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  She grinned. “You just want pizza.”

  “That too.” He smiled. “So, what's it going to be? Here or at your house where we can share it with Max?”

  Sophie thought about it. “Better make it my house. I only have a few more things to do here and then I'll be home.”

  With another kiss, Reed said, “Okay, I'll pick up the pizza on the way over. Make sure you lock up, okay?”

  Ben honked the horn so Reed made his way out the door. “See you in a little while.”

  Things were going so well for her lately that Sophie almost had to pinch herself. Her cookies were almost done. She had her wall. And best of all, she would go home to Reed and have some kick ass pizza.

  * * * *

  The frosting was almost mixed when Sophie remembered the root beer extract. Her mind must have been on Reed and pizza again because she almost forgot it.

  She shook her head. Just what I need to make a good impression with the ladies. Root beer cookies without the root beer!

  Sophie was climbing on a step stool in the storeroom when she heard the back door open. She called out, “Hey Trace, go up front and see our wall. Reed and Ben finished it.” There wasn't a response, so louder she yelled, “When is good for you for painting it?”

  Some pans clattered so she stepped down to see what all the noise was about. “Tracy, what are you…” The door slammed in her face. She tried the doorknob, but it was jammed. “Hey Tracy!” Sophie yelled through the heavy wooden panel. “The knob is stuck! Come let me out!”

  All was quiet until she heard the slamming of the back door. “Tracy! I need out of here!” She had a phobia about getting trapped in enclosed spaces. The door always remained open while she was in here.

  Sophie checked her pockets and came up empty. Damn! Her phone was on the counter next to the frosting.

  Hoping someone would hear her, she pounded on the door and yelled for help. Sophie was starting to get anxious and on top of that, she really had to pee! She banged on the door some more and called out until her hands were sore and her throat hurt. She rammed her body against the door but bounced off without budging it. Ow! It worked in the movies!

  Sliding down the door, Sophie sat on the floor and prayed someone missed her soon. She needed a rescue.

  * * * *

  Two hours later, Reed finally pulled into Sophie's driveway. Every person in Madison Falls must have wanted pizza tonight because the line at the Pizza Palace was crazy. There had to be something addictive in the sauce. It smelled delicious sitting there on the passenger seat.

  He didn't see her PT Cruiser parked out front so he guessed she was running late too. Reed waited through three songs on the radio before realizing that her car was probably parked in the garage.

  Grabbing the pizza, he headed up the walkway. When he got closer to the door, he could hear Max's excited barking. The dog peeked his head beneath the living room curtain, saw Reed, and barked even more frantically. Reed knocked on the door, but there was no answer. The longer he stood there, the more upset Max became.

  This is ridiculous. He set the pizza on a porch chair and tried the door. Locked. Max started a whine so high pitched it was about to make his ears bleed. “Okay, buddy. Let me see what I can do.”

  Hoping Sophie knew better but still wanting to get in the house, he looked under the doormat. Nothing. Reed tried calling Sophie to let her know he was at her place and that that Max was going a little nuts. It went straight to voicemail.

  Max was taking turns between barking and whining. The poor dog was practically dancing around in front of the window. Reed looked around the porch, trying to find anything that would help him get inside. His eyes fell on a statue of a little green frog next to the doorjamb. No way. Reed lifted it up and underneath was a house key. This was supposed to be safer than under the mat?

  Max about knocked him over when he unlocked the door. “Hold on, pal. I have pizza.” He set the pizza on the dining room table with Max on his heels. Reed hurried to let the dog out before Sophie found a puddle on her carpet. The dog did his business and scratched the back door to be let back in.

  Following Reed back to the table, Max sat expectantly.

  Shaking his head, Reed told him, “You're not getting any until Sophie gets home.”

  Max drooped down to the floor and dejectedly put his head on Reed's boots.

  Reed waited another ten minutes and tried calling her again. Voicemail. Even if she were running late, Sophie should have been home by now.

  Her kitchen phone rang. Reed debated whether to answer it or let the machine get it. Thinking it was Sophie, he picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID.

  “Hello?”

  An older woman's voice cautiously answered him. “Hello? Is this Sophie's house?”

  Sophie's mom. “Yes, Mrs. Brandon. This is Reed Sutton. I was waiting for Sophie to get home from work.”

  Her voice warmed up. “Why hello, Reed! How are you?”

  “Doing just fine.” He hated to cut her short with the small talk, but he was starting to get worried. “Mrs. Brandon, have you heard anything from Sophie?”

  “Call me Lucy, honey. That's why I'm calling. Sophie isn't answering her other phone. I talked to her a few hours ago. She said she only had to put some finishing touches on some cookies. You haven't heard from her?”

  “No. Maybe Tracy would know? Do you have her number Mrs…I mean, Lucy?”

  Lucy gave him the number and after ten minutes of trying to politely get off the phone, Reed finally managed it after promising to rearrange Lucy's living room furniture for her.

  His next call was to Tracy.

  She picked up right away. “Hello?”

  “Tracy? This is Reed. Have you heard from Sophie?”

  “Isn't she with you? Never mind, stupid question. I tried calling her but got voicemail.” Teasingly, she added, “I thought she wasn't answering because she was getting busy with you.” There was a pause. “I take it that since you're calling me, you can't find her?”

  He was getting a bad feeling.

  “I can't get a hold of her. She's probably at work, but I think I'll go check on her anyway.”

  “Okay, I'm on my way home. I'll meet you there.”

  Reed hung up and glanced down at Max. “Our pizza party has to wait. I'll go remind your lady that she needs some food.”

  Max looked at him dolefully. Reed didn't know if it was because he missed his human or his chance at pizza.

  Twenty minutes later, he tried to open the back door and remembered he didn't have keys anymore. Reed tried the front, but that was locked too. When he knocked on the back door again, he heard a faint noise. “Sophie? Are you in there?”

  Reed thought he heard her voice but had no way of getting the door open. Now the bad feeling intensified to full on worry. He considered breaking the door in until Tracy whipped into the parking lot and jammed on her brakes. Thankfully, she came out with a set of keys.

  “She's in there. I can hear her.” Reed had to get inside now. He barely stopped himself from taking the keys from her.

  When Tracy unlocked the door, they took in the mess before them. A metal bowl half full of frosting was knocked over on its side. The rest of the sugary confection was splashed haphazardly in white spatters on the tiles. Everything on the table, including her utensils and baking ingredients, had been swept aside and cast on the floor too.

  Reed yelled her name. “Sophie!”

  He heard a faint, “Reed?” coming from the storeroom. A chair was wedged up under the doorknob. “Oh, holy shit!” He and Tracy both went for the door. Reed threw the chair aside and Tracy turned the knob. Sophie was shakily pulling herself up off the floor.

  Reed yanked her into his arms and wouldn't let go. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  * * * *

  Sophie tried to talk, but her throat hurt from yelling. Tracy gave her a bottle of water. After a few sips, she said, “I don't know. I was getting some root beer ext
ract for the frosting and I thought I heard Tracy come in.”

  She swallowed more water to soothe her throat. ”I called out to you, but the door slammed shut and I got locked in here.” Sophie gave a tremulous smile. “Any longer and you would have found me eating my way through a five-pound bag of chocolate chips.” She tried to pull away from Reed. “Can I get out of here now?”

  He quickly stepped back and let her out of the closet-like room and back in the kitchen. Sophie looked at the mess on the floor and the chair lying on its side. “What the hell happened?”

  Reed came up next to her. “That's what I'd like to know.”

  She saw her ruined frosting painting the floor in sugary smudges. Still a little dazed, Sophie said, “Well, damn. Now I have to start over.”

  Tracy put her arm around her. “Sweetie, don't you think it would be a better idea if you went home instead?”

  Sophie shook her head. “No, I'm not going anywhere until I frost these cookies.”

  Reed spoke to her slowly as if she were in shock. “Sophie, do you have any idea who did this? Has anyone threatened you? Maybe some kids or a disgruntled customer?” He waved his hand around at the mess. “Shouldn't we call the police?”

  She had an idea who did it, but didn't want to believe it. Sophie only knew of one person who didn't like her. If she told Reed who she suspected, it would make him more upset.

  For the time being, she said, “I don't know who did it. But the police have better things to do than deal with some dumped frosting.” It was impossible to fake another smile, but Sophie didn't want Reed and Tracy to worry about her.

  “I'm okay. I just have to get this cleaned up. Did you get the pizza?” She wasn't kidding about breaking into the chocolate chips.

  Reed frowned but answered the question. “The pizza is at home with Max.”

  “How did you get in the house?”

  “Max was freaking out so I found your key…under a frog.”

  “It wasn't under the mat, now was it? “ She felt a little defensive. “What's wrong with Max?”

  “He's okay. Dude got excited and had to pee.”

  “Please tell me you let him out.” Sophie didn't need another mess.

  Reed smiled reassuringly. “Your carpet's fine. If you're set on finishing these cookies, Tracy and I will clean up.”

  Tracy was already picking up the spilled ingredients.

  “I'll wait here until you're done.” He gave Sophie's shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Are you sure you don't want to call the police? You could have been seriously hurt.”

  Sophie was positive. “I'm okay. It's only a little sore throat.”

  Reed glanced down at her hands. Gently, he lifted them to get a better look and his eyes widened in alarm. “My God, look at these bruises! How long were you pounding on that door?” He looked ready to strangle someone.

  “I'm fine.” Not really. “I bruise easily. Let's forget about it, okay?” Sophie wanted this day over with. “First things first, though, I really have to go to the bathroom!”

  After seeing to her needs, she washed her hands and looked in the mirror above the sink. Her face was too pale and her eyes were still wide with panic. If she could see it, they could see it.

  Sophie was still trying to grasp that someone had really locked her in and trashed everything on her worktable. Her claustrophobia just made everything worse.

  Trying to find some calm, she took some deep breaths. Sophie had to get the trembling to stop. She kept telling herself that it was scary, but it could have been worse.

  By the time she came back out, Reed had finished cleaning up.

  Tracy was washing her hands in the sink. “Okay, Sophie, go on and mix the frosting and I'll ice these damn cookies. By any chance, is this the order for the MFLIC?”

  Sophie only nodded.

  Her friend tried to sound casual, but her voice cracked. “Figures. Okay, let's get to it and get you the hell out of here. Reed, would you call Lucy and let her know Sophie is all right?”

  He smiled reassuringly. “I'm on it.”

  Chapter 17

  Sophie took the cookies back to her house. She wasn't taking any more chances before this order got picked up in the morning. The whole drive home, she tried to work out a way to tell Reed her suspicions about his mother. Messing up a cookie order was one thing but locking her in at the bakery had been personal.

  Her throat was still sore and her hands hurt like hell. She wished she'd remained calm in the storeroom, but panic made her stupid.

  Reed followed her in his truck. When they pulled into her driveway, she saw Sarah's blue Mini Cooper. Great. He must have told her what happened when he called earlier. Sophie really wasn't in the mood for company but knew Lucy would want to see that she was all right.

  Coming up behind her, Reed took the cookies before Sophie could carry them. He put an arm around her and walked with her to the front door. Lucy opened it and ran straight for her.

  “Oh, Sophie! Oh, honey! Are you okay?” She squeezed the air out of her in a tight mom hug. Sophie was able to give her a few pats on the back before Lucy finally let go. She checked her from head to toe then asked, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  That was the last thing she needed. Sophie ushered Lucy back into the house.

  “Mom, I'm okay. Seriously! My throat's a little sore. It'll be perfectly fine in the morning.”

  Lucy didn't look convinced. “Are you hungry? We brought over more pizza since Reed is with you. I know how much men like to eat.” She smiled at Reed and then wrapped him in a warm hug. “Thank you for saving my daughter.” What?

  “That's a bit overly dramatic don't you think? It wasn't life or death. It just sucked!”

  Reed winked at her over Lucy's head and let her hug him a second time. He was enjoying this! “You're welcome, Lucy. How about that pizza?”

  Sarah and Max were waiting for them in the dining room. Her sister got up to give her another hug. “You okay, Sis?” She pointed to a bottle of wine on the table. “I brought over something to calm your nerves.” Sophie would absolutely love a glass of wine but couldn't have it until she confirmed she wasn't pregnant.

  “Thanks, Sarah, but I don't think I would stop at one glass. I still have to get up early and I'd hate to go to work with a hangover.”

  Reed stared at her with a perceptive grin on his face. He knew why she vetoed the glass of wine.

  “How about some pop or iced tea?” She pushed the soft drinks. “Iced tea would taste really great right now.”

  Sophie was still talking like she had a frog in her throat.

  Speaking of frogs…“How did you guys get in?”

  Lucy was looking at her strangely. “Honey, we used the key under the frog.”

  “How did you know about it?” She used to think it was a great hiding place. Sarah answered for her mom. “Where else would you put it? It wasn't under the mat.”

  Sophie tried to ignore the “See?” look on Reed's face.

  “Remind me to give you and Mom a copy. Are we ready to eat yet?”

  Lucy sat down in the chair across the table from her. She pointed to the seat next to Sophie. “Go and sit next to Sophie, Reed. We won't mind if you want to hold her hand.”

  Lucy and Sarah shared a look.

  “So, are you and my daughter officially dating?”

  Reed glanced sideways at Sophie. She fielded the question. “Yes, Mom. Reed and I are seeing each other.” Seeing a whole lot of each other.

  Lucy looked pleased. “Good, it's about time you two got together!”

  Reed and Sophie asked, “What?” at the same time.

  She handed out plates of pizza. “You two have been circling each other since high school, right?” At Sophie's quizzical expression, Lucy said, “I told you before, Sophie, a mother always knows.”

  Sophie thought now was a good time to ask her about Dot. After tonight's episode of crazy, she wanted answers. It helped that Reed was here too. He could hear what
ever Lucy said for himself. “Mom, I was wondering about something. Did you and Dot Sutton go to high school together?”

  Lucy lost her smile and glanced at Reed. “Yes, we did, why?”

  Reed asked the next question. “Did you two get along?”

  She reluctantly answered. “Well, we did at one time. She was Dot Morgan then. We were in the same homeroom. You see, we were both M’s since my maiden name was Murphy.”

  Lucy eyed Reed again. “Your mom was very driven in school. She was in about every committee or club she could join. Dot was dating your dad our senior year.” Letting out a slow breath, she went on. “But, if she saw us talking, she thought he was flirting with me. Jack was head over heels for her so that was just absurd.” She turned her gaze to Sophie. “Besides, I was already going steady with your dad. Hal was two years ahead of us.”

  “What happened?” Sophie encouraged her to continue.

  Sighing, Lucy shook her head in regret. “It's a sad, senseless story, really. Just a bunch of misunderstandings and jealousy. Part of it was my fault.” Looking Reed in the eye, she said, “I'm not proud of this, mind you. But one day I was sneaking a cigarette in the girls’ room between classes. I'd started smoking because I thought it made me look sophisticated.” Lucy frowned. “I'd only taken a few puffs when Dottie came into the bathroom crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was stressed out. She said she couldn't be in charge of one more thing.”

  Lucy paused to eat some pizza and take a drink. Everyone at the table leaned forward to hear the story.

  “Anyway, someone nominated her to head the prom committee. She didn't want to do it but couldn't say no. There was so much on her plate and with her other responsibilities, it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. Dot was so upset she was shaking. In all my teenage wisdom,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “I thought a cigarette would calm her nerves. I told her to take the rest of mine since I had to get to history class. She took it but made a disgusted face at me. She didn't want any part of it, but I told her to try it.” Lucy put a hand over her heart. “I regret doing that to this day.”