Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse (A Cape Bay Cafe Mystery Book 1) by Harper Lin

wouldn’t go back there after he got into an argument with that guy—I guess he might have been going to get a cell phone.” Matty looked thoughtful. “I wonder why he didn’t tell me.”
    I shrugged, then something occurred to me. “If the thing Mrs. Collins said about your dad dating someone was true, maybe he was worried how you’d feel about it.”
    Matty played with his beer bottle. He sighed. “I just—Mom died so long ago. I would have been happy for him if he’d told me he found someone.”
    “You know how parents are. My mom talked about her ‘friend’ John for years, and every time I’d ask, she denied that there was anything between them. But the way she smiled when she talked about him said otherwise. They just want to protect us.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Matty said quietly. He shook his head. “I just wish I’d known.”
    We sat for a few minutes, both lost in our thoughts about our parents.
    Finally Matty glanced up and gestured inside the restaurant with his beer bottle. “We should probably get going.”
    The other customers were gone, and the servers were hovering just inside, looking at us every once in a while as though they didn’t want to pressure us too much even if they were ready to go home.
    “Yeah, I guess we should.”
    Matty caught our waitress’s eye, and she brought over the check. I reached for my purse, but before I could get my wallet out, Matty had slid his credit card into the folder and passed it back to the waitress.
    “What was that?” I asked indignantly.
    “Me paying for our dinner?” Matty answered.
    “I can pay for myself. And if anyone’s going to be paying for anyone, I should be paying for you because I’m the one who suggested dinner.”
    Matty shrugged. “Too late.”
    I looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Well, I’m paying next time.”
    He shrugged again, this time with a twinkle in his eye. “We’ll see.”
    I had a feeling I’d have to fight to pay.
    “You know, it’s only fair that I pay,” Matty said. “You’ve treated me at the café twice in the past two days.”
    “That’s different.”
    “How?”
    “It just is.” I didn’t really have a reason except that I ran the café and could give out free food and drinks to anyone at any time, but Matty was going out of his way to pay for my dinner.
    Matty didn’t bother arguing with me anymore. He just signed the check when the waitress brought it back. We left quickly so the staff could finish cleaning up and go home.
    “Where’s your car?” I asked as we started up the street toward the café. Matty’s house was on the other side of town. It was a quick drive but far enough that I knew he wouldn’t have walked to the café.
    “I actually parked at my dad’s house,” he said. “I didn’t see any reason to pay for parking when his place is just around the corner.”
    “Well, good,” I replied cheerily. “I’ll have company on my walk home.”
    Matty scoffed. “You think I’d let you walk home alone at this time of night?”
    I looked at him, surprised by both what he said and how forcefully he said it. “You think I can’t take care of myself? I lived in New York for twelve years! I think I can handle sleepy Cape Bay. It’s not like this is a dangerous place!” Matty didn’t say anything, and I realized what I had just said. “Oh… um, I mean, usually, um—”I couldn’t believe how badly I’d stuck my foot in my mouth.
    “It’s okay,” he offered. “I would have felt the same way before. I do have manners, you know.” He chuckled softly.
    “Thanks.” I sighed, relieved that my gaffe hadn’t upset Matty too much. “And sorry. I should have thought before I said that.”
    “It’s okay.” He rubbed the back of my shoulder. “Really.”
    We walked on in silence, enjoying each other’s company and the peace of the night. After a few minutes, we turned onto our street—well, my street and Matty’s old street.
    “What are you going to do