"No, sorry. It's in evidence."

"Dad says if you get shot anymore, you can make a necklace out of all the bullets."

"I! Did! Not!" yelled an off camera Garrett.

Sam pushed his face against the screen. "He did," he whispered loudly, his tongue darting out to lick the screen.

"He did. He definitely did," added Chloe, pushing her brother out of the way. "He said, you'll be so holey, you'll never need to go to church again."

"We have to go," I told the kids. "I wish you were here. This has been so much fun!"

"Dad says we can video call your phone. He gave us your number," said Sam.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Tell him I said thanks." I waved.

"We will. Bye, Aunty Holey Lexi!"

"Bye!" I waved until the screen went dark.

"Something smells nice," said Mom. "Did you do this, Solomon?"

"We teamed up," said Solomon.

"So you can team up to make dinner, but you can't work together, live together, get married, or have a baby?" asked Mom. "The only thing you can commit to is food?"

"That's right," I said, nodding. I wondered if I were only agreeing with her, or simply deflecting the other things that could be in my future. Once again, I thought of Solomon's suggestion that we live together.

I liked having him on my team; I just wasn't sure about working for him again. If we were also living together, where would my independence be? Plus, last time I made a full commitment to someone, falling head over heels in love with Maddox, I spotted him with another woman and saw red, ending us. Even now, long past that event, I believed Maddox when he said it was a huge misunderstanding, but the pain of that moment still stung. The big commitment before that was when I got engaged and it turned out horribly, terribly wrong. My brief stint in the Army was testimony to that. I wondered if third time lucky lay in my future.

All of a sudden, it was clear. Solomon wasn’t my stumbling block. Or the loss of independence. Or gaining independence while living with someone who was truly on my team. It was none of those things, but rather, the fear that something I deeply wanted might end. I made mistakes before, was easily duped before, and I knew it could easily happen again. As I looked up at Solomon, waiting for his question again, waiting for him to make me that offer again, I knew I didn't want to lose him too. Living together could work. We wouldn't even have to make it work, we could just do it, and eventually, the fear should recede. Now was the time I realized, as I turned to look up at him. Now I knew what I would say.

"Lexi can have her job back anytime," said Solomon, answering the question I didn't expect to hear, "Lexi? Do you want your job back?"

Chapter Nineteen

"I love a fake wedding," said Lily. We sat in my car, watching a steady stream of people flowing in and out of Juliet and Rob's house. I was impressed. It did not look like a fake wedding at all. It looked like the real deal; and I had to admit, it was fabulous. "I hope there's cake," Lily continued, completely nonplussed about the real reason for the fake wedding. "Maybe you'll catch the bouquet."

"Been there, done that. Still not married."

"You did have a brief engagement," pointed out Lily.

I swallowed. "Maybe it'll be really good cake," I said, trying to sound more optimistic.

"A really yummy, really big cake." Lily pointed to a large box being lifted out of a van by two people dressed in white chef coats. "They are the best cake makers in all Montgomery. I couldn't even get them for my wedding! How did Juliet manage that?"

"I have no idea," I replied, wondering what kind of check Juliet was prepared to write in order to have a chance at catching her stalker. Since I once ate an exorbitantly priced, but utterly amazing, cupcake from that very bakery, I guessed it had to be a pretty big one.

"I hope they save us a slice. Is that the caterers? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"It's the baby. The baby is always hungry."

"You are eating for two."

"It feels like two thousand. I can't stop. I'm not just going to give birth. Eventually, I'll explode and… ta-da! There will be a baby."

"Call me when it's about to happen."

"I'd love for you to be there!"

"No, I meant so I could get out of the county. If you're going to explode, I don't want to see it."

"I bet I'll taste of buttercream." Lily sighed. "What a way to go."

I checked my watch. "We have two hours until the wedding. I don't think anything will happen until then."

"Does that give us enough time for lunch?"

"We just ate lunch!"

"Oh." Lily's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "I forgot. How about a snack?"

"I could do with a coffee."

"Me too, except no caffeine. I could drink a green tea. Do you think we could get a slice of that cake to eat with it?"

"No."

"It's not even a real wedding! They will never notice two missing slices. Or even four." Lily paused as the catering truck opened up and uniformed staff began to unload dozens of dishes. Her belly rumbled. "This is really unfair! Lexi, how could you do this to a pregnant woman?"

"I thought we were getting the easiest job. All we have to do is sit here in the car and watch over the house, just in case anyone tries to sneak in with the food deliveries."

"Like we'd even know if someone did. They're all strangers," Lily pointed out.

"We're not looking for a stranger. We're looking for someone we know. Someone acting suspicious."

"The only suspicious people I see right now are us. That's a nice blouse you're wearing. Can I borrow it when I'm not the size of a tanker?"

"Sure. I'll go get you a green tea," I told Lily. "You stay here and watch over everyone."

"And some cake," Lily called weakly as I stepped out of the car. I pressed my back against the car door as a florist van squealed past before screeching to a halt at the curb. Two people jumped out of the cab and raced around to the side, pulling back a sliding door. The heady scent of lilies and roses bombarded my senses as I crossed the road, walked past the truck, and made my way towards the house.

Juliet's house had morphed from a quiet prison to a busy command center. The door stood wide open and I stepped through, looking around in amazement and awe. The house was quite a vision, a miracle of transformation. A beautiful ivy garland dotted with cascading flowers was draped around the banister, and tall floral arrangements stood at the base of the stairs. The dining room furniture was missing; and in its place, stood a bar and rows of gleaming glassware. A bartender clad in black and white, with his back to me, was unpacking cases of wine and beer. I turned away, looking for my client. I didn't have to wait long as Juliet hurried down the steps, wearing a silk wrap dress. Smiling when she saw me, "What do you think?" she asked, waving a hand around.

"It looks great. Very authentic."

"I think Rob is blown away. He said we should have planned our wedding like this all along. He says it's very us."

I nodded my agreement. Quiet, understated and elegant; the fake wedding was just what I imagined for the couple. "I like all the decorations."