“Bolinho de bacalhau. Salted cod croquettes. Want those? How about a dozen. Coming right up!”

Still bent over, Peter taps the top of the case. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast, Solange. Let me get my bearings. Hmm. And that one?”

I crouch down to see which type of salgadinho he’s pointed to. “That’s—”

“Oooh, those are delicious,” Melissa says behind Molly. “My son just loved them to death. Highly recommend! In fact, I’d love to take some home for Dean if you can spare a few.”

Peter pops up, a big smile on his face. “Oh, hey! You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Dean Chapman, eh? I’m his colleague.”

“Oh, how nice,” Dean’s mother says. “It’s great to meet you.”

No. It is not great to meet him, Melissa. He’s a terrible, no-good man. “Um, Peter, how about I get you two of everything in the case?” I grab a box and slide two coxinhas de frango inside.

He tilts his head back and forth. “Uh, that’s probably too much, but let me try one of those.” He turns back to Melissa. “So, about the wedding. Wild, huh? I’m guessing you’re happy about the outcome, though?”

Melissa gestures around her head as if the memory of that day is too much for her to handle. “Can you imagine? A stranger crashes your wedding? And turns out to be a sweetheart?” She moves in closer, as if she’s only talking to Peter, but her next words are plainly meant for my ears too. “Just between us, I’m still hoping that Dean and Solange will get together. Wouldn’t that be the best?”

Peter’s gaze snaps to mine, and he narrows his beady eyes. “Indeed, it would be.”

I’m sinking into quicksand. With no one around who can possibly pull me out of the mess this moment will make of Dean’s life. Peter may be bowled over by my family’s food, but he’s a vindictive asshole to his core, and now he has just enough information to sabotage Dean’s career. I’m about to curl into a ball right on the fucking floor of this shop. But I owe it to Dean to try to clean this up. Maybe I can still signal to Melissa that Peter’s a threat.

“Melissa, this is Peter. He and Dean aren’t close or anything. And this is his wife, Molly.”

Peter ignores the introductions. He’s a viper going in for the kill. “So Solange and Dean aren’t dating, huh?” Peter asks this on a chuckle, as if he and Melissa are old chums shooting the breeze.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, exactly,” Melissa says, grinning. “But they didn’t start out that way, and I’m just loving the idea that their relationship may turn into something more.”

“Right, right,” Peter says, nodding.