people ducking for cover as they drove by.”
As frustrated as she was, even Tobi was starting to see glimpses of humor in the situation. Kyle stepped forward, blocking her view of the wrecker pulling away.
“Are you all right, Kitten?” The amusement she’d felt a moment earlier evaporated into a fine mist despite the chill in the air. Tears of humiliation filled her eyes, but Kyle shook his head, flashing her a smile so sweet, it made her heart ache. “Don’t cry, baby. This is going to make a great story to tell our grandchildren, and it’s just a car. Knowing you are safe is the only thing that matters.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I was just so embarrassed.”
“Well, I’m thrilled you called me. I haven’t had a real friend in a really long time, and this is the most fun I’ve had with my clothes on in… well, probably forever.”
Tobi stared at Charlotte for a few seconds before she realized it was the first time she’d been rendered speechless in years. Charlotte Adler always seemed so serious, this flash of irreverence was as shocking as it was welcome. Leaning her head back, Tobi laughed so hard, her sides hurt by the time she finally pulled herself together.
Chapter Four
By the time Asia ended the video call with Charlotte, she and the others were laughing so hard, they’d barely remembered to tell her about the historical significance of the items on Vienna’s list. Emmet Quan might have been a horrible grandfather, but he’d been an organized and shrewd businessman. He’d made certain his lawyer had everything needed to access all of his financial information, including the combination to his home safe. Austin had joined the call shortly before it ended, the curious look on his face, assuring Asia she’d be getting another call from him after his sweet wife was asleep.
“When do you expect to hear back from the man you called about the Templar pieces?” Asia was glad Catalina had asked the question weighing heavily on everyone’s mind.
“I have no idea. Even though he is a professor, generations of habit aren’t easily changed. The Guardians of the Secrets are elusive and often out of touch with the real world for months at a time.” He stepped closer to Asia, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. The move hadn’t been overly obvious, his movement subtle and so natural, it would have looked as though he’d been doing it for years rather than just a few weeks. “There is no reason to wait for one of the Knights to call back. I’ll send everything to Vienna as soon as we’ve arranged a secure location for their storage.”