Assaulted Caramel

by Amanda Flower

  “That’s the big question, and Emily might have the answer.”

  “Wow,” Cass said. “Amish Country is a lot more violent than advertised, but this whole time you’ve been talking, I haven’t seen the Amish girl you’re talking about.”

  “What?” I barked, and spun around. Cass was right. Emily was gone. Then I spotted the skirt of a lavender dress, just like I had seen Emily wearing, disappearing around the corner of one of the aisles. I pushed my cart forward. “There she goes,” I hissed. “Let’s go!”

  “You almost ran over my foot,” Cass complained, but followed me all the same.

  It took a few moments for us to track Emily down.

  “She must be a fast shopper,” Cass said as we neared the end of the store.

  I stopped abruptly when I spotted Emily in the pet aisle. She had a bag of cat foot in her arms and was perusing the other shelves.

  Cass ran into my back. “Hey, you can’t just stop in the middle of the aisle like that,” she cried, loud enough to make Emily turn her head.

  I smiled at the Amish girl, and she gave me a tiny smile in return. “Hi, Bailey. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  I pushed my cart forward and stopped a few feet from where she stood. “We’re out shopping for items for the Hutton wedding tomorrow.”

  “I heard the wedding is still on. It seems odd to me.” She paused. “Considering what happened to the groom.” She glanced behind me at Cass.

  “This is Cass, my friend from New York,” I said.

  Cass waved at her, and Emily stared at Cass for a moment longer than was comfortable.

  Cass stuck her hand on her hip. “You look as odd to me as I look to you, you know.”

  Emily’s face blazed bright red.

  I looked heavenward. Maybe bringing Cass in on this wasn’t the best idea I had ever had. I smiled at the girl. “Are you buying cat food for Nutmeg?”

  Emily burst into tears and hugged the bag of cat food to her chest.

  “Geez, Bai, what did you do to her?” Cass asked.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I whispered.

  “Obviously, you did, because the kid is in tears,” Cass argued.

  Emily wiped a tear from her cheek. “It’s just when you mentioned Nutmeg, I became upset. My bruder says I can’t keep him. They don’t believe I can care for anything.” She sucked in a breath. “Or anyone.” Another big tear rolled down her left cheek. “I’m sorry. You have shopping to do, I’m sure.”

  I patted the girl’s shoulder. “Our shopping can wait. What will happen to Nutmeg if you don’t keep him?”

  “I don’t know.” She sniffled. “I’m afraid that my brother might do something drastic to get rid of the cat.”

  “You think he would kill it?” Cass gasped.

  “No! He would never hurt Nutmeg, but I’m afraid he will take him and drop him off at another farm. That’s not uncommon out in the country. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to Nutmeg. I really think he’s too gentle to be an outdoor cat, but Abel absolutely won’t have him inside.”

  “What about your parents? What do they say about the cat?” Cass asked.

  Emily stared at her feet. “My parents are dead. I live with my brother and sister now, at least until I marry.”

  “Are you getting married soon?”

  She swallowed. “Nee, I am not. But I am twenty. I should be married by now.”

  Cass looked as if she wanted to say something, and I stepped on her foot. She glared at me and took a step away.

  Neither Emily’s older brother nor her older sister was married, so I didn’t see how her being twenty convinced her that she should already be married. But I saw no reason to argue with her or bring to her attention the fact that I was twenty-seven and unmarried. In her eyes, I would be an old maid. She must believe that Esther, who was close to my age, already was.

  “I wish I could help,” I said.

  Her eyes brightened and she held the bag of cat food out to me. “You can! You take him to live in Swissmen Sweets. You keep him until I figure out what I’m going to do.”

  I tried to give her the cat food bag back. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?” the Amish girl asked. “You’re right next door to the pretzel shop, and I can visit Nutmeg at your grandparents’ shop as much as I want. Your grandparents won’t mind.”

  “I know they won’t mind, but my grandfather is ill,” I said, still trying to return the bag of cat food. “I’m not sure how he would do with a cat in the house.”

  “Nutmeg will be very gentle with him,” she said. Hope shone in her large blue eyes. “I don’t know what else to do.”

  “You’re her only hope, Obi-Wan,” Cass whispered in my ear.

  I elbowed Cass in the side.

  “Ow,” she complained.

  “I didn’t poke you that hard,” I muttered.

  “Who’s Obi-Wan?” Emily asked in confusion.

  “Ignore Cass. She’s had long day of travel and isn’t thinking straight,” I told Emily.

  “That’s true,” Cass agreed good-naturedly.

  “Will you take him?” Tears gathered in the girl’s eyes again.

  “I don’t know how my grandparents will feel about me bringing a cat into their home, especially under the circumstances. We can’t even go into the kitchen right now. I’m sure the police don’t want a cat in there possibly contaminating the scene.”

  The tears threatened to spill over. “Please. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to him. He needs someone to take care of him.”

  “Oh, geez, Bai, agree to take the cat. We both know that you will,” Cass said.

  Emily’s eyes lit up. “Will you, Bailey?”

  I sighed and set the bag of cat food in my shopping cart. “Okay, I’ll take him, but the final decision as to whether he can live at Swissmen Sweets is up to my grandparents.”

  Emily clasped her hands in front of her chest. “I know they will let him stay. Your grandparents are the kindest people in the district.”

  I couldn’t argue with her about that.

  “And I don’t believe a word of what people are saying,” she added.

  “What are they saying?” I asked.

  “I thought you knew.” She furrowed her brow. “They’re saying that you killed Tyson Colton.”

  Chapter 26

  “Nutmeg is in my buggy. I can go get him right now for you,” Emily said.

  I was still reeling from her previous comment. It was bad enough that the sheriff thought I’d killed Tyson Colton, but the members of my grandparents’ community too? That stung.

  “Do you want me to fetch him now?” Emily asked.

  I blinked at her. “What?”

  Cass stepped around me. “We have a little more shopping to do. Can we meet you outside in say, a half hour? We’ll collect the cat then.”

  I touched the girl’s arm. “Before you go, can I ask you a question?”

  Emily nodded.

  “Why did your sister agree to sell her shop to Tyson if she really didn’t want to?”

  She turned pale. “I don’t know. Esther doesn’t share her plans with me.”

  “Was she afraid of Tyson? Did he trick her into selling the shop?”

  “She wasn’t afraid of Tyson, not really.” She licked her lips.

  “But she was afraid of someone—I can see it on your face.”

  “Nee. We don’t have anyone to fear. Abel has always protected us. He is the head of our house.” Her voice trembled.

  “Is your family in danger?” I asked.

  “I—I have to go.” She reached for the cat food. “I will buy that. It’s the least I can do.”

  I shook my head. “I got it.”

  “Danki, Bailey.” Her blue eyes filled with grateful tears. “I’ll wait for you outside.” She hurried down the aisle as if she worried I might change my mind if she stayed much longer. She might have been right about that.

  When sh
e disappeared around the corner of the aisle, Cass examined me. “All the color has drained from your face. What’s wrong? I thought you liked cats.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not the cat. The Amish think I killed Tyson Colton.”

  “Probably not all the Amish,” Cass said.

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I groaned.

  She reached up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Come on. Let’s finish shopping for this wedding you’ve roped me into. We’ll have plenty of time to hash this out while we’re buried in chocolate and caramel.”

  I gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “I’m not as glad.” She smiled, which took the bite out of her words. “But I’m happy to be here for you. You know I always have your back. You should have told me about your Amish heritage. Sure, I would have teased you mercilessly about it, but it wouldn’t change anything. You can always tell me anything. That’s what best friends do.”

  A pang of guilt squeezed in the middle of my chest. “I know.” I opened my mouth to start to tell her about Eric, but she turned away before I could get the words out. I sighed and pushed the cart forward.

  Twenty minutes later, Cass and I pushed two heavy carts of groceries out through the store’s automatic doors. We had enough for the Hutton-Colton wedding and then some, but I would much rather have too much than too little. Harvest, Ohio was not a place that had twenty-four-hour grocery stores, so running out in the middle of the night for one more ingredient wasn’t an option.

  We loaded the groceries into the rental car’s trunk as Emily approached us with the cat carrier. I peeked inside. Nutmeg pressed his striped orange face up against the metal grate and meowed loudly.

  “I don’t think he likes being in there,” Cass observed.

  Emily’s smooth brow furrowed. “I know. He’s been in there most of the day because I’ve had him with me while I ran errands. I didn’t want to leave him on the farm where my bruder might get him and take him away, and Esther doesn’t want him at the pretzel shop either.”

  Cass’s eyes narrowed. “You know, your brother sounds like a real—”

  I stepped on Cass’s boot.

  Cass grunted and scowled at me.

  I ignored her scowl and reached for the cat carrier. “We’ll take good care of him.”

  “I know you will.” She stuck her thin fingers through the grate. “I will see you soon, Nutmeg.” She gave a strangled sob before running for her buggy. Her lavender skirt flew out behind her in her haste.

  After we were in the rental car, Cass narrowed her eyes at me. “You scuffed my boot,” she said accusingly. “Do you know how many truffles I had to make to buy these boots?”

  “Meow,” the cat said from the carrier balanced on Cass’s lap.

  “See, he agrees with me.” Cass patted the top of the carrier.

  “Sorry about the boots, but it’s not going to do any good for you to tell Emily how awful you might think her brother is. In the Amish world, the man of the house makes the decisions, so if her brother said she can’t keep the cat, she can’t.”

  “That’s another reason to be thankful I’m not Amish. I wouldn’t last a day.”

  The thought of Cass dressed in Amish clothes made me burst out laughing.

  “I’m glad you find this so amusing.” Cass peeked inside the carrier. “Well, the first order of business is to give this guy a new name. He doesn’t look like a Nutmeg to me.”

  I started the car. “What does he look like to you?”

  “I’m not sure.” She peered through the grate at the cat. “Spot? Roy? Mr. Wiggles?”

  I shook my head. “So far, Nutmeg is better than those.”

  “Cuddles? James? Gumdrop? Buddy?”

  I sighed, shifted the car into reverse, and backed out of my parking spot.

  * * *

  Back at Swissmen Sweets, Cass carried in the cat food, litter box, and kitty litter that we’d purchased at the store. I carried Nutmeg, who Cass thought shouldn’t be named Nutmeg.

  My grandmother met us in the shop’s front room. “Bailey, we were wondering what became of you.”

  I explained to my grandmother about having to run to the store for supplies for the wedding desserts.

  She frowned. “I should help you.”

  I shook my head. “No. Cass is here, and we can do it. She and I have done countless events like this together.” I held up the cat carrier. “And we brought you a new guest too.”

  My grandmother stared at the carrier as if spotting it for the first time. “What is it?”

  “It’s not what. It’s who,” Cass said. “Nutmeg the cat, although I personally feel like that’s completely the wrong name for him. We’re working on coming up with a new one.”

  My grandmother took the carrier from my hands and set it on the floor. She opened it and the cat gingerly stepped out. He looked around the front room and zeroed in on my grandmother, rubbing his cheek against her skirts.

  “Do you think he knows he has to win her over to stay?” Cass whispered to me.

  I had been wondering the same.

  “Oh, what a sweetie you are,” Maami cooed. “Isn’t he the cat I’ve seen with Emily?”

  I told her about running into Emily at the supermarket and her brother’s decision to get rid of the cat.

  “Well, yes, we will keep him, for a time at least. Perhaps Emily’s brother will change his mind. The poor child. She’s been through too much.” She clasped her hands. “Your daadi is already in bed for the night.”

  My brow furrowed. “How is he?”

  “He’s worn out from the day, as I imagine we all are. I’m so very sorry that you have to work tonight on our behalf.”

  I hugged her. “Maami, we’re happy to do it. Aren’t we, Cass?” I gave her a look over my grandmother’s shoulder.

  “Oh yeah, can’t wait,” Cass said in a much less enthusiastic voice.

  Maami didn’t seem to notice Cass’s tone because she said, “Before you go, you need to eat something. I have been keeping the chicken and dumplings warm on the stove upstairs in the kitchenette.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Cass said. “Do you have any salad?”

  * * *

  After Cass and I ate dinner—she had salad and I had the chicken and dumplings—we headed over to the church. Even though it was a short walk across the square, I opted to drive there because it would be easier to unload all of the groceries we’d purchased. And, besides, there was a murderer on the loose. I wasn’t taking any chances.

  As we arrived, people who had attended the community dinner were filing out of the building. Most were laughing and chatting with each other. There were people in both Amish and English dress.

  “They have some kind of service tonight?” Cass asked.

  I glanced at the clock on the car’s console. It was almost eight in the evening. “A community dinner. That’s why we are starting so late. We had to wait until the dinner was over to use the kitchen.”

  “It’s very nice of the church to let us use the kitchen. I mean, they don’t know us at all.”

  “The woman who happens to be dating the pastor is a good friend of my grandparents, so she vouched for me.”

  “Dating the pastor? That sounds a little risqué for Amish Country.”

  “This isn’t an Amish church,” I said. “The Amish don’t have Sunday services in a church building. Members of the district take turns having the services in their homes. I used to go to services with my grandparents when I spent my summers here.”

  “You spent your summers here?” she asked. “Funny you never mentioned that in the last six years we’ve worked together.”

  “Let’s just unload the car, okay?”

  Cass and I walked into the church’s fellowship hall a few minutes later, carrying half a dozen grocery bags between us. There was a screech of chairs on the hardwood floor, and everyone in the large room turned to see who the newcomers were. At this late hour, most o
f the tables were empty, but there were a few stragglers still sipping coffee and chatting, as the members of the church cleaned up around them. Cass, who didn’t ever mind being the center of attention, waved at the onlookers as if she was Miss America on a float.

  “Cut that out,” I hissed.

  “I’m just being friendly. You should try it sometime.” She lowered her voice. “There is a lot of flannel in here. It’s like an epidemic, and it’s spreading.”

  Juliet hurried over to me with Jethro, the pinto potbellied pig, waddling after her like a faithful retriever. I noticed that she had changed into yet another polka-dotted dress. This one was blue with white dots. “There you are, Bailey. We are about to clean up, and then we will be out of your way.” She glanced at Cass. “And who is this?”

  Cass stared down at Jethro. Her expression was much like what mine must have been when I saw the black and white pig earlier that day. I supposed that I should have warned her about the swine encounter, but I had honestly forgotten about Jethro—who was pretty unforgettable with those black and white dots—in all the upset of the day. Being accused of murder tends to make a person forget some details.

  Cass looked from me to Juliet and back again. “Isn’t anyone going to address the pig in the room?”

  Chapter 27

  “Cass, this is Juliet, the woman I told you about who made it possible for us to work in the church tonight.” I nodded at the pig. “And this is Jethro.”

  Cass brushed her purple bangs out of her eyes. “He’s a pig. He’s a pig, and he’s inside a church.”

  “He is,” I said.

  Cass stared at the pig. “He has polka dots.”

  Juliet laughed her tinkling laugh. “Yes, Bailey mentioned the same detail when she met Jethro this morning. You ladies are certainly fashionable. That must be why Jethro’s markings are so remarkable to you.”

  “But he’s in a church,” Cass said.

  I patted her arm. “Just absorb the shock and move on. We have a lot of work to do tonight.”

  “We’ll be out of your hair in no time,” Juliet promised.

  “There’s no rush,” I said. “It will take us a little while to unload the car and—” I stopped speaking in mid-sentence when I spotted a man carrying a dishpan full of dirty dishes across the basketball court. As he did, our eyes locked. It was Aiden. He was out of uniform and wearing jeans and a polo shirt. A white chef’s apron was tied around his trim waist.