Two Scoops of Murder

by Gretchen Allen

  “Morning, everyone!” Yvette called out.

  “You’re here early. I thought you were working the night shift?” Stella asked.

  “I am. I just couldn’t stay away,” Yvette joked.

  In all reality, Yvette had come in early because all of her staff was working with the exception of Vanessa and Sage. Not only did she want to share the news with them, so long as they promised not to spill the beans yet, she also wanted to ask Leslie a few questions. There had to be a missing piece of information somewhere.

  “We only have a few minutes before we have to open, so I was hoping we could have a quick meeting,” Yvette said, gesturing to the dining room, for everyone to sit.

  “What’s wrong?” Leslie asked, quickly sitting down.

  “Now, why would you assume something is wrong?” Stella asked.

  Yvette interrupted, not letting the conversation continue, “I have some news, and I’m excited about it. I wanted to let you all know at once.”

  “What about Vanessa?” Leslie commented.

  “Good grief. I’m sure she’ll tell her too.” Stella groaned.

  Determined not to let the little bickering session stop her, Yvette continued, “I was offered a job, and I’ve accepted it.”

  “You took it? You’re leaving?!” Joey exclaimed.

  “I’m leaving. But I’m not going where you think.” Yvette explained everything to her staff, eagerly awaiting their reactions.

  “How wonderful!” Stella jumped up, embracing Yvette in a hug.

  “I’m looking forward to all the changes. I think it will be good for everyone.”

  “Have you told anyone else yet?” Joey asked.

  “No. Not even my family. I told all of you first because I said I would let you know the minute I made my choice. I’m trusting all of you not to say anything until I’m ready.”

  “Of course!” Stella agreed.

  “I have one more thing,” Yvette said, holding up a finger. “Leslie, I was hoping you could answer a question for me.”

  Leslie fidgeted in her chair, while Stella and Joey’s eyes grew bigger.

  “Yes?” Leslie replied.

  “Do you have a nephew named Tyler?”

  “I do. Why? What’s this about?” she asked.

  “Did Tyler know Melody Rooks?” Yvette leaned forward, elbows on the table.

  “How would I know something like that?” Leslie scoffed.

  Stella, being the spitfire that she is, spoke up, “Do you know where I live?”

  Leslie looked at her quizzically. “No?”

  “Right down the road from your nephew.” Stella looked between Leslie and Yvette.

  “Fine. I don’t see why it matters, but yes. They knew each other. Tyler works at Fred’s Food Delivery too.” Leslie sighed.

  “Really? I don’t remember ever seeing him before,” Joey pointed out.

  “Me either,” Stella said.

  “I don’t know what he looks like, so I can’t speak on that but, I don’t recall the name,” Yvette said, thinking back.

  “He didn’t drive a truck, so you probably wouldn’t know him. He works in the office with Fred. He’s like that man’s shadow. They call him Fred Jr. because they are always together.”

  Fred Jr. and Tyler were the same person. That made much more sense. Liam worked at the company and would have referred to him as Fred Jr. and not even given it a second thought. If he was right, and Melody was seeing him, it only gave Liam, and now, Tyler, more of a motive. Liam, upset that she was seeing someone else, or even Tyler, upset that she hadn’t broken it off entirely with Liam before they began seeing one another. Even though Yvette had gotten the answer to her question, she still didn’t have a definite answer as to who the killer was.

  “That makes sense.” Yvette nodded.

  “Why do you ask? You certainly can’t think he’s got anything to do with the murder, do you?” Leslie frowned.

  “I’m not sure what I think, to be completely honest,” Yvette admitted.

  Leslie, looking hurt, got up from the table and went back into the kitchen.

  “I can’t believe you just asked her like that,” Joey said.

  “I had to. I needed to see if she’d tell the truth, and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure how she’d react. People do strange things to protect their family, and I wanted there to be other people around just in case,” Yvette told them.

  “Do you think it was Tyler that killed Melody?” Stella asked.

  “I still don’t know.” Yvette leaned back in her chair. “I came here thinking I’d find out and since I didn’t, I’m going to the police station to tell Heath about Tyler, Liam, and my missing trophy. I’m not sure it will help solve the murder, but it’s at least more information than he had before.”

  “Well, no matter what, I’m so proud of you and happy that you decided to stay,” Stella said.

  “Me too. I’d have really missed you,” Joey agreed.

  Chapter 18

  On her way home from the police station, after a good scolding from Heath, Yvette knew she needed to find a way to relax. She pulled her SUV alongside the curb in front of Stafford’s Country Store, and got out. Nothing sounded better to her right now than an apple fritter or two.

  Yvette picked the two biggest, best looking fritters and placed them in a bag. At the last minute, she decided, despite the heat, to get herself a hot chocolate to go. Once she paid for her snacks, she made her way back outside.

  “Hey, there!” Haley waved.

  “Hey,” Yvette said, unlocking her doors.

  “I love the pastries here. They are to die for.”

  “They are delicious,” Yvette agreed, setting the bag down on her seat.

  “I hear you have a meeting with Glenn soon. How excited are you for this job? You’re gonna be so great!” Haley said.

  “Yup. In just a couple of days,” Yvette said, not wanting to say too much.

  “How does Emma feel about you leaving?”

  “I don’t really know.” Yvette wasn’t very good at lying.

  “I’m sure she’s beside herself. She’s gone so long with you by her side that I bet she’s going to need a ton of help. Now that I live here full-time, maybe I can find a way to help her out. Old friends and all. I’d never want to see her struggle,” Haley said.

  “Of course not. I’m sure she’d love the help. I had no idea you were so interested in the ice cream world, though. Growing up, I always thought you hated it and thought Emma was crazy for having the dreams that she did,” Yvette admitted.

  “Definitely not. I was always jealous of Emma, to be honest. She had such drive and determination. She really did well for herself, and I admired that. Maybe a little too much.”

  “There’s no way it was too much. It’s always good to be inspired by others. I think it motivates you more,” Yvette said, taking the lid off her drink to let it cool.

  “Sure does. I’d been following along with her life and all of her shop openings for years. When I heard the board wanted to have the convention here in Heritage, I just knew it was the perfect place. One thing I didn’t know was that Emma was still in Florida. I’d have loved to have seen her.” Haley leaned against the SUV. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of her soon, though. With you leaving, she will have to come home. How great is it that I was able to buy a house here?!”

  Yvette was starting to feel a little suspicious. Haley said she’d been watching Emma’s career unfold. She knew it was supposed to be a sweet, friendly thing to do; watch someone you know succeed, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but go with her gut reaction. Haley had never admired Emma. She had never enjoyed watching her do well. They were rivals who happened to have families that were close. And, to top it all off, she’d said previously that she was surprised Emma wasn’t in Heritage. If she’d been watching her career, wouldn’t she have known that? Unless, of course, everything was a lie.

  Not knowing what else to say, and not wanting to reveal that
she wasn’t planning on leaving Sundae Afternoon at all, she put the lid back on her cup and got into her car, hoping Haley would get the hint. Within seconds, a police car pulled up behind her and Heath got out.

  “Hello, ladies,” Heath said. “I’m glad I ran into you.”

  “Oh?” Haley asked.

  “Haley Sanders, you are under arrest for the murder of Melody Rooks.” Heath began reading Haley her rights while Yvette watched, mouth agape.

  “I assume you were about to figure everything out,” Heath said, sitting next to Yvette at Brews. “I’m glad I happened to be driving by. I was on my way to her house to bring her in, but I passed by and saw the two of you. Good thing you didn’t try to confront her somewhere else.”

  “I wasn’t trying to confront her. I had no idea she killed Melody. I was starting to get a little suspicious, but that’s all. How did you know?” Yvette asked.

  “I didn’t until you told me about Tyler and Liam. I immediately contacted Tyler, who wasn’t easy to find, but he admitted something that explained everything. He loved Melody and didn’t believe that she and Liam were really over. He followed her places to make sure she wasn’t seeing him.”

  “Creepy.” Yvette shuddered.

  “Yes.” Heath nodded. “But he watched her go into Sundae Afternoon. He told us that she went to the back, but couldn’t get in, so she went around to the front. She let herself in, and he saw another woman enter behind her. He saw that woman come out again and head in his direction, so he took off, afraid he’d be seen watching Melody. We got a description from him about the second woman, and realized it was Haley.”

  “But why? Why would Haley kill Melody? Did she know her?” Yvette asked.

  “Once we had the description and knew about the trophy, we were able to search her home, where we found it.”

  “She kept it? Gross.”

  Heath chuckled. “Once we told Haley we had the trophy, she told us everything. She went into the shop, not even realizing anyone was in there. Her intention was to just mess things up for you. She fought hard to get your name in the running for the Vice President job and wanted you to take it. She wanted to make everything as difficult as possible for you regarding Sundae Afternoon, so you had even more reason to take the job and leave.”

  “Why did she want me to leave so badly?”

  “She wanted your job. She knew Emma was gone. She knew everything. If you think Tyler keeping an eye on Melody was creepy, you don’t want to know what Haley had been doing. She’d been calling the shop, seeing what hours you were working and everything. When she realized there was someone else in there with her, she panicked, afraid that they’d say something. So, she took your trophy and killed Melody.”

  “But why? She didn’t even know her. Melody could have just thought Haley was an employee getting ready to open the shop. There was no reason to kill her,” Yvette said, feeling sad.

  “I agree. It was a moment of rage, passion, panic, and jealousy all mixed into one. Haley was vindictive, and quite frankly, not a very good human at all.”

  “That’s so scary. I had no idea.” Yvette sighed.

  “I’ll never say this again, but I believe you would have figured it out. If you didn’t tell me about Tyler and the trophy, it would have taken me even longer. You did the right thing, but I’m glad you didn’t figure it out. I think Haley was more dangerous than we knew.”

  “If only I had told you sooner,” Yvette began.

  “It all worked out.”

  Yvette wondered if Leslie knew what Tyler had seen. Normally, she’d try to keep things to herself, but this was really close to home. Things felt different. Yvette filled Heath in on everything she knew and promised to not keep things from him in the future.

  Chapter 19

  Yvette, and the people that meant the most to her sat around the table on the screened-in porch at her parent’s house, prepared to enjoy a hearty meal. The Lockhart’s home was the hub when it came to everyone getting together and enjoying good food and good fun.

  “So, I heard you’ve had some excitement in your life recently,” Charlie, Yvette’s dad said, carrying a plate of steaks to the table.

  “You have no idea.” Yvette sighed, moving things out of the way for him.

  “Is everything back to normal now?” Audrey, Nate’s mom, asked.

  Yvette wasn’t sure how she’d been able to keep the secret for so long. She couldn’t wait to share with her family and friends what she’d decided.

  “I sure hope so. I’ve officially turned down the VP job, accepted the offer to be district manager of Sundae Afternoon, and worked out most of the details with Emma regarding the shops here. Vanessa will be the new manager in Heritage, Stella will be the assistant manager, and Joey, he’ll be leaving to go and work at the farm full-time as Mark’s assistant. We have our work cut out for us getting some new staff in, but with Leslie and Sage there to pick up a few shifts, we should be well on our way pretty soon.”

  “It’s all so exciting!” Abigail exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you. I think you made the right choice.”

  “I think so too,” Nate agreed. “I just get you as my girlfriend, and you end up leaving, that would have been my luck.”

  “Girlfriend?!” Amelia squealed.

  Nate shot her a look. “Yes. Girlfriend, isn’t that right?” He grabbed Yvette’s hand.

  “So exciting!!! I also have exciting news.” Amelia grinned, taking hold of Mark’s hand. “We are selling the lake house!”

  “That’s not very exciting.” Heath chuckled. “You two love that place.”

  “Yes… But we are selling it so we can purchase something in Florida near Emma. We will still live here,” she said, glancing at Yvette. “But we want to be able to have a place there as well. Emma said she wanted to have children eventually, and we want to be close to them when we can. So, we’ll be traveling to Florida in just a few weeks to check everything out. If you two want to come along, you can check out the new shop while we’re there and maybe have a little vacation.”

  Yvette looked at Nate. “We haven’t had much of a chance to spend time together recently, no matter how hard we try. I think we should go. What do you say?”

  “I say you both deserve a vacation. If there happens to be a murder in Florida while you’re there, please don’t try to solve it.” Heath cracked up laughing at his own joke.

  “Definitely not.” Yvette laughed. “After this last one, I think I’m done for a long time. I definitely don’t envy you.”

  “On a lighter note,” Mark interrupted. “Does everyone know that I agreed to have the convention at the farm?”

  “Will that still happen since one of the board members is a killer?” Amelia asked.

  “I mean, she won’t be there or anything. I can’t imagine it will have any effect on things,” Mark responded.

  “Maybe some bad publicity for the alliance, but we’ll just have to wait and see. After all, no one gave up on Sundae Afternoon,” Yvette reminded them.

  “Of course they didn’t.” Amelia grinned.

  Mark nodded. “My sister did a great job with the shops. She built her dream from the ground up, and you were there with her every step of the way. I couldn’t think of a better person to take over for her. I’m proud of you, Yvette. I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for our family.”

  “It always felt like second nature to me. Even when the work was hard, I loved it. I may have done my fair share of complaining recently, but I love everything about my career. I’m really grateful for everything,” Yvette said.

  “You had every right to complain.” Mark nodded. “Emma didn’t go about anything in the right way. I think she was having a hard time coming to terms with the change she was making. Moving to Florida is a big deal for her. I think she felt like she was leaving her life behind. It seemed like she was simultaneously avoiding talking to you because it made everything feel more real, and also trying to see what you were able to handle on your
own. I just don’t think anyone expected there to be a fire, a murder, crazed rivals, and who knows what else going on all at the same time. I apologize on her behalf.”

  “She has done her fair share of apologizing. In fact, she even offered me something else. Something that I never in my life dreamed would happen,” Yvette said, a smile on her face.

  “What’s that?” her dad asked.

  “Well, everyone knows how much I’ve always loved the house that Haley bought. The thing is, Haley didn’t buy it. She was renting it. Emma has worked something out with the owner of the house for when it goes back up for sale. She’s going to give me something like a sign-on bonus and pay for the down payment!” Yvette squealed. “I finally get my house!”

  While everyone shared their excitement, Mark didn’t look surprised. “I knew she’d do it. She said she was going to make something special happen for you after everything you did for her.”

  “I can’t believe how lucky I am. I know I’ve worked hard for everything I have, but it’s just so amazing. I love all of you and am so thankful that I get to share this life with you.”

  Yvette looked at each of her friends and family members, realizing just how lucky she truly was.

  Also by Gretchen Allen

  Sundae Afternoon Series

  Book 1: Triple Dipped Murder

  Book 2: Melt Down Murder

  Book 3: A Twist of Murder

  Book 4: Caked in Murder

  Book 5: Shivers of Murder

  Book 6: A Flurry of Murder

  The Cozy Tales of a Professional Mermaid

  Book 1: Criminals and Coral

  Evergreen and Holly

  Book 1: The Final Sleigh

  Author’s Note

  I’d love to hear your thoughts on my books, the storylines, and anything else that you’d like to comment on—reader feedback is very important to me. My contact information, along with some other helpful links, is listed on the next page. If you’d like to be on my list of “folks to contact” with updates, release and sales notifications, etc.… just shoot me an email and let me know. Thanks for reading!