"Don't you dare," Brandon hissed. "Don't try to manipulate me with your tears. It won't work."

Abruptly, Brittany's face became a cold, hard mask.

"Fine," she said and she took a huge bite of one of the cupcakes. Frosting smeared her upper lip and she licked it off, staring at her husband through her blond bangs as she did so.

Brandon swallowed as he watched her, and it was obvious that if tears weren't going to work, Brittany had other weapons in her arsenal.

"You make me sick," he said.

"But you still want me and you'll do anything for me, won't you?" she purred. "Anything."

Brandon hung his head in defeat.

Mel forced her gaze away. She couldn't help but feel there was something obscene about the interaction between the husband and wife. The power that Brittany had over her husband made Mel distinctly uncomfortable and she almost felt sorry for Brandon Richards.

What caused her even more concern, however, was his comment about deals brokered with people of influence. What people? What deals? Was Brandon Richards buying off judges or contestants?

"Mel, over here!" Steve Wolfmeier called to her from a nearby group. "Did you see Lupe? Wasn't my client amazing?"

"Have you been retained in an official capacity?" Mel asked.

"Who do you think sprang her from questioning yesterday?" he asked.

"That was you?"

"Well, no," he said. "They released her, but I was on the phone with your uncle when it happened, so I like to take the credit."

"Ah." Mel nodded.

"So, have you seen her?" he asked. "I wanted to congratulate her. If she doesn't win for that performance then I am declaring this pageant rigged."

"Agreed," Mel said. "But no, I haven't seen her since she finished and ran straight into-"

"Oz's arms?" Steve asked. "Yeah, I saw that-among other things."

Mel met his gaze and felt her face grow warm. Had he seen her and Joe? She was at once mortified and relieved.

"So does number two know that you're still in love with number one?" he asked.

Twenty-seven.

Mel took a cupcake off of the tray and shoved it at him.

"There is no number one, two, or three," she said. She used her most discouraging tone.

"Excellent, so the field is wide open then?" he asked. His eyes twinkled with mischief and Mel shook her head.

"You're impossible," she said.

"I could have told you that," Manny said. "'Sup, weasel?"

"Now is that nice?" Steve asked as he unwrapped his cupcake. "Here I am minding my own business and-Oh, wow, this is amazing."

Mel smiled at him, handed a cupcake to Manny, and said, "Play nice."

"Huh," Manny grunted and took the cupcake. "Does this constitute a bribe?"

"Would it help?"

"No," he said. "Different sash, huh?"

"That was confirmed?" Mel asked.

Manny took a bite of his cupcake. "Yep."

"Meaning you don't have to haul anyone in for questioning?" she asked.

"For the moment," Manny said.

"Well, looks like my work here is done," Steve said. "Or not." He glanced behind Mel and she turned to find Joe crossing the room to join them.

"Joyce is down?" she asked.

"Yes, her feet are planted firmly on the ground," he said.

"This was fun until number one showed up," Steve said to Manny.

"Agreed," Manny said.

They both gave Joe a dark look.

"Number one?" Joe asked. He grinned as he helped himself to a chocolate cupcake with pomegranate icing.

"Don't listen to them," Mel said.

"Number two here," Manny said.

"I'm number three, but I think it's lucky," Steve said.

"Seriously, what are they talking about?" Joe asked Mel.

"Nonsense," she said. "Trust me."

"It's the order of dating Mel," Manny said. "Hey, that almost sounds like the name of a fraternal organization."

"Yeah, we've done the fraternity thing before." Joe gestured between him and Steve. "It didn't really work out for me."

"That's history," Steve said. "You need to let it go. I sort of dig belonging to the Fraternal Order of Mel."

"Oh. My. God," Mel said. She glanced at the three of them as if trying to decide which one she was going to smack first.

"You could be our supreme pooh-bah," Manny said to Joe.

"I think I'd rather be king," he said.

"That would make us princes or knights?" Steve asked.

"Knights, definitely knights," Manny said.

"Hey, I'm standing right here," Mel said. She stared at the three of them in disbelief. "And let me be clear on how there is no king, pooh-bah, princes, or knights."

All three of them looked at her and then turned back to each other.

"Maybe I can be a prince and you can be a knight," Steve said to Manny. "You're more macho than me."

"No," Manny said. "Princes are ranked higher than knights and I'm number two."

"I thought you were number three," Joe said.

"I think I'm getting a migraine," Mel said. None of them looked at her. She glanced down at her tray and made her way over to the tower.

Tate was manning what was left of the cupcakes. There was no sign of Angie.

"What's going on with the Mel Squad over there?" Tate asked as he gestured to Joe, Manny, and Steve, who were still deep in discussion.

"You mean other than the fact that they're morons?" she asked.

"Still working out a pecking order?" he asked.

"Don't go there," Mel growled. "I am so over the 'pair and a spare' thing."

"Well, you know how to solve that dilemma," Tate said. "Pick one."

"It's not that easy," Mel said.

"Yes, it is," Tate said. "You simply look at the one you want and say, 'I choose you.'"

"But-"

"No, there's no buts about this, Mel," he said. He turned away from the tray he was loading for her. "You know when I was too chicken to man up and make a play for Angie, you were the one who called me on it."

"It's not the same," Mel said, even though she feared it was.

"Oh, yeah, it totally is," Tate said. He rested his hand on her shoulder. "Now, I know you have self-esteem issues. Remember I was there for all of the icky years, but they are long over and you need to get comfortable with the you that you've become, which is a knockout by the way."

"I am-"

"Let me finish," he said. "I know, too, how losing your dad crushed you. I was there for that also. I loved your dad, Mel, he was a hell of a guy. And I know you're afraid to let someone in because you may have to go through loss of one kind or another again. Here's the thing. That's life and you need to get over it."

"Harsh," Mel said.

"Takes one to know one," he retorted. Then his gaze softened and he pulled her into a half hug. "Mel, what would your dad think if he saw you were afraid to get involved because of him?"

"Knife to the chest-Ow!" she said. Tate didn't say anything, just gave her another squeeze. Mel sighed. "He'd be sad and probably a little disappointed."

"Yeah, he would," Tate agreed. "So, you know what you need to do."

Mel stepped away and met his gaze. "Yes, I do. I need to serve more cupcakes."

"No, that's not what I-"

But Mel had already hoisted her tray up and was moving through the crowd. She knew Tate was right. She knew her dad would be unhappy that she was stuck in a holding pattern, afraid to move forward. She needed to make a decision about what she wanted. And she would, any day now.

When the scores were tallied for the talent show, Lupe was far and away the clear winner. While Destiny seemed okay with this outcome, Mel saw her mother approach the judges, looking furious.

Before Brittany could make contact, Brandon appeared and grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. She looked like she was going to forge on ahead, but he leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. Brittany tried to jerk her arm out of his hold, but he didn't let go, and finally she allowed him to lead her away.

As they broke down the cupcake tower, Paulie and Al showed up looking for leftovers. There were none.

"Meet us back at the bakery and we'll celebrate," Mel said.

Oz and Lupe joined the group and Mel noted that they were holding hands. She glanced at Oz and he gave her a sheepish shrug.

When Lupe let go of him to go and hug her mother and sisters, Mel gave Oz a squeeze.

"That was genius," she said. "You really made Lupe a contender in this competition."

"Nah," he said. "She did that just by being herself. She really is amazing."

As he watched her with her family, Mel could see the affection in his gaze.

"So, has there been a status change in the relationship?" Mel asked.

"Yeah, from what we saw you two aren't just pals anymore," Angie said as she joined them.

"Aw, what? You saw us?" Oz asked.

"Next time, save the smooches for when you're farther backstage," Angie said.

"Can we please not talk about this?" Oz's face turned a deep shade of red, and Mel felt for him, really she did, but not enough to not want some specifics.