Cat Scratch Cleaver

we could track them all down and ask questions about Heather and this poor Rachel girl.”
“We could. Or we could start with the one girl who knew them both best, the bride.”
I give his scruff a little scratch. “Good thinking.”
Fish hops over and lands on the back of the sofa, looking down at the laptop herself.
A bride. She mewls. Is that what you’ll look like, Bizzy?
I squint over at the bride in the picture who looks to be swimming in that avalanche of tulle her dress is comprised of.
I quickly translate Fish’s inquiry to Jasper before answering.
“I think my dress will be a little more understated. As much as I like to eat marshmallows, I don’t want to look like one on my wedding day.”
Sherlock lets out a sharp bark. Why not? Jasper loves marshmallows. I bet he’d be overjoyed to see you walking down the aisle dressed as one.
A laugh belts from me. “I don’t think Jasper would ever want to see me walking down the aisle dressed like a marshmallow,” I say, giving Sherlock a scratch between the ears.
Jasper’s chest rumbles with a silent laugh. “You could walk down the aisle in the nude and I’d be happy.” He waggles his brows. “Very happy.”
“Some of the guests might be happy, too. Most would be terrified.”
His features darken. “On second thought, wear anything—jeans, an apron, a bath towel.” He steals a kiss off my lips. “As long as you show up, I’ll be the happiest guy on the planet.”
I set the laptop back onto the coffee table and wrap my arms around my strong, handsome fiancé.
“You know what I just realized?” I tease. “I’m the happiest girl on the planet.”
He sheds a devilish grin. “I guess that makes us the perfect pair.”
“You know what else makes us so perfect?” I ask, raking my fingers softly through his hair. “The way we do this.” I land my lips to his, and Jasper comes at me with much livelier affection.
Fish lets out a gurgle of a meow. Why is he always suckling off your lips? Why doesn’t he ever lick you properly?
My chest bucks as I attempt to swallow down a laugh.
Sherlock lets out a howl of a bark. I bet if he knew how much Bizzy liked having her face licked with kisses he wouldn’t wait that long to do it. He might just be saving that move for their wedding day.
I don’t translate to Jasper. Instead, I let him shower me with his affection in exactly the way he wants.
He won’t hear a single complaint from me.
The very next afternoon Jasper picks me up from the inn and we drive out to Rose Glen together. It turns out, the bride we looked at in those old pictures last night was fairly easy for him to track down. Her name is Kendra Knight and she’s since divorced and remarried.
“This is it,” he says, parking his truck alongside a pink boxy house surrounded with lavender foxgloves and pink impatiens. “I’ll do the intro.” He tips his chin down and gives me a stern look.
“You do realize you look sexy when you’re trying to terrify me.”
His brows pinch. “I’m not trying to terrify you.”
“Maybe not, but you’re trying to warn me not to cross a line.”
His cheek flinches. “Let’s just say I want to come away from this afternoon with my career intact. It’s not every day I take a civilian along to talk to a potential suspect.”
My mouth falls open as I look to the pink house with new eyes.
“You’re right, Jasper. We might just be meeting up with the killer.”
We head up the crooked brick walk and knock on the door.
Within a minute a woman slightly older than myself answers with her dark hair falling out of a disheveled ponytail. A sleepy toddler sits on her hip, gripping her like a koala bear. She’s shorter than me, has a button nose and a broad forehead, but I can still recognize her from her wedding picture that was plastered over the internet along with that dark article which highlighted Rachel’s death. The inside of the house is dark, curtains drawn, and the scent of something that smells like lasagna baking in the oven lights up our senses.
“Kendra Knight?” Jasper sheds a quick smile as he flashes his badge. “Detective Wilder from the Seaview Sheriff’s Department Homicide Division. This is my assistant.” He nods my way.
The women’s face contorts. “Oh my goodness. What’s wrong? Is it Harold? Has something happened to him?” She clamps a hand over the toddler’s ears and the sweet thing fidgets until she relents.
“No, no,” Jasper is quick to refute the thought. “I’m investigating the death of one of your former bridesmaids. You might have heard about her passing?”
Her demeanor changes on a dime from worried to angry.
“Heather.” She takes a breath. “I can’t believe she was hunted down like some animal.”
Hunted?
I tip my head at her curious words.
“Yes,” Jasper agrees. “It was tragic. What I wanted to know was a little about the relationship Heather and one of your other bridesmaids had. Rachel Hatterman?”
Kendra’s body bucks as she shivers. “Rachel.” She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment. “I just hate thinking about that day. It was my wedding day, ironically, but I guess you already know that.” She shifts the toddler a little higher up on her hip. “Suffice it to say, Rachel’s death acted as a bad omen for my marriage. We ended it almost right after it began. My current husband was my divorce lawyer. So I guess you could say all was not lost. Unless you’re Rachel.” She sighs. “She lost everything.”
“Kendra,” I say her name softly and Jasper’s eyes enlarge my way. “How did you know both Rachel and Heather?”
Her lips part a moment. “I knew Heather from work. At the time, we were both waitresses at a place called the Lion’s Den. It’s since closed. And Rachel and I went to college together. We were in the same sorority.”