Don't Forget Me by Meg Benjamin

for the first time. “Aunt Allie’s. And Wonder Dentist. I’ve been drafted to play wedding planner.”
    Tom gave her a dry smile. “I assume just heading for the nearest justice of the peace is out of the question?”
    Clem shook her head. “From what I hear, Allie’s put this thing off for so long the whole town’s getting impatient. People are taking bets about whether it’ll come off at all.”
    “It’ll come off.” Kit’s eyes were steely. “It’ll be the best damn wedding this town’s seen in years—even if I have to get the entire family to chip in.”
    “Oh man.” Tom grinned. “This is going to be good for weeks of discussion. What’s the date?”
    Kit shrugged. “I don’t have one yet. But I will.”
    “That can work in your favor.” Clem’s brow furrowed. “Check to see if they’ve had any cancellations at the Woodrose. If they’ve got a slot they have to fill, they might give you a break on the price.”
    Deirdre frowned. “But if they need to fill it, it would probably be pretty soon. Don’t you need time to plan?”
    Kit shook her head. “The less time to plan, the less time I have to screw it up. Besides, Allie’s had months to pull this thing together. Surely she knows what she wants by now.”
    Three fists immediately knocked on the wooden counter.
    “Here’s hoping,” Kit muttered. “I need to get home. I’ve got work tomorrow.”
    “Let us know what happens at the Woodrose,” Deirdre cut in. “Keep us posted. You never know—maybe we can help.”
    Kit gave her a tired smile. Maybe it had been a long day for her too. “Thanks, Deirdre. I appreciate it.” She turned and started toward the exit.
    Nando walked out the door behind her.
    She came to a quick halt, turning to stare at him under the parking lot lights, her eyes wary. “What?”
    He shrugged. “I was going to walk you home. It was time for me to take off too.” Maybe the parking lot lights would hide the tension he could feel snaking across his shoulders. He hoped so, anyway.
    Kit licked her lips, and he braced himself. “I drove tonight,” she said softly. “You all made such a big deal about it not being safe.”
    He told himself he wasn’t disappointed. After all, it was what he’d wanted her to do. “Okay, that’s good.”
    “Would you like a ride?” She raised those astonishing dark eyes to his.
    A smart man would say no. A smart man would know better than to take the chance of killing the truce before they’d even gotten started. But he wasn’t exactly smart these days. “Thanks,” he said. “Where are you parked?”
     
     
    Kit had no idea why she’d offered him a ride. It wasn’t like he needed one. No mugger in his right mind would go after anybody Nando’s size. Now she felt like she was in driver’s ed class—sitting stiffly in her seat, trying to make sure she didn’t break any traffic regulations.
    Not that he seemed any more relaxed than she did. He stared out the window, as if he were looking for somebody familiar on the deserted streets of Konigsburg.
    “I heard about the break-in at Docia’s shop,” she said a little desperately. “All the damage. Allie said he destroyed several thousand dollars worth of merchandise and then messed up the store. Why would anybody do something like that?”
    Nando winced. She hadn’t realized it would be a sensitive topic. “Somebody with a grudge against Docia, I guess.”
    “But nobody has a grudge against Docia, nobody I know anyway. And I’ve known her since I was a teenager.”
    He shrugged. “Some people get teed off and you don’t know it until they do something stupid. It could be somebody mad about something that doesn’t seem like a problem to the rest of us, like her selection of books or maybe the color of her hair.”
    “Do you have any evidence that could point to who it is?”
    He grimaced again. She wasn’t sure what was bothering him, but something about the break-in seemed painful. “Yeah, we’ve got