Cremas, Christmas Cookies, and Crooks

by Harper Lin

  I looked at my still half-full cup. “Nope, I think I’m good.”

  Rhonda headed for the punch bowls, and I wandered over to the corner where Ryan and Sammy were sitting. Sammy’s best friend, Dawn, had joined them, so I didn’t feel as if I was interrupting. We sat and talked for a few minutes before the conversation turned to Sammy and Ryan’s plans to drive up to Plymouth after the party to celebrate Christmas with Ryan’s family.

  “So how did you get out of working Christmas Eve, anyhow?” I asked him.

  He shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess.”

  “It just seems weird that Mike got stuck working when he’s been there for so long.”

  “He’s working the twenty-sixth too. First shift. He’s supposed to drive back tomorrow night.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous! He has kids.”

  “I dunno,” Ryan said. “I heard he volunteered.”

  I made a face. That didn’t sound right. He’d barely have any time with Sandra and the kids. I suspected there was something more going on in the department that Ryan didn’t know about or wasn’t privy to since he was so new. I hoped so, anyway.

  “Anybody want more eggnog?” Ryan asked. Sammy and Dawn both passed him their cups. I hadn’t made much more of a dent in mine.

  “I better go refill the bowls,” Sammy said. “It looks like they’re getting low.” She got up and headed for the back room to get some of the pitchers of eggnog we’d prefilled.

  I sat and talked to Dawn for a few minutes before someone came and asked me if there were any more napkins. “I’ll go get them,” I said and excused myself.

  I walked in the back room and found Sammy standing there, staring at her phone.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  She held her phone out for me to see what was on the screen. It was a text message from a local number that she didn’t have saved.

  Hope you and Ry-Ry have a very merry Christmas up here in Plymouth. His mom makes the BEST mashed potatoes. Tell her I said hi! Love, Cheryl

  “You’ve been texting Cheryl?” I asked. Sammy was a turn-the-other-cheek kind of girl, but that seemed a bit much, even for her.

  She shook her head. “No, she just texts me.” Still holding the phone so I could see, she began to scroll up. And up. And up. There were dozens of texts from Cheryl and no replies from Sammy.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  She shrugged. “A little over a week. Since that day you called the police on her and her friends.”

  “But, Sammy, there are dozens!” In just a week?

  “I know.” She slid the phone into her pocket. “She sends them all day long.”

  “Have you told Ryan?”

  “No. And I’m not going to. I don’t want to upset him.”

  “Sammy, I think he’d want to know.”

  “No.” She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not telling him, and you’re not going to tell him either.”

  I didn’t want to, but eventually I nodded. “All right. For now. But if she keeps this up, we’re going to have another talk about it, okay?”

  She nodded. “Thanks, Fran.”

  “There you are!” Ryan said, poking his head in the room. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  “And you found me.”

  “I have more eggnog for you.”

  “And I have more for the bowl,” she said, holding up one of the pitchers.

  “We could always just drink out of that,” Ryan joked.

  My heart felt a little sick as I heard Sammy’s pretty laugh. Ryan had no idea what she was going through.

  “Ciao, bella!”

  I smiled as Matt walked into the storage room. He smiled back, but then his faded. “What’s wrong?” he asked, exercising his unnatural ability to read my moods.

  I shrugged. “Just a rough couple of weeks, I guess. And, you know, my mom.”

  “I know,” he said. “I feel the same way.” He pulled me into a hug.

  It was the first Christmas since my mom and his dad had died. It was hard for both of us, but it helped that we each knew what the other was going through. And that we had each other. I didn’t know what I’d have done if I hadn’t had Matt to lean on, sometimes literally.

  “Should we go back out to the party?” he asked after a minute.

  “Mm-hmm,” I murmured against his chest. I indulged in the feeling of his body against mine for another minute and then pulled away. “Let’s go.”

  “After you, bella,” he said, gesturing for me to go first.

  I was out the door and he was halfway when he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Not so fast,” he said. I was confused until he pointed up at the mistletoe hanging in the doorway above our heads. “Merry Christmas, Franny,” he whispered as he pulled me into him.

  I smiled as he leaned down to kiss me. “Merry Christmas, Matty.”

  AS YOU WAIT for Book 7 of The Cape Bay Cafe mysteries, read Sweets and a Stabbing, the first book in a dessert cozy series called The Pink Cupcake Mysteries. Read an excerpt at the end of this book.

  BE the first to hear about 99¢ new book release sales by signing up for Harper's Newsletter.

  Recipe 1: Café Crema

  Ingredients:

  • Arabica beans

  Café cremas are 6 to 8 oz of coffee brewed using an espresso machine. For a good cup of crema, use a coarser grind of the bean to slow down the extraction (20 to 30 seconds). The drink should have a nice layer of crema on top of the coffee, and not too watery.

  Recipe 2: Gingerbread Cookies

  Makes 24

  Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder

  • ½ cup molasses

  • ¾ tsp baking soda

  • ¼ tsp salt

  • 1 tbsp ground ginger

  • 2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 ¾ tsp ground cinnamon

  • ¼ tsp ground cloves

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter

  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar

  Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a small bowl until well blended.

  In another bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended. Add molasses and vanilla and mix again. Pour in dry ingredients and blend smooth.

  Divide dough in half. Wrap each in plastic and let stand at room temperature from 2 to 8 hours.

  Roll out dough over a floured surface until ¼-inch thick. Use more flour as needed to avoid sticking. Cut cookies with gingerbread man cutter or your desired shape.

  Using baking sheets lined with greased parchment paper, bake at 375° F for 7 to 10 minutes. After they cool, you can use colored frosting to decorate them.

  Recipe 3: Sugar Cookies

  Makes up to 5 dozen

  Ingredients:

  • 5 cups all-purpose flour

  • 4 eggs

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 1 ½ cups butter, softened

  • 2 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Then, stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover. Chill dough for 1 hour to overnight.

  Roll out dough on floured surface to ¼-inch thickness. Cut into your desired shapes, Christmas-themed or otherwise. Bake at 400° F for 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool completely and you have the option of using colored frosting to decorate them.

  All Books by Harper Lin

  The Cape Bay Cafe Mysteries

  Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse: Book 1

  Tea, Tiramisu, and Tough Guys: Book 2

  Margaritas, Marzipan, and Murder: Book 3

  Lattes, Ladyfingers, and Lies: Book 4

  Americans, Apple Pies, and Art Thieves: Book 5

  The Emma Wild 4-book Holiday Series

  4-Book Holiday Series

  Killer Christmas: Book 1 />
  New Year’s Slay: Book 2

  Death of a Snowman: Book 3

  Valentine’s Victim: Book 4

  Complete 4-Book Box Set

  The Patisserie Mysteries

  Macaron Murder: Book 1

  Éclair Murder: Book 2

  Baguette Murder: Book 3

  Crêpe Murder: Book 4

  Croissant Murder: Book 5

  Crème Brûlée Murder: Book 6

  Madeleine Murder: Book 7

  Opera Cake Murder: Book 8

  Chocolat Chaud Murder: Book 9

  Box Set Volume I: Books 1-4

  Box Set Volume II: Books 5-8

  The Wonder Cats Mysteries

  A Hiss-tory of Magic: Book 1

  Pawsitively Dead: Book 2

  Cat-astrophic Spells: Book 3

  The Scariest Tail: Book 4

  Purr-fect Getaway: Book 5

  Un-fur-tunate Murders: Book 6

  Box Set Volume I: Books 1-3

  The Pink Cupcake Mysteries

  Sweets and a Stabbing: Book 1

  A Deadly Bridal Shower: Book 2

  Food Festival and a Funeral: Book 3

  Cold Case and Cupcakes: Book 4

  A Note From Harper

  Thank you so much for reading my books. If you were entertained by this Cape Bay Cafe mystery, please recommend it to friends and family who would enjoy it too. I would also really appreciate it if you could write a book review to help spread the word.

  If you like this series, you might also enjoy my other series:

  • The Patisserie Mysteries: a culinary cozy series set in Paris featuring French dessert recipes.

  • The Wonder Cats Mysteries, about three witches trying to use their powers for good in a small town near the mystical Niagara Falls.

  • The Emma Wild Mysteries: a 4-Book holiday cozy series about a famous singer returning to her small Canadian town.

  •The Pink Cupcake Mysteries: about the baker of a cupcake food truck solving mysteries in a quirky town in Oregon.

  • Secret Agent Granny: 70-year-old Barbara is a sweet grandmother—and a badass ex-CIA agent.

  A couple of the first books in the series are FREE at the moment so be sure to try them out while they still are.

  If you want to be the first to hear about new book releases and 99¢ early bird specials, sign up for my mailing list.

  I’m also on Facebook, where I’ll be holding giveaways, sharing recipes, and posting about what I’m reading at the moment.

  Follow my Pinterest boards to see the locations, fashions, and inspirations behind each book.

  You can also connect with me on Goodreads.

  If you’d like to get in touch with me directly, you can email me at harperlinauthor@outlook.com. I would love to hear what you think about the books. Do also drop me a note if you happen to catch any mistakes. While each book is edited and proofread by professionals, errors can still slip through sometimes. As an indie writer, I want to provide readers with the smoothest read possible.

  Last but not least, visit my website for the latest news and my blog.

  Thanks and much love,

  Harper

  About the Author

  Harper Lin is the USA TODAY bestselling author of 5 cozy mystery series including The Patisserie Mysteries and The Cape Bay Cafe Mysteries.

  When she's not reading or writing mysteries, she loves going to yoga classes, hiking, and hanging out with her family and friends.

  www.HarperLin.com

  Excerpt from Sweets and a Stabbing

  The truck to Amelia’s right was the Turkey Club. They served huge, Henry VIII turkey drumsticks that made the area around their truck smell like Thanksgiving. To the right of the Turkey Club was the Burrito Wagon.

  As Amelia strained her neck to look past the Turkey Club to the Burrito Wagon, she saw a very large man wearing cowboy boots that came to fine points that curved slightly upward. Tattoos were common in Oregon, but that man’s seemed a bit overwhelming, as they covered his arms and crept up his neck, almost all the way up his bald head.

  “Yikes. No one’s going to complain about the food over there,” Lila mumbled. “That’s the kind of neighbor to make friends with.”

  Just as Amelia was about to look away, a small lady in a dress and Nikes came around to the front of the Burrito Wagon and patted the large man on the back.

  “Hey, I know that lady.” Amelia straightened up.

  She grabbed one of her raspberry-chocolate cupcakes that was large enough for two people, slipped it into a hot-pink paper boat with a piece of wax paper over the top, and headed over to the Burrito Wagon.

  “Mrs. Vega!” Amelia called as she tried to balance her cupcake while maneuvering around an ocean-sized rain puddle.

  The old woman turned around. Smiling broadly, she waved. “Señora Harley! Hola.”

  “Hi.” Amelia panted, a little out of breath. “It looks like we’re neighbors at home and at work.” Proudly, Amelia pointed to her big pink truck.

  “Ay, that’s your truck? It’s beautiful!”

  “Yeah. And here, this is for you.” She handed her the cupcake. “To help your morning coffee go down.”

  “Oh, you’re so sweet. Gracias. Thank you.” She looked at the big brute adjusting the awning over the window. “This is my nephew, Matthew Rodriguez.”

  He turned around and gave a quick smile as he reached out a plump, beefy hand that engulfed Amelia’s completely.

  “Hello,” he said quickly and went back to fixing the awning.

  Amelia wanted to stare to try to figure out what the elaborate, scrolling letters said on his neck but found her manners, nodded in response, and looked back at Mrs. Vega.

  “You come by after closing and take home meal tonight for you and the kids. Two burrito feed you guys for three days.” Mrs. Vega let out a laugh as she patted her nephew on the back.

  “I’ll do that. Thanks, Mrs. Vega. Nice to meet you, Matthew.”

  Once back safely out of the elements and inside the Pink Cupcake, Amelia and Lila played a game of cards and waited for the rain to end.

  “You’re not very good at Go Fish,” Lila teased. “I didn’t think there was anyone who could be bad at Go Fish.”

  Amelia laughed and shook her head.

  “I’m sorry. My mind is just going over the numbers in my head. I know what I need to make each day to break even. Any day that I don’t make that, I’ll have to try for double the next day. It’s just… frustrating.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s too early to panic.” Lila looked out the open window and inhaled deeply. “This rain won’t last.”

  She was right. After another hour, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started. Like bees to honey, the lunchtime crowd scurried out of their buildings wearing galoshes, carrying umbrellas, and looking for sustenance.

  The rest of the day flew by as Amelia baked more of the special cupcakes of the day while Lila handled the cash. No matter how busy she got, Amelia made sure each of her creations had the special little touches that she thought set her apart from other bakers, like a fresh raspberry on the top of her raspberry-chocolate cupcakes, with a pinch of powdered sugar for contrast. The lemon-poppyseed cupcakes were decorated with three little silver balls of candy in the center of each, with half a purple bachelor button flower that could also be eaten. They were little works of art that tasted heavenly.

  By the time Mrs. Vega dropped off three giant burritos—she didn’t want to leave Lila to go hungry—Amelia’s tiny kitchen looked as if a tornado had hit it. Lila calculated the receipts while Amelia cleaned and secured everything for the drive home. After everything was done according to code, Lila gave Amelia the news.

  “Here’s the damage for the day.” She handed Amelia the total and watched.

  A smile spread across her face. “This is correct?”

  “I’d bet my life on it.”

  “This means we made a profit of fourteen dollars and thirty-seven cents.”

&n
bsp; Lila grinned.

  Amelia wanted to cry but remembered her promise to herself from that morning. Swallowing hard, she let out a giggle, tucked the receipt in the bag to turn in to the bank, and hugged Lila tightly. “Thank you. If you hadn’t been so optimistic, I might have just turned around and gone home this morning.”

  “If I weren’t optimistic, I wouldn’t have taken this job at all.”

  Declining a lift home, Lila hopped off the truck and walked in the direction Amelia had seen her come from that morning. She stepped outside the truck to wind down the awning, and a familiar voice startled her from behind.

  “Hey!” It was Adam.

  “Hey,” Amelia said, smiling. “Where is your sister?”

  “She got a ride home with Katherine and her mom.”

  “You didn’t want to take a ride with the BFFs?”

  Adam rolled his eyes and snorted. “I have something for you,” he said, handing his mother his cell phone.

  “What’s this? You’re giving up your phone? You’re going to learn how to read books with pages and catch fireflies after the rain and—”

  “Mom.”

  “Oh, sorry. I thought that’s what you were doing. Okay, tell me what I’m looking at.” She smiled, watching her boy smirk. That was the best smile she could get out of him, and she was happy for that.

  “I set you up with a webpage, blog, Facebook profile, Twitter, and Instagram accounts and have a trademark pending for the Pink Cupcake.”

  Amelia watched as Adam scrolled through the pages, everything bursting with the hot-pink color to match her truck.

  “It’s beautiful, honey. But how am I going to keep on top of this? I barely know how to turn on your laptop.” She smiled.

  “See, that’s the beauty. These are all linked, so if you update one, it will automatically update the rest. All you have to do is post a thought or a special or a recipe or coupon, and it will transfer to all the other outlets. I doubt even the Kardashians are as immersed in the Matrix as you are now.”

  Pulling her son close, she kissed him on the forehead. That required she stand on tiptoe. “This is really great. Thank you. Hey, I’ve got burritos for supper from—”