11 - But.... the Apron

When Rose woke up, she was in bed. Half of what happened seemed like a dream. She was praying it wasn’t. Yet, the chair was still pulled up beside the bed. Since she could smell herself, she jumped in the shower and pulled out a pair of indigo shorts and a white tank.

Once downstairs, it was clear someone had worked to clean everything up. The last thing she remembered was being in Henry’s arms. And there he was. Standing in the kitchen, smiling at Kai, who was already chatting away over a fancy latte. Henry was wearing her apron and the kitchen smelled delicious. “What are you guys doing this early?” She hadn’t been awake for a full hour, nor a cup of coffee, but her heart was racing a mile a minute.

Henry turned, pointing the fork he held in his hand at her. “Hey! Good morning. I made coffee. There’s coffee cake in the oven too. I hope you don’t mind that I stole the ‘just mix and put in the oven box’ you had in the cupboard.

“I mean, if you made coffee cake, I don’t care what you used.”

“I did.” He smiled at her. “You have a latte from my fancy machine there.” He pointed to the island in the center of the kitchen where a black to-go mug sat. “I don’t know how to actually use the machine, so I sent Kai to my place a little bit ago to make them. If it’s awful, I do know how to make real coffee.” When she looked over, her pot was full.

“Any of the guests already awake?” Rose asked, taking a seat at the island next to Kai.

“Yeah, this is the second pot of coffee I made. I’m pretty sure your mom took half of it back upstairs with her. Then the one couple came down, had a cup, and headed out to the ocean, and the family came down, the parents grabbed a cup while the kids got ready, and then they took off to get breakfast. I think I threw them *all* off this morning when I was the one who greeted them. Jace and Darla are still dead to the world. But the police are on the way. I hope you don’t mind, I told the others that there was an incident, just to be safe.”

“Don’t worry mom, he played it off like it was some unruly teen until we learn more. As long as the guests know to be on alert, the rest should be fine.” Kai said, patting her hand as she took a sip of the latte.

“Goodness gracious, Kai. Did you think I’d gone sour and had to sweeten me up? I feel like half this cup is just sugar.” She made a face as she put it down, “No wonder you’re so happy about yours.”

Kai shrugged, “I mean, you could be a little sweeter.” Rose couldn’t help but scoff at him.

“You’re so mean to your mother.” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

Henry was already handing her a cup of freshly brewed coffee, with the sugar bowl and the milk from the fridge. When he rounded the counter and leaned in to whisper in her ear, Rose felt the heat on her skin, “You are most definitely sweet enough.” When he pulled away with a wink, she almost came unglued. No one had ever been this sweet to her, and she had never wanted anyone so very badly. But it ended there as the timer on the stove blared and he went back to what he was doing. Once the oven door was opened, the kitchen immediately smelled like coffee cake. Rose’s mouth was salivating in an instant.

Though it likely had less to do with the cake and more to do with the man, taking care of all her morning tasks, making breakfast and coffee, and joking with her son, all while wearing her ruffly, yellow, cupcake-clad apron. It was way too small for him and should have been comical in every way, but she couldn’t pull her mind from the gutter. The thought of him, in just the apron…

Rose gasped. Covering her mouth immediately. “Sorry.” She said between her fingers.

“You all good?” Henry asked, refilling his own cup. The doorbell rang as Henry was fanning the cake. “Here,” he said, placing the pan in front of her and Kai, “that’s probably the police.” He took off the apron, put it back on its hook, and started toward the front door.

Having never had anyone help her without question, and even someone who just took charge of the situation was NOT something Rose was used to. All she could do was stare after him. Apparently, he noticed. He froze in the doorway, turning around to look at her.

“Umm, I’m not overstepping, am I? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” His golden eyes seemed to bore into her and again, her heart fluttered uncontrollably.

Rose shook her head, “No. I really appreciate all the help you’ve offered. I just have no idea how I can make it up to you.”

A sparkle lit his eyes as a slow smile crept along his face, “Well, I can think of something.” Rose’s hands went to her cheeks, trying to hide the blush that was already there. She was sure she looked like a damn lobster at this point. “Wait! That’s…” as his eyes went large, it wasn’t his cheeks that turned red, but his ears. “Not what I meant. I was thinking of another date. I hope I didn’t come off like a…”

Silence held the room for a moment before Kai chimed in, “Like a perve? I was questioning it.” His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was glaring in the man’s direction. Henry’s hand covered his mouth, and she had to guess that he was hiding a smile.

“Yeah, sorry.” Henry said after getting better control of himself, “that wasn’t my intention.” Seeing him look so flustered was so very attractive.

The doorbell rang again. Her mother was now hollering from upstairs about how no one could get the door. “You’re fine.” She breezed past him, knowing full well she was still blushing furiously. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done. You’re the first to bring me flowers and make me coffee and breakfast too. Not to mention staying the night after what happened. You’ve really taken the reigns on this, and I’m forever grateful. It’s only our first date, and I didn’t even have to sleep with you.” She looked back at him before opening the door and was surprised by how unimpressed he looked. Cocking her head to the side she asked, “What’s wrong?”

He waved the question away, “Nothing, I’m just… we’ll talk about that statement later. Let’s not leave them standing on the porch.”

Rose nodded, opening the door. A petit blond woman was standing at the stoop, and four other cops were hanging around near the base of the stairs to the porch. “Thank you all for coming, I know you’re here for a reason, but can I offer any of you anything to drink? I have juice and coffee if you’re thirsty. Henry just made coffee cake, so you’re welcome to that as well.” Rose stepped away from the door, and as the cops filtered in, the women went to stand alone while the men congregated around Henry.

One of the guy’s whipped around, smiling through the door. “Did you just say Henry made coffee cake? Is that *the* Henry Mason who called us here? No way!” Tommy Jacobs was a greenhorn, just out of the academy, Rose knew his parents. She’d babysat for him when he was a kid. “But, I guess if anyone was going to make a family man out of that guy, it would be you, wouldn’t it Rose?” He laughed, bouncing up the stairs. “When I heard someone was being an ass to my auntie, I had to come make sure you were okay.” He shuffled inside behind Amy, reaching out to her and pulling her into a hug.

“Thanks, Tommy. It’s good to see a friendly face. I didn’t know you knew Henry.”

“Yeah, he’s friends with Sheriff Jace, so we see him every so often. He’s a good guy, brings bagels and coffee for us when he does show up. So always nice.” Tommy leaned in conspiratorially, whispering, “You guys dating now?”

“Pretty sure that’s none of your business, buddy,” She smiled at him, pulling out of the hug. She pointed to everyone, “Okay, so, coffee?”

“I would love a cup.” Amy held her hand out. “The guys probably too, they’ll go check everything out, I was hoping I could have some time to talk to you about what you think could be going on. Any insight into the situation will be helpful. I’m Officer Amy Freedman. Feel free to call me Amy.” She smiled as Rose shook her hand.

“I’m Rose. It’s nice to meet you, Amy, though I wish it was on better terms.” Rose chauffeured everyone into the kitchen. Henry was on top of helping, pulling mugs and filling them as Rose grabbed cream, milk, and sugar and put it in front of everyone. It was so odd, not being the only person doing everything. Most of the guys grabbed their mugs without adding sugar or milk and followed Henry outside where most of the damage was.


As they stepped out, Rose started to follow, but Amy touched her arm. “Let’s sit for a minute and chit-chat in private. I would like for you to outline your night for me. You don’t have to go into any deep detail unless I ask, but I’d like to know what it looks like from your point of view.”

“Sure.” Rose went over everything with her, when she mentioned that she’d gotten a call from Kai after dinner, she’d opted to come home. She mentioned Jace and Darla were there now.

“Oh, so Jace was here the entire time too? Is he still here?”

“Yeah, he’s not come out from the room. I think he and Darla drank a whole lot more than Henry and I did.” Rose said, lifting her cup to her lips. She wasn’t sure if it was because this was the first cup of coffee anyone had ever bothered to make for her, or if he just really could make a great pot of coffee, but it tasted better and warmer than usual.

The back door swung open, and Henry led the rest of the officers in. “Rose, I’m going to bring the guys back to the backroom, is that okay?”

“Sure. How is everything going?”

Henry frowned, “It looks worse than it did last night. How are you doing in here?”

“Fine. I was just telling Amy about last night.” Rose smiled up at him.

“While you’re here, Henry, is there anyone in mind that you think may have done something like this?” She held up the paper that had been tied around the rock. “I mean, maybe the two instances aren’t related?” Amy suggested.

Henry shrugged, “Well, I can say that my gut tells me it’s far too coincidental, but I suppose there could be something to that. I was talking to Detective Stonebrook and he thought that it mirrored an incident from eighteen years ago.” As Henry said this, a dark look passed between him and Amy.