Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera

the assisted living center where he lived was located
     between the community park where Nathaniel’s brother got married and Nathaniel’s private
     property. It would have been easy for him to have dropped Mia’s doll into his truck
     if a door or window was open.
    And if Grandpa Lewy was the cupcake thief, then that meant that Nathaniel was not.
    “Grandpa,” Rachel scolded, her face flushed, “why did you steal our cupcakes?”
    “I didn’t steal. You said I could have one any time.”
    “Why did you steal Mia’s doll?” Andi asked.
    The old man shook his head as if confused. “I found a doll. It looked familiar, so
     I put it in that thing that holds my memories.”
    “Your memory box?” Rachel prompted. “Is that where you hid all the cupcakes?”
    “I don’t know,” he said, his eyes lacking focus.
    “You wrote a ransom note in the Cupcake Diary,” Kim said, handing him a towel to wipe
     his face.
    “Your poster said you’d give a cupcake to anyone who found a doll,” Grandpa Lewy said
     and frowned. “I found a doll, and I like cupcakes.”
    “But you didn’t show up at the Astoria Column,” Kim pointed out.
    “I forgot.” He wiped his face and stared at the smeared ink and icing on the white
     towel.
    The phone rang, and Andi went around the counter to answer it. “Rachel,” she said,
     holding the phone away from her ear, “the assisted living center says we need to bring
     your grandfather back right away. There’s been an incident they need to discuss with
     us.”
    “What kind of incident?” Rachel asked, gripping her grandfather’s arm.
    Kim smiled. “Maybe they found the cupcakes.”
    The nurses were not happy campers. Kim didn’t know who was worse—them or the bride’s
     mother at the wedding.
    “Do you see these boxes?” one nurse exclaimed, holding up a pink box with the Creative
     Cupcakes logo. “Last night we found half the residents on a sugar high that had them
     bouncing around like kids on a bouncy ball.”
    “The first batch of cupcakes for the wedding,” Kim mused.
    “Grandpa, did you have a cupcake party?” Rachel asked.
    He wavered on his feet, and Rachel reached out to steady him.
    “I made lots of friends,” he told her and smiled, as if loopy. “They helped carry
     some of the boxes.”
    Kim frowned. “Rachel, I don’t think he’s feeling good.”
    “He looks pale,” said the head nurse. “Let’s sit him down.”
    However, before he could sit, Grandpa Lewy collapsed, and they had to call the hospital
     for an ambulance.
    “H E’S OKAY,” R ACHEL assured them, returning to the shop a few hours later. “They hooked him up with an
     IV and are running tests.”
    “Maybe you should take him a triple-chocolate cupcake to cheer him up,” Andi teased.
     “Might make him feel better.”
    “He didn’t know what he was doing,” Rachel said, shaking her head.
    “It’s okay,” Kim assured her. “We can’t blame him for loving our cupcakes.”
    “No, we can’t blame anyone ,” Andi agreed and nodded toward the door. “Looks like you have a special delivery,
     Kim.”
    Kim turned and met Nathaniel’s troubled, blue-eyed gaze.
    “I came to say I’m sorry about last night,” he said, handing her a large bouquet of
     bright red, heavenly scented roses. “I promise you, I didn’t take the doll or any
     of the cupcakes. I’m not your thief.”
    “We know,” Rachel assured him. “It was my grandfather.”
    “I’m sorry I ruined your brother’s wedding,” Kim told him.
    Nathaniel smiled. “You didn’t ruin it, you made it memorable. After you left, my brother
     and his bride looked at each other, realized their love for each other had nothing
     to do with cupcakes, and started laughing.”
    “They aren’t going to sue?” Andi asked, her face filled with hope.
    “No one is going to sue,” he assured them and set a piece of paper on the counter.
     “And here is a check to cover the cost of the cupcakes.”
    Kim shook her