All of Me - Leeanna Morgan (the snowy day read aloud .TXT) 📗

class="subsq">“You’re no fun,” Tess muttered.

Annie glanced up and frowned at something on the street. “What do you think they’re doing here?” She pointed to a group of four adults crossing Main Street. Two of them had what looked like cameras slung over their shoulders.

“They could be tourists.”

Annie shook her head. “It’s too early in the morning for tourists. These people know where they’re going. Tourists usually wander around a bit, stare at the scenery.”

Annie had a point. These people looked determined, and it didn’t look as though they were after an early breakfast. “You don’t think…”

“We haven’t got time to think.” Annie grabbed hold of Tess’ arm. “Your choices have boiled down to one. Get in the kitchen, fast.”

Tess glanced back at the street. She felt her blood pressure drop as Annie pulled her through the kitchen door. The group of people were about to knock on their front door. “Who do you think they are?”

“I don’t know, and to be honest, I don’t care. Where did you leave Dylan’s business card?”

“By the phone.”

Annie walked quickly across the room and took Dylan’s card off a clip on their message board. She dialed the phone number and waited. “Hi, Dylan. It’s Annie. Can you get to the café quickly?”

Annie nodded once, then looked at Tess. “Four people are knocking on our front door. They don’t look like tourists or locals.” She listened to Dylan say something. “Okay, bye.”

She turned back to Tess. “Dylan said to stay in the kitchen and don’t answer the door. He’ll be here soon.”

Tess tried to ignore the tapping on her glass windows. “They would have seen us.”

“If you want to mess with Dylan, go ahead and answer the door.”

Tess listened to the knocking get louder. “I don’t think they got the hint.”

“Dylan will set them straight.”

Annie seemed so sure of Dylan’s ability to vanquish the unwanted people that Tess decided to listen to her. Instead of thinking about what was happening outside, she flipped the newspaper to the front page. The headline was enough to give her a headache for the rest of the day. And then there was the photo.

“Are you all right?” Annie asked.

Tess slid the newspaper across the counter.

Annie ran her finger along the headline. “Beauty and the Beast—how one supermodel stood up to Senator Gibson. What was Logan’s friend thinking?” She kept reading, shaking her head every now and then.

Tess couldn’t stand the suspense. “Am I better not reading it?”

“It’s not too bad. She’s blown your cover. Even though she uses your modeling name, anyone with half a brain can tell it’s you in the photo. If you look beyond the fact that she shouldn’t have written anything, it’s not too bad a story. Oh, no.”

Tess looked at Annie. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s told everyone about The Bridesmaids Club. We’re going to get buried under hundreds of bridesmaids’ dresses.” Annie turned to the next page and froze. “I don’t believe it. How did she get those photos?”

Tess leaned across the counter. “What photos?” She glanced down at the newspaper, then looked again, just in case she was hallucinating. The photos had been taken on the night they’d worn the bridesmaids’ dresses for the catalog.

There was a photo of Annie and Sally together, laughing at something going on behind the camera. There was a photo of Molly, just before they’d finished taking photos for the night. And then there were the last two. The ones that made Tess drop her head in her hands and groan. They were of her. There was no way anyone could miss the resemblance between Theresa Daniels, supermodel, and Tess Williams, café owner.

Annie took a closer look at the photos. “At least none of us have lettuce stuck in our teeth.”

That wasn’t much of a consolation to Tess. She was still trying to figure out how Logan’s friend had gotten hold of the photos. “Where did the paper get the photos from? Molly wouldn’t have given them to the reporter. She promised she’d edit my photos so no one recognized me.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Annie picked up Tess’ phone and dialed a number. “Hi, Molly. It’s me. We’ve just looked at the newspaper article. Do you know how the reporter got copies of the photos you took in Tess’ apartment?”

Annie waited for a few minutes, then replied to the one-sided conversation Tess could hear.

“Okay. See you soon.” Annie hung up and stared at the picture in the newspaper. “Molly’s coming across. She hasn’t seen the paper yet.”

A few minutes later a loud bang sounded on the back door and Tess went to answer it.

Annie ran in front of her. “Wait a minute. It could be someone else.”

“Who would it be?”

Annie looked over her shoulder. “It could be one of the people that were standing in front of the café.”

“How do we know they weren’t potential customers?”

“They didn’t look hungry.”

Tess didn’t know how someone was supposed to look if they were hungry. The same loud knock filled the kitchen.

“This is stupid,” Tess hissed. “I’m answering the door.”

“Ask who it is first,” Annie squeaked.

Tess dropped her hand off the lock. “Who is it?”

“Me,” Molly yelled. “What are you doing in there?”

Tess opened the door and pulled Molly inside. “Preparing for war if you listen to Annie.”

“I’m only following the instructions Dylan gave us. You know what he’s like.”

Molly smiled. “Brooding good looks and enough charm to soften the hardest of women?”

Annie snorted. “I was thinking more like over the top stubborn, bossy and dangerous. Have you ever seen him smile?”

“A man like Dylan doesn’t need to smile. Now show me those photos…”

Tess grabbed the newspaper and pointed to the images. “How would the newspaper have gotten these?”

Molly shook her head. “I haven’t given anyone copies of the photos I took.”

“No one else was in the room except us and…Logan.” Tess looked at Annie and Molly. “He took the photos and gave them to his friend.”

Molly frowned. “He wouldn’t have done that.”

“Someone took the photos. It wasn’t you, and it wasn’t us, so it has to be Logan. He must have used his cell phone and snapped the photos when we weren’t looking.”

Annie didn’t look so sure. “That’s a pretty big accusation. Why would he take the photos then give them to his friend?”

“Guilt,” Tess said. “It makes perfect sense. He felt bad for beating her to the papers with his story, so he gave her these photos as payback.”

“I still don’t believe it.” Molly walked across to the coffee pot and poured herself a drink. “He’s a fine man.”

“You’ve been sucked in by his charm.” Tess closed the paper. “Remember what happened last time that happened.”

“I’m not marrying him. Besides, he’s got more integrity in his little finger than my ex-husband had in his entire body.”

“I’m with Molly,” Annie said. “Logan’s a good guy.”

Tess shook her head. “You’re both wrong. Logan Allen just sold us out for a story.”

Someone knocked on the back door and Annie looked at Tess. “If that’s who I think it is, you can ask him yourself. Dylan’s bringing Logan with him.”