Page 61 of Falling for the Enemy

“I said thanks for your vote.” Jocelyn smiled.

“Well, between you and me, Harold is still using too much cayenne. But he’ll never listen.”

Mrs. Larkin moved on, but her comment lingered.

There were a lot of pregnant women. Far more than five by Jocelyn’s count. And once she took her eyes off the parade of bellies and actually looked at the women’s faces, she realized a lot of them were friends from high school and women from the library’s book club.

What were they feeding the men around here?

“What on earth’s putting that sour puss on your face on such a nice fall day?” Ellen approached, holding a sample-sized bowl of chili.

Jocelyn looked up at the librarian and asked, “Does it seem like there are a lot of pregnant women around?”

Her friend scanned the crowd. “No more than usual.”

“Really? Seems like a lot to me.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. Those new books sold out in one day. Keep writing those sexy heroes, and people will keep having sex. I’d bet your words helped fertilize half those eggs out there.”

Jocelyn scoffed. “You can’t blame me for this.”

“Sure, I can. You’ve got the whole town all horned-up over Viggo the Well-Endowed and Tormund the Impressively Thick.”

“Oh, come on, Ellen. I’d never name a hero Tormund.”

She tossed her chili bowl into the trash bin then flipped open a small spiral scratch pad and jotted down a note. “Cumin and oregano.”

“What are you doing?”

“Research. This is the fourth year my chili came in behind Birdie’s. I know she’s adding some sort of contraband to the sauce, and this year I’m going to find out what it is and expose her.”

There were strict rules that no pre-packaged ingredients could be used in the competition. Every chili had to be homemade. “Birdie’s recipe was published in last year’s Hideaway Bay cookbook.”

“News flash, Jocelyn, Birdie lies.”

She laughed at the staunch accusation. “Between you, Birdie, and Astrid, I swear things are going to get violent.” The three women had a cutthroat vendetta against each other, but no one really knew why.

“I know I’m right and I plan to expose her for the fraud she is, once and for all.”

Jocelyn rolled her eyes as she walked away. Things were getting tense around here.

She spotted Wren waddling toward her with Greyson. “Aren’t you supposed to ring a bell or something when you bring a tugboat into harbor?”

“Not nice, Joce.” Wren toddled behind the table and grabbed the back of Jocelyn’s chair for support. “Get up. I need your seat.”

Not one to piss off a pregnant woman, she got up. “You’re in a mood.”

“I had a questionable burrito this morning, and the chili’s giving me heartburn.”

“So don’t eat it.”

“You try not eating it! It smells so good the air probably has calories today.”

“How about antacids⁠—”

“They don’t work,” she snapped.

Jocelyn drew back. “Okay. Jeeze.” She looked at Greyson and mumbled, “Good luck with that.”