by Maisy Morgan
Preston laughed and Mary trotted off and jumped into the pool, making a huge splash. Tripp’s face was indeed quite red. “Grandma!” he exclaimed.
“Don’t mind me,” Mary said and proceeded to swim about the pool.
Preston and Cindy followed her almost immediately. Soon, the Morris’ and Kara’s parents were in the pool as well, all swimming around and laughing a bit, enjoying the crisp water while they could. “My parents are so embarrassing,” Kara mumbled to Hannah. Hannah merely nodded half-heartedly. Kara, who had also settled down on the steps with the other girls, leaned back slightly and exhaled. “Hannah…”
Hannah glanced in the older girl’s direction. “Hmm?”
“I never really told you I was sorry,” Kara said. “About the way I acted towards you.”
Mary lingered slightly, listening in but of course pretending to the best of her abilities that she wasn’t paying them any mind. Tripp and Draco were across the pool with Bradley, the three of them having decided to start a sort of racing game back and forth in the pool. Draco was losing terribly. “It’s fine,” Hannah grumbled.
“It really isn’t,” Kara said. “I didn’t mean what I said.”
“You did,” Hannah said.
“Okay, maybe,” Kara admitted. “At the time.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Stacey said. “I wasn’t any better.”
“I don’t believe anything that I said,” Kara told her. “About you having too much baggage.”
“I do have a lot of baggage,” Hannah admitted. “But I’m fourteen. I don’t care about that sort of crap right now. I get it. You got all weird and jealous because Tripp and I are friends and you wanted to tear me down.”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Kara said. “Honestly, I was kind of jealous. You know, you’re really pretty and funny…”
Hannah smiled. “Yeah, well, I know that already.”
Mary couldn’t help it. She laughed, and all the girls jumped slightly when they realized she had been listening. “Just caught the tail end of that,” she said to make them more comfortable as she swam past them.
Tripp came swimming over towards them, grinning. “Hannah, you want to get in the water?” he asked.
“Um, she can’t swim,” Kara said in a tone that suggested she was offended on Hannah’s behalf.
Hannah smirked and pushed off. She made her way over to Tripp with no problem, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he walked about the shallow end of the pool with her floating behind him. “Oh,” Kara said under her breath.
“She’s a very capable young lady,” Mary said to her.
Kara’s cheeks turned pink. “Yeah, she really is,” Kara said. “Um… Ms. Hopkins… I’m sorry. I’m sure Tripp told you about… everything…”
Mary smiled at Kara. “You’re just a teenager, Kara,” Mary said. “You’re still figuring out how to navigate yourself.”
Kara nodded thankfully in Mary’s direction, and she and Stacey and Becky continued chatting by the steps. Mary made her way onto a two-seater float with Preston. The two of them watched the group of teenagers interacting with one another, and it was hard to believe that the boys and Hannah had all gotten into a serious physical confrontation at school not too long ago. Bradley looked healthy; his face was brighter, and he smiled a lot more. From what Tripp had told Mary, he had opened up to Tripp a bit about his feelings regarding his dad. Missing someone and also being glad they’re gone, Mary imagined, was a complicated conflict to be burdened with at such a young age. It was good for him to have someone to talk to. Draco was perhaps the most impressive of the lot; he had been the one to invite everyone over despite everything. Mary was particularly impressed with how kind he was to Becky after the way she had treated him.
Preston leaned over, causing the little float they were sitting on to drift. “You agree that this is a weird group of friends, right?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s ridiculous,” she said, trying not to giggle. School had been in session for less than a month, but the drama that had ensued between these kids was more than what Mary had expected throughout the entire school year. Yet, here they all were, hanging out like they were all old friends. “But, it’s also very sweet.”
Preston nodded in agreement. “Well, it certainly has been an interesting start to the school year.”
Mary laughed. “I’d say so.”
They all remained at the Morris’ for most of the day. It wasn’t until rather late in the evening that Mary found herself gearing up to leave. Mary backed out of the driveway, Tripp in her passenger’s seat—both of them soaking wet and sitting on towels after spending the day in the pool. “Well, that was fun,” Mary said as they drove off.
Tripp had on the biggest smile she had seen in some time. “Yeah, it was,” he said.
“I’m curious… are you and Kara… well…”
“Never in a million years,” Tripp said, shaking his head. “We’re friends, and I’m okay with that. But there is no way I’d want to date her again.”
Mary nodded, quite approving of this decision. “I’m so glad to see you three together again—you, Draco, and Hannah, I mean.”
“Yeah,” Tripp said, sounding a little sad now. “I was worried they’d never talk to me again…”
“I told you all they needed was a little bit of time,” Mary said. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
They were quiet for a bit. Tripp seemed distracted by his thoughts. At last, he spoke. “Grandma, I want to call Mom. Can I talk to her again soon?”
Mary smiled. “You want to talk to her?”
“Yes,” he said. “If anything, I want to tell her I’m sorry. I know I told you to tell her for me, but I want to tell her myself.”
“You can talk to your mom whenever you like, Tripp,” Mary said. “I just have to set up a time with the rehab center.”
Tripp nodded. “Do you think…” He hesitated for a moment. “Do you think we could go see her? Like, maybe during winter break?”
Mary beamed. “You would want to do that?”
“Yeah, I think I would,” Tripp said. “I mean… she’s my mom. I just, well, I don’t think I was ready. I was excited to talk to her the first time, but I just wasn’t ready. Or maybe I was, and I was just able to get some stuff off my chest after my… I guess, tantrum…” He looked a little embarrassed. “I hope she still wants to talk to me after that.”
“Of course, she does, Tripp,” Mary assured her. “Are you saying you’re ready now?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I want to get to know her. The real her.”
Mary nodded. “I’ll give the center a call tonight. We’ll see if we can’t plan a trip out that way during your next school break.”
“Thanks,” Tripp said, and they rode the rest of the way home talking about what they felt would be the best new treat as a dessert special for the shop.
Sweet & Deadly Endings
Sweets Shop Cozy Mysteries Book Four
Book Description
At Mary’s sweets shop in Georgia, business couldn’t be better. Her grandson Tripp is doing great in school. Her relationship with Officer Preston is blooming.
And now, her daughter Lilly is visiting for a few months, while her boyfriend Matthew is filming for a starring role in a movie located close to her sweets shop!
Unfortunately, soon after they arrive, an assistant turns up dead on the movie set. And it looks like Matthew is the main murder suspect.
Not to mention, Tripp’s friend Hannah gets some really bad news that has them all worried.
Maybe things aren’t going so good after all.
Will Hannah end up being okay?
And, will Mary and Officer Preston be able to clear Matthew of the murder charges? Or is Matthew truly guilty of the crime…
Chapter One
Mary Hopkins sat in the bleachers at Whitewater High School, which her grandson, Tripp, attended. It was a chilly fall Friday night, and though he was just a freshman and usually only pl
ayed on the junior varsity team, tonight he was sitting on the bench during the varsity game. There had been a handful of injuries early on this season, and because one of Tripp’s good friends, a boy named Bradley, was one of the star players, Tripp’s name had been whispered to the coach as a potential fill-in.
“You should relax,” Preston said as he sat down and passed Mary a bag of popcorn. Preston was a local Brooks police officer that Mary had been seeing over the past few months.
“Look how small he is compared to those other boys,” Mary muttered nervously.
“I know, right? Isn’t it cool?” Draco, one of Tripp’s friends, said excitedly. He was seated next to Hannah, who was at the edge of the front row bleachers in her wheelchair, right in front of Mary. Cindy, Hannah’s mother, along with Draco’s mother Anna, father Roy, and sister Sarah Jane, were all present for the big game. Their home team, the Wildcats, was playing tonight.
“I don’t think Mary was commenting that she thought it was cool her grandson was the smallest person out there, Draco,” Anna said, laughing slightly. “It is a little nerve-wracking.”
“They’re not going to put him on the field,” Preston told her. “He’s just here as backup,” he reassured.
As though to prove Preston wrong, one of the players was tackled hard, and he didn’t get back up again. A whistle blew, and the players dropped to their knees respectfully while the coaches all ran out onto the field. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mary muttered, practically pulling her hair out. She wanted more than anything for that boy to hop up and give two thumbs up to the crowd, but he didn’t. He was taken out on a stretcher, though he did offer everyone a thumbs up. Her heart sank in her chest.
The cheerleaders did a little cheer for him. Kara, Tripp’s ex-girlfriend turned friend, cheered wildly when the coach called him in to fill in for the wide receiver. “No way!” Preston exclaimed excitedly. “He’s going to play tonight! I didn’t think he’d get to play!”
Mary looked at Preston in fear. She had been fine during all of the junior varsity games this year. She had been excitedly cheering him on and hoping he’d get as much playing time as possible, but this was different. Half the boys out in that field were a semester away from college, and Tripp a semester past middle school. He looked like a baby to her out on this field. “Go Tripp!” Draco roared.
Play commenced. The ball went back and forth, but it was a fairly unexciting game, much to Mary’s relief. However, during the fourth quarter, the visiting team caught up to the home team. “We’re going to lose,” Hannah grumbled. “I was hoping we would really kick butt while Tripp was on the field. He could gloat it was thanks to him.”
Cindy laughed at her daughter. “Thirty seconds left,” she said as the players reset.
What happened next brought Mary to her feet. Somehow, and she nearly missed it because she was throwing bits of popcorn in her mouth, Tripp had the ball. She witnessed an amazing throw—the ball went zipping halfway up the field and landed promptly in the hands of Bradley, one of the team’s running backs. Tripp was tackled as soon as the ball left his hands, but he seemed fine. Mary’s eyes darted back down the field towards Bradley. There was no one near him. He ran and scored, and the crowd went nuts, hooting and hollering with great excitement. Whitewater had won the game, and the celebrations began.
Stacey, Bradley’s girlfriend, led the cheer team in a victory shout. The crowd continued to go wild, and Mary watched the whole Whitewater football team storm the field and lift Bradley up onto their shoulders. Bradley was pointing down excitedly at Tripp, and they threw him up as well, allowing him a moment to high five Bradley before they were both dropped to join a team huddle.
“No way—no freaking way!” Draco shrieked, jumping up and down and making his Doctor Who coat sway wildly behind him as he was now pacing excitedly in front of the bleachers. “Tripp just helped to win the game. Did you see it? Did you see it, Hannah?”
Hannah was laughing excitedly. “I’m crippled, not blind. Of course I saw it!”
Afterward, they gathered in the parking lot by Preston’s pickup. Draco and his sister were seated on the tailgate, Hannah beneath them in her chair. They were all excitedly talking about the final play, half of which Mary had missed and needed to be filled in on. “I just looked up, and there he was, standing with the ball, getting ready to throw it,” Mary groaned, wishing she had been paying more attention.
Tripp came bolting up to them, nearly half an hour after the game ended. He had clearly been celebrating in the locker room with the older players. “Tripp! That was incredible, kid,” Preston said, earning a beaming smile from Tripp.
“Coach likes me,” Tripp said. “I mean, I know this was just a one-time thing because they needed extra people, but it was awesome! I’ll be back on junior varsity next week, but still…”
“That’s lame,” Draco said. “They should let you on varsity!”
“Coach says he’s going to be keeping a close eye on me,” Tripp said proudly. “Who knows—I might just have a spot on varsity come next year, and he said if something like this happens again that he wanted to count on me to be a fill-in.”
“Didn’t it take like six injuries for you to get on that bench?” Sarah Jane, Draco’s always pessimistic elementary-aged sister, asked.
“Shut up,” Draco griped, and she giggled slightly.
“We’ve got to go celebrate,” Preston said. “Wing Shack?”
“Definitely,” Mary said, and she and Tripp loaded up into Preston’s car. Cindy and Hannah and the Morris family all followed, and the local Wing Shack turned out to be a great idea—half the football team, Bradley included, was there celebrating, making the place a loud house. It was definitely tradition in the small town to go out after a big win, and places like the Wing Shack always saw the most business on nights like this. Sometimes on the bigger wins, though, the church down the street would host a huge party, and all the town seemed to show up. It was a tight-knit community, that was for sure.
“This has been a pretty awesome season,” Bradley said as he came over to their table, and he put his hand on Tripp’s head and tousled his hair, messing it up just a little. They had developed a sort of big brother- little brother relationship in the past few months. “Super stoked I got to play with you. I bet you make it onto varsity next year with a play like that. That would be awesome to get to be on the same team as you my senior year.” He grinned at Draco. “Maybe you could try out next year too, Draco?”
“Ha-ha,” Draco said bitterly. “Yeah, I’d be crushed.” If Draco could help it, he would enjoy every football game from the sidelines comfortably.
“Yeah, you’d snap like a twig,” Sarah Jane said, taking a bite of a celery stick she had slathered in ranch, all the while making sure to maintain eye contact with Draco as part of her dramatic emphasis.
Bradley laughed before returning to his table of friends. “It has been a pretty awesome couple of months,” Hannah said. “Great start to high school.”
“You’re not kidding,” Tripp said, smiling.
“I’ve got to be honest; I was so worried about this year starting,” Mary said, smiling at her grandson. “Moving across the country, starting a new business… new people, new school. But it’s been great.”
“You guys have any plans for winter break?” Anna, Draco’s mother, asked.
“Yes!” Tripp said, and he looked embarrassed about getting so excited. He calmed down instantly. “We’re going out to LA.”
“LA?” Roy asked. “That’s where you’re all from, right?”
“That’s right,” Tripp said. “We’re going to go out to see my mom.”
Mary’s daughter, Lilly, had abandoned Tripp when he was a mere toddler, choosing drugs over him, essentially. He had been raised by his father, Aaron. However, a little over a year ago, Aaron had been killed during a home robbery, and Tripp had wound up in Mary’s care. A few months back, though, Lilly reached out to them. She had herself a Hollywood hotsh
ot boyfriend now who was paying for a fancy rehabilitation center for her. Lilly was doing better, and it was time for them all to get together.
“That’s awesome,” Hannah said, though Mary knew Tripp had already told her about their plans. She was just excited for him. “I can’t believe you’re going to get to meet your mom.”
“Me either,” he said, trying not to grin too large. “I mean, we talked on the phone a little. And we’ve video-chatted some.”
“When are you leaving?” Hannah asked.
“Right now the plan is right after Christmas,” Mary said. “I miss LA. It’ll be nice to be back for a while.”
“Don’t go getting any ideas about moving back,” Preston said, nudging her playfully.
“No, Georgia is my home now,” Mary said reassuringly. She smiled at him, having a hard time imagining her life without the man now.
The evening grew rather late. They all wound up in the parking lot of Wing Shack, talking excitedly still about the game and the victory Tripp had helped reassure. “I mean, even though you’re going back to junior varsity next week, you know you’re going to be that team’s new superstar,” Draco said. “Not only are you the JV kid who got asked to sit in with the varsity team, but now you’re the JV kid who helped win the game!”
Tripp grinned. “Yeah, I guess so.” Mary knew that Tripp had felt like some sort of hero tonight and that he knew that it was just football and that it had been pure luck he even got to play, but it had been his chance. She watched with amusement as he tried to be modest as everyone drenched him in compliments, but she could feel that they were slowly going to his head.
They bid one another farewell, but before Mary got into Preston’s truck, she excused herself and followed Cindy and Hannah to their car. She wanted to speak with Cindy privately, so once Hannah was in the car, she and Cindy stepped aside. “I wanted to ask about the hospital visit,” Mary asked softly. She knew that Hannah had been to several doctors lately. She had been having some strange pains in her hips—in a location that previously had had no feeling at all. “Did it turn up anything?”
