The Sandy Bay Cozy Mysteries series Box Set

by Amber Crewes

  Jack whistled. “What a load of drama!”

  Meghan rolled her eyes. “And, there is more! Yesterday, right after Rosie was arrested, a news report announced that Rosie had been stealing from Mariah. She had been embezzling funds in order to open her talent agency. From the phone records, it appears that Cathy knew about the money and was threatening to tell. Rosie had to do away with her to maintain her status and image.”

  Jack leaned back in his seat. “You know,” he began. “Sometimes, I think it would be nice to have a million dollars, or even two million dollars,” he shared. “I would like to have some money to buy a nice boat, or go on a ski trip with the boys, or buy some pretty things for my girl. But, at the end of the day, I would rather have good character than a full bank account. It’s crazy what some of these wealthy people will do.”

  “It is,” Meghan agreed.

  “Speaking of wealthy people,” he said. “What about Ron Thomas? Did he have anything to do with Rosie’s deception?”

  Meghan shook her head. “He finally flew home to Wisconsin to be with his family and bury Cathy,” she said. “After the news came out about Rosie, he was inconsolable...I think the impact of last week’s events finally sank in.”

  Jack buried his head in his hands. “I’m never leaving you again,” he declared. “I’m happy you were able to fend for yourself, but I hate that you went through all of this alone.”

  “I’m tough,” she insisted. “I missed you so much, but it was nice to come to my own rescue this week.”

  Meghan’s cell phone rang, and she glanced down at the screen to see Jackie’s name appear. “It’s Jackie,” she murmured.

  “Take it,” he urged her. “You said that things have been tense between you two. Why don’t you clear the air?”

  “Okay,” Meghan agreed.

  “Meghan,” Jackie said as she answered. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize…”

  Meghan smiled. “Jackie, I wanted to apologize, too.”

  “No,” Jackie replied. “You have nothing to apologize for. Meghan, I’ve really let money blind me lately. I’ve been jealous of my wealthy clients, and trying to live like them, and it isn’t working for me. The deal with Mariah sent me through a loop, and I am sorry for the way I acted when I got my checks.”

  “It’s okay,” Meghan told her friend. “We all can go a little crazy when it comes to money. You’re my friend, Jackie, and whether or not you have a Honda Civic or an Audi, you are still my friend.”

  “About the Audi,” Jackie said sheepishly. “I took it back. I decided to hire a financial advisor to invest the rest of the money from Mariah. It seemed like a good idea.”

  “That’s great!” Meghan said. “I’m really proud of you, Jackie.”

  “I’m proud of me, too,” she admitted. “You’re a good influence on me, Meghan, and I’m glad we’re friends.”

  “Me too,” she agreed as Jack mouthed hello at Meghan. “By the way, Jack says hello.”

  “He’s home?” she cried. “Sorry I bothered you. Go have fun with your man!”

  “I will,” Meghan said gleefully. “I’ll talk to you later!”

  Jack kissed Meghan on the forehead. “That’s my girl,” he said as he reached into his police satchel. “So, I made a grave mistake, Meghan…”

  Meghan furrowed her brow. “What?”

  “I brought a special surprise for you,” Jack told her.

  “I don’t think surprises are ever mistakes,” Meghan giggled. “What did you bring for me?”

  Jack blushed. “Great minds think alike, I guess?” he said as he pulled out a tin of New Orleans’ King cake. “You made a King cake for me, and I brought one home for you.”

  Meghan laughed. She opened the tin containing the King cake from New Orleans. “This is a sweet surprise,” she said. “I never get to just enjoy treats. I’ll tell you what, Babe...let’s put my cake away, and let’s dig into yours.”

  “Deal,” he said with a smile. He leaned over the table and softly kissed Meghan on the lips. “This is the sweetest homecoming I could have asked for,” he whispered. “Truly, the sweetest.”

  The End

  About Lemon Tarts and Fiery Darts

  Released: April, 2019

  Series: Book 12 – Sandy Bay Cozy Mystery Series

  Standalone: Yes

  Cliff-hanger: No

  A soon-to-be-retired police officer with a fiery temper. An unpopular murdered victim. Can a small town bakery owner solve the case before all hell breaks loose?

  Meghan Truman is enjoying the wave of attention her presence on social media is attracting to her bakery. Particularly her lemon tarts which are getting the most likes, shares and comments.

  Meghan is happy to donate some of her lemon tarts to celebrate a local Sandy Bay police officer who is soon retiring. Things go awfully wrong when the night of celebration ends in the murder of a thorn-in-the-flesh of almost everyone in town.

  But who would dislike the murdered victim so much to want to end a life?

  Can Meghan help her boyfriend, Detective Jack Irvin, connect the dots and solve this murder investigation in the nick of time?

  .

  Lemon Tarts and Fiery Darts

  1

  Meghan Truman’s heart was pounding in her chest as she turned on her laptop computer. Her fingers hovered above the keys for a moment as Meghan held her breath, and as the screen loaded, she felt her face grow hot.

  “What if it is not what I wanted?” she thought to herself as the page opened. “What if I am disappointed?

  Just then, Pamela, Meghan’s teenage employee, tapped her on the shoulder. Pamela had been working at Truly Sweet, the bakery Meghan owned, for nearly six months, and Meghan adored her company.

  “Hey, is it ready?” Pamela asked, her eyes wide.

  She shook her head, tucking a stray lock of dark, wavy hair behind her ear as she squinted at the screen. “The web designer said it would take a few minutes to open…”

  Pamela giggled. “I think your computer might just be a little slow,” she told Meghan. “It looks like it is a million years old.”

  Meghan rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s almost as old as you,” she teased Pamela. “I got a great deal on it a few years ago, and I’ve grown fond of this little computer. It isn’t fancy, but it does the job.”

  Pamela grinned. “I just can’t wait to see it,” she cried. “I’ve never had my picture on a website before. Thank you for letting me be your model with the bakery’s new website!”

  Meghan smiled. “You were the perfect choice,” she told Pamela. “The designer told me that we needed some shots of a customer eating our treats, and I would rather hire you, my friend, rather than a model. The pictures were adorable, too, and I think they will add so much to our social media presence.”

  “I wish you had been in more pictures,” Pamela told Meghan. “We could have taken some cute ones together.”

  Meghan laughed. “I’m not one for photos,” she told Pamela. “Besides, you are young and fresh. Your pretty face on the website will certainly help us out.”

  “Young and fresh? Meghan Truman, you are twenty-eight years old. You are still young and certainly still fresh, whatever that means.”

  Meghan chuckled as Trudy, another employee, joined the conversation. Trudy was old enough to be Meghan’s mother, but her biting sarcasm and wit kept Meghan laughing, and she enjoyed having Trudy around.

  “Thanks, Trudy,” she blushed. “And Pamela, there are some pictures of me on the website. Don’t you worry, Sandy Bay will get plenty of Meghan Truman.”

  “You mean the world,” Pamela interrupted. “It’s the World Wide Web, Meghan. Millions of people could see the new website, not just people in Sandy Bay.”

  “Oh, look,” Trudy squealed as the page finally loaded. “It’s ready! The new website is ready.”

  Meghan gasped as the page opened, thrilled with what she saw. The new bakery logo was at the top of the page, the bakery’s name wri
tten in gold cursive lettering. The website had a whimsical feel to it; on every page were staged and candid photos of Pamela enjoying treats, and the story of the bakery’s beginnings included pictures of Meghan, Trudy, and Pamela.

  “Look at us,” Pamela shrieked joyfully as she pointed to a picture of the trio playfully licking bright pink frosting off their fingers. “We look so cute.”

  “Yes, we do,” she agreed, pleased that her investment had lived up to her expectations.

  Nearly a year ago, Meghan had left behind a life in Los Angeles to follow her friend, Karen, to Sandy Bay, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Karen, a native of Sandy Bay, had assured her that the town would be the perfect place for a fresh start. Meghan had fulfilled her dream of opening the bakery, and before her eyes, her business had bloomed; Truly Sweet was one of the most popular bakeries in the Pacific Northwest, and Meghan’s professional life was thriving so much that she had decided to hire a website designer to upgrade her social media presence, and now, as she gazed at her rebranded website, she was elated to have made the investment.

  Her personal life in Sandy Bay was also thriving; after a few months of getting to know each other, Jack Irvin, a handsome police officer, had asked her to be his girlfriend. Jack had been promoted to a detective, and she was proud to be dating an upstanding member of society. Jack had met her parents during the holidays, and they had grown to adore the man that Meghan had fallen in love with.

  Meghan was genuinely happy in Sandy Bay; despite a few obstacles in her first few months of living in the small town, she had made great friends, fallen in love, and created a business from the ground up.

  Meghan turned her attention back to the website, eager to see more of its features. “How do we access our other social media accounts?” she asked Pamela.

  “There is a link to our Instagram account in the bottom of the page,” Pamela told Meghan. “Why don’t you click on it? I’ve been uploading some great content over the last few days to match the aesthetic of the new page, and I think you will like it.”

  Meghan clicked the button and was redirected to Instagram, a website and application that allowed visitors to share images. Her jaw dropped as she opened the page she had asked Pamela to create for the bakery. The account was filled with bright, filtered pictures of the bakery, the staff, and the various treats for sale. The colors and layouts of the photos matched the vision that she had had for the bakery website, and Meghan was thrilled that the website and the Instagram went together perfectly.

  “Pamela, this is absolutely adorable,” Meghan gushed as she clicked through the perfectly curated gallery of images.

  “Look how many followers we have,” Pamela beamed. “Five thousand followers, Meghan. Five thousand people are following our accounts and seeing our pictures.”

  Meghan’s eyes glistened with tears. She had the best employees, and she was thankful that Pamela had taken the time to create the Instagram account.

  “I think we need to update our Facebook, too,” Trudy chimed in. “We older gals like Facebook more than that instaphoto, or whatever it’s called. Can we use some of the popular photos on the Instagram to post on our Facebook?”

  Meghan smiled. “Of course,” she said.

  “Our pictures of the lemon tarts have been getting a ton of likes,” Pamela added. “Let’s use that.”

  Trudy wrinkled her nose. “Oh, really? The lemon tart photos? That’s interesting. Someone in this town must be in love with our lemon tarts, because not only have those photos been receiving the most attention, but they have been receiving a lot of orders. We’ve had nearly a hundred lemon tart orders in the last week!”

  Meghan raised an eyebrow. “Nearly a hundred orders of lemon tarts? Are you serious?”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  Meghan swiveled in her chair at the familiar sound of Jack’s voice. He was standing in the doorway grinning, his blue eyes bright with excitement. Her heart beat faster as she smiled at her handsome boyfriend. He was dressed in his detective’s uniform, his badges shining in the light of the dining room.

  “Hi, babe,” she said, standing up to embrace her boyfriend. “This is a surprise!”

  “I had a little break and wanted to stop by,” Jack said as he bent down to kiss her on the nose.

  “What were you saying about the tarts?” Meghan said as Jack stepped back and settled onto the top of a little white table. “It’s so weird that someone ordered so many; we usually don’t sell more than fifteen each month…”

  Jack mischievously winked at Meghan. “Let’s just say that Detective Irvin may have the scoop, and the scoop is pretty darn interesting” he teased as she shook her head in amusement.

  2

  The next day, Meghan decided to make a visit to the local library. It was a chilly spring day in Sandy Bay, and she unhappily slipped her winter coat on over her sweater; despite the sunshine, it was a bitterly cold day in the Pacific Northwest, and Meghan was in need of some warmth after the harsh winter.

  “Fiesta, Siesta,” she called out to her little twin dogs who were resting comfortably on her bed. “Mama is going to the library. I’ll be back in a little bit to take you for a walk.”

  The dogs barked good-naturedly at Meghan, and she blew them a kiss as she shut her bedroom door. She walked out of her apartment, locking the door before descending the stairs. She entered the bakery, waved hello to Trudy and Pamela, and then left, shivering as the wind struck her cheeks.

  Despite the cold, the walk to the library was pleasant; Meghan enjoyed the sound of the Pacific Ocean, and she never took for granted the town’s close proximity to the sea. The salty air always made Meghan excited for the summertime, and she envisioned herself spending the summer afternoons picnicking with Jack, or strolling alongside the shore with her dogs.

  “Welcome to the library,” a bespectacled librarian greeted Meghan as she walked inside.

  “Thank you,” she whispered in reply.

  Meghan wandered to the technology section. She had been so pleased with her new website and Pamela’s work on the social media pages that she wanted to be able to contribute. After spending a few hours in the morning researching different types of web design approaches, Meghan had been stumped; she was not very savvy with social media or technology, and she knew she needed to learn as much as she could in order to help her business thrive. She could not afford to hire a designer each time she wanted to make an update to her website, and she was determined to teach herself how to navigate the internet.

  As Meghan scanned the titles of the technology books, she became lost in her thoughts; she imagined the bakery’s popularity expanding even more than it had in the last year, and she grinned as she perused the section. Suddenly, she felt a sharp jab in her side, and she yelped in pain.

  “Ouch!”

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

  She turned to see Chief Nunan, the head of the Sandy Bay Police. Chief Nunan had a stack of books at her feet, and Meghan hastily apologized. “I didn’t mean to make you drop your books, Chief,” she lamented. “So sorry. I was daydreaming, and I ran right into you.”

  Chief Nunan shrugged. “It happens,” she told Meghan. “But don’t let it happen again, or I’ll have to take you downtown.”

  Her eyes widened at the threat, but when she realized the chief was only joking, she giggled. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, playing along with the chief. “What brings you into the library today, Chief?”

  The Chief smiled. “Well, besides being run into by unruly citizens, I came here to look for a book on the law,” she explained. “There’s a case in my queue right now that I have some questions about, and I need to learn more.”

  Meghan nodded. “I’m in the same boat,” she said. “Well, sort of. I need to find a book for work.”

  “A cookbook?” Chief Nunan asked.

  Meghan shook her head. “No,” she said. “A book about the internet.”

  Chief Nunan chuckled. “Are you
selling treats online?”

  Meghan laughed. “Not quite,” she told her. “I hired a designer to revamp my website, and I feel like I need to know how to make the updates myself,” she explained. “Pamela, my employee, keeps talking about SEO, and I have no idea what SEO even is. I think it’s a website thing, but I’m a little embarrassed that I don’t know.”

  Chief Nunan patted her shoulder. “It’s perfectly okay to not know everything,” she told Meghan. “In fact, it’s admirable that you are going out of your way to learn more in order to help your business.”