The Bad Luck Wedding Cake Read Online Free PDF

dangerous.”
    She followed the sound to the back of the shop. Tye McBride sat on the floor slumped against the wall opposite the dressing room. Dazed was the word she thought best described him.
    Uncertain how to reply, Claire settled for a dry, “Sewing can be a perilous occupation for some of us. I poked a needle halfway through my thumb one time.”
    “Do much sewing?” he asked casually.
    “Not if I can avoid it. I do have to make curtains for my bakery, though, I’m afraid.”
    Tye’s smile was wry. “Maybe you could barter buns for basting with Mrs. Moore. She manages this shop for Jenny.”
    “We’ve met.” She glanced from the back of the store to the front and didn’t hide her grimace. “She’s not working today?”
    “She went home sick.” Slowly, he pushed to his feet and dusted off his denim pants. “I told her I’d keep an eye on Fortune’s Design for her.”
    “Next time you might try using more than one.”
    He sighed heavily and nodded his agreement “I put the CLOSED sign up in the front window.”
    “I guess your vandal couldn’t read.”
    He cut her a dry look, then commented, “A good neighbor might have checked on the situation when she heard a bunch of commotion next door.”
    Claire nodded. “A good neighbor would have had she not been away doing errands for a time. All has been quiet here for the past hour or two. At least it was quiet until you groaned.” Walking back toward the front of the store, she plucked a bright red pincushion out of the center of a potted plant “Reminds one of a tomato.”
    “Yeah,” Tye replied. He stared at the stuffed roundish ball. “I like tomatoes. You use them much in your baking?”
    She winced at the thought “No, can’t say I do. Why are we talking about this?”
    “I’m trying to avoid dealing with reality here.”
    Claire wanted to laugh at that. How like a man.
    “Bet you use a lot of that Magic stuff you make, though, don’t you? I figured it out. It’s an aphrodisiac.”
    “A what?”
    One of the girls, Maribeth, if Claire remembered correctly, poked her head outside the dressing room curtain. “Hello, Miss Donovan. Uncle Tye, I’ve picked up all the pins in here. What do I do next? And what’s an aphrodisiac?”
    McBride wasn’t paying attention. Instead, his gaze had focused on a bolt of red gingham now lying on the floor. Claire followed the path of his stare and spied the muddy paw prints adorning the cloth.
    Claire wasn’t the least bit surprised. She hadn’t seen much of the McBrides the past few days, but she’d seen plenty of Ralph. The dog could teach even the three Menaces how to get into mischief.
    “Uncle Tye,” the child repeated, “what’s an aphrodisiac?”
    He cleared his throat and said, “It’s an animal similar to a raccoon, Mari.”
    Claire gaped at him, then bit the inside of her cheek to hold back an unladylike snort as hope lit the youngster’s eyes.
    “Like a coon?” Maribeth asked. “They’re mischievous animals. Does an aphrodisiac make paw prints like a puppy’s?”
    Tye jerked his head toward the soiled gingham, and in a boom-lowering tone, stated, “You mean like Ralph’s.”
    Ralph. The obvious culprit. Judging by the wilted expressions on both the McBrides’ faces, neither of them was happy with the truth.
    The girl asked in a little voice, “What are you going to do, Uncle Tye? This breaks Rule Number Three on Papa’s list, the one about animals and trouble. Are you gonna make us give him away?”
    “Well…” he rubbed his palm along his jaw. “I can’t be breaking any of your pa’s rules.”
    Though Claire wouldn’t have thought it possible, Maribeth’s face drooped even further.
    “But,” Tye continued, shooting a sharp look toward Claire. “I’m not a hundred percent certain Ralph is at fault here. We have an unaccounted-for aphrodisiac running around loose.”
    Emma McBride should have embroidered teddy bears on his drawers along with the hearts, Claire