Chapter 8

Eight

T he moment we stepped into the back hall, I saw Devlin.

He was only a few feet away, his back toward us as he spoke to Diesel, the owner of the Ugly Man.

Crap!

I skidded to a stop, and Lucy crashed into me. She hit the wall and bumped a picture. I lunged and grabbed it before it hit the ground, and King Tut squirmed out of my arms. Lucy let out a muffled burst of laughter, then Hattie popped out on our left from the kitchen, grabbed us and yanked us sideways, dragging us through the swinging doors.

I grabbed King Tut at the last second and pulled him with me, ignoring his rumble of irritation.

As the door swung shut, I saw Devlin start to turn around, his cop instincts no doubt alerting him to the "trouble is behind me!" warning. "Devlin's out there." I swaddled King Tut back in my sweatshirt, but I knew he was running out of patience.

"Obviously. That's why I saved you," Hattie said.

"There's a back hallway." I knew about the back hall all too well from a past visit to the Ugly Man. "Let's go out that way."

"You got it." Hattie led the way through the kitchen, waving at the staff as she went. "Hello, my lovelies. You all are doing a wonderful job!" She stopped suddenly. "Emmeline?"

A woman about my age was in the back, standing over a table of pies.

Raspberry pies.

Emmeline looked up, frowning for a moment as if she had no idea who Hattie was.

Uh oh… She had to be faking it. No one could ever forget Hattie, or fail to recognize her.

Emmeline was a short little thing, but she exuded a fierceness that was all fight and attitude. There was nothing soft about her, despite her casual T-shirt and jeans. After a moment that was only a split second, but which gave her plenty of time to think fast and decide how to proceed, she burst into a wide smile. "Hattie Lawless! So great to see you."

Hattie walked over to her. "I heard you're part of the Diamond Pie Company."

Emmeline nodded. "I am. Beckwith and I do all the baking."

"Raspberry pie?" Hattie leaned over and peered at it. "Smells like my recipe. That's a funny coincidence, don't you think?"

Emmeline blinked in innocent surprise. "Are you accusing me of stealing your recipe?"

Hattie burst out laughing and patted her shoulder. "Lordy no, Emmeline. I'm teasing. I had some earlier. It's not mine. But it's delicious. Well done."

I blinked. That was a lie. Hattie absolutely believed it was her recipe.

Emmeline looked flustered. "Um, thanks?—"

"Speaking of pie, has Charles Barnes come through here?" Hattie asked. "I wanted to chat with him about pies. I want to have him supply pies to my café. I'm so busy now that I don't have time to cook everything, and that pie is up to my standards."

Emmeline tensed. "Charles? Is he at the Ugly Man tonight?"

Oh…that news hadn't made her happy. "He is," I said. "We saw him walk in." King Tut moved around in my sweatshirt, and I saw Emmeline's eyes go to the elephant baby I was pregnant with.

Fortunately, she was polite enough not to comment on my oddly shaped, undulating body. "I haven't seen Charles." She wiped her hands on her jeans, and I saw there were streaks of raspberry pie on her pants. Because she was cutting pies, or because she had had a pie incident with Beckwith? She glanced toward the door that led to the front of the tavern, and I could see she was definitely nervous.

"What's up with Charles?" I asked softly.

Emmeline shook her head and went back to serving up pie. "Nothing. It's fine."

I looked at Hattie and Lucy, because it definitely wasn't fine.

Hattie leaned on the table. "Emmeline. I've known you since you were sixteen. What's going on?"

Emmeline finally looked up. "Hattie," she whispered. "Charles and Beckwith have been fighting. I want out, but I sold them my recipes."

Hattie grimaced. "All of them?"

Emmeline nodded. "I know, it was stupid. But I was broke, and my friend Rachel was dating Beckwith, and she convinced me. But Charles is…" she paused. "He's terrifying."

Hattie nodded. "I know, sweetie. You need to get out."

"I can't."

"You can make new recipes. Every great chef has a million recipes inside her. Your greatness doesn't come from this pie." She held up a plate. "It comes from what's inside you. Walk away. Create something better. Own your awesome, girl. It's the only way."

Lucy grinned at me, and I felt my heart go a little mushy. Hattie gave the best speeches, and she was the strongest advocate for woman power that I'd ever met. I loved her so much.

Emmeline sighed. "I have to wait. I think Beckwith is going to buy Charles out, and then it will just be him. I can work for him. He's a good guy."

Hattie frowned. "If the business is making money, Charles won't sell out."

Emmeline shook her head. "Beckwith has a plan to make him."

I grimaced. Forcing bullies to do something didn't often end well.

"What's the plan?" Hattie asked.

Emmeline shrugged. "I don't know. Rachel told me that Beckwith was working on it. She doesn't know either. Beckwith was going to talk to Charles tonight about it."

We all looked at each other. "Here?" Hattie asked. "Were they meeting here?"

Emmeline shook her head. "No, that's why I was surprised that Charles was here. Do you think Beckwith talked to him? If he's mad, I don't want to be around." She wiped her hands on her pants. "Maybe I should leave."

Ohh…I hated seeing women afraid of men, of standing their ground. Fresh urgency surged through me, new determination. It was bad enough that Charles might have killed his brother and set up Hattie for it. But ongoing intimidation of women? Screw that. "No," I said. "You're safe in here. We'll find him and see what's going on."

Emmeline's gaze swiveled to me, and I saw her gaze go to my bulging sweatshirt again. It was like a train wreck she was trying not to look at. "Who are you?"

I locked my left arm around King Tut, and held out my right to shake her hand. "Mia Murphy. I own the marina."

She didn't shake my hand, which I tried not to take personally. She did have her hands full of pie prep, right? Of course, my hands were full of a six-ton cat, and I'd managed to get a hand free, but I was special, so it was fine.

Recognition flashed in Emmeline's eyes, and I knew she'd heard of me. I paused, bracing myself for the kind of reaction that Rachel had had, but after a brief hesitation, she put down the pie, shook my hand, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Emmeline Wilson. Friend of Hattie's."

I relaxed. Wow. I had totally overreacted there. Not everyone hated me. I needed to pull myself together. Apparently, I was getting paranoid. "Me, too."

Lucy waved. "I'm Lucy Grande. Also a friend of Hattie's."

Hattie rolled her eyes. "You all make me sound like I'm way less selective than I am. Very few people make it onto my friend list."

I grinned. "Hattie, you wrap many, many people into your protective circle, and we all know it."

She snapped her fingers at me. "Quiet, little minion. I am a mountain of independence." But her eyes were twinkling with amusement. "Emmeline, if you see Charles, text me. You still have my number?"

"Yes, I do. Thanks."

I paused, wondering how far to push it with Emmeline. She seemed a little nervous, but she was also the third wheel in the Diamond Pie Baking Company. "Has Beckwith been here tonight?"

Emmeline shook her head. "I haven't seen him, but I've been in the kitchen for the last couple hours."

"Why?" Now that I thought about it, wasn't that odd? "You serve the pies you sell?"

She laughed. "No, not usually. But they were short of help tonight, and I always want to make sure my pies are plated well. It makes a difference."

Hattie nodded. "Take pride in your work, and others will do the same."

"Right? Always." Emmeline shrugged. "With Charles out of the business and not using his connections to help us get clients, every opportunity matters more. I wanted this to be right tonight, so when I saw what the pies looked like coming out of the kitchen, I went back to help."

I frowned. "You were eating here tonight?"

She nodded. "With my friend Rachel. She said Beckwith was going to meet us here after his meeting with Charles, and we were going to start planning for the future." She glanced at her phone. "She hasn't texted me that he has come by yet, though. If Charles is here and Beckwith isn't…" She sighed. "Maybe it didn't go well."

Um…yeah…maybe…at least for Beckwith.

Hattie cleared her throat. "Well, if it didn't go well, you always have a spot in my kitchen."

Emmeline smiled with evident gratitude. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Hattie patted the table. "Keep in touch, Emmeline. Tap into your female power. The world needs more badass, successful women who believe they're worth it."

Emmeline grinned. "You bet."

The door to the hallway opened, and I instinctively dove behind Emmeline's table, but it was only a server coming in with an empty tray. I heard Devlin's voice in the hall, and I grimaced. "We need to get out of here."