For Butter Or For Worse (Patty Cakes Bake Shop Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

by Holly Plum

  Sara Beth searched the glove compartment for her sunglasses. Joy started up the car, already anxious to get to the Diamond Shell Hotel with her cake in one-piece.

  “It's so bright out here," Sara Beth commented. "When is this storm going to roll in? The weather channel says it's going to be a big one.”

  “I doubt it,” Joy said dismissively, squinting as the sun shone on her face.

  “The sky can change in an instant here,” Sara Beth replied. "Remember that nasty hurricane we got last year? No one saw it coming."

  “Don't believe that local weather channel. They never get it right.” Joy shook her head. "They didn't get it right last year either."

  Joy leisurely drove through town. With the air-conditioner blasting, Sara Beth put her feet up on the dashboard and watched the white sand shoreline out her window. The beach was a popular wedding venue, and so was the Diamond Shell Hotel. The drive to the resort consisted of gorgeous ocean views. But they still had to pass Joy's least favorite business, and coincidentally her number one competition in town. The Sugar Room was the only other bakery around, and it too offered wedding cakes and custom desserts. Joy took a detour to avoid driving past the storefront, lest Joy catch a glimpse of her nemesis Maple McWayne. Maple was the owner of The Sugar Room, and she was constantly looking for ways to put Joy out of business. If there was anything that could make Joy's blood boil it was seeing Maple.

  “Oh my,” Sara Beth said. "You should probably keep your eyes straight ahead."

  The sky suddenly became dark. Huge gray clouds rolled in and cast a dark shadow over everything in sight. Joy had made the wrong choice by taking a detour. A car with The Sugar Room logo drove alongside them.

  “Great,” Joy muttered and sped up. She didn't want Maple to see her. "I hope this isn't a bad omen." Joy drove away from the car as fast as she could without driving recklessly. Even in frustrating situations, Joy still strove to stay a law-abiding citizen.

  As Joy turned onto the main road that would take them straight to the Diamond Shell Hotel, the sky suddenly broke into bolts of lightning and loud, aggressive thunder.

  Sara Beth shot Joy a look that screamed I told you so.

  “Well, okay,” Joy admitted. “Maybe the weather channel gets it right some of the time. I'm sure these clouds will pass by quickly.”

  “I don't know,” Sara Beth mumbled. “They said it'd be a tropical storm. I hope we get out of the hotel in time.”

  With a huge clap of thunder, rain suddenly began to bucket down across the town. Traffic crawled. The entire sky was covered in dark gray clouds with no sign of the bright blue. The downpour was heavy and consistent. It came down so fast that the windshield wipers could barely keep up, and Joy drove at half the speed limit to be safe. Sara Beth saw no sign of the storm rolling over quickly, and put her sunglasses back in the glove compartment.

  Built overlooking the ocean, the Diamond Shell Hotel's manicured gardens was a destination that drew tourists from all over the country. There were also rumors that the gardens were haunted. Despite the hotel's difficulty in keeping a groundskeeper on-site, the lawns remained clipped, and the flowers bloomed in synchronicity without any intervention of man. Joy suspected that the hotel concocted the rumors to drive up business, and probably hired gardeners to work in the middle of the night. Whether or not the rumors had any truth to them, it was true that the gardens were extravagant.

  Adorning the hotel was a rooftop deck that graced the very top of the multi-level building. It featured classic and contemporary marble statues, a huge Baroque fountain, and a view of the gardens and ocean below. It was the perfect setting for any event, and the soon-to-be-bride, Bridget Clarke, had booked it months in advance for her bridal shower.

  Unfortunately, Bridget had watched in despair as the sapphire blue sky was quickly covered in slate gray clouds, and the downpour and gale-force winds forced the party inside. Luckily, The Diamond Shell Hotel wasn't just beautiful. It boasted a five-star experience and exceptional service. The manager, Mr. Sullivan, worked his staff overtime to move the party into the extravagant rooftop ballroom. The room was almost as large as the deck, and Bridget said she was happy with the arrangement after she saw the three crystal chandeliers adorning the ceilings. At least, Bridget still had a clear view of the ocean since the ballroom was on the top floor.

  Joy and Sara Beth had arrived a little late and were now putting on the finishing touches to the cake they had made for the party. Sara Beth dipped a small spatula into a bowl of frosting and ran it across the surface of the cake, patching up spots that had been bumped or nudged during the drive from Patty Cakes Bake Shop. Joy stood with her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side, considering the placement of the cake. Joy looked occupied with her work, but secretly she was trying to hold in a waterfall of emotions. She ran her fingers over her left ring finger where her engagement ring used to be. This hotel was where she had been planning to have her wedding, many years ago before her mother had passed away and Joy's life had crumbled around her like a shortbread cookie.

  “Well, if it isn't Joy Cooke,” a shrill voice sounded from behind her.

  Joy spun around to see the last person she ever wanted to see. It was Maple McWayne. Maple was dressed in a fuchsia pantsuit, accessorized with a gaudy gold necklace, gigantic hook earrings, and a huge fake smile.

  “Hello, Maple.” Joy forced a smile. She turned back toward her cake to cut off any chance of conversation. Maple was never one to respect Joy's social cues, and walked directly in front of Joy, blocking her vision of the cake.

  “Are you a friend of the bride?” Maple asked, picking some lint off of Joy's pastel blouse.

  “Of sorts. She's a very loyal client of mine.” Joy emphasized the word client and leaned to the side in an effort to see around Maple's shoulder. Joy attempted to catch Sara Beth's gaze, but her assistant had her sights set on someone else. Sara Beth was smiling adoringly at Maple's baking assistant, Lenny. He was carrying a huge box to the catering table. It looked large enough to house a cake of its own. Joy scowled, and Maple moved back into her line of vision.

  “Oh, the bridesmaids hired you to make little gift bags or something, did they?” Maple kept smiling.

  “No, Maple. I made the cake for today as you can see. The bride hired me.” Joy pushed past Maple and made her way toward Sara Beth. Maple continued to follow her, letting out an awkward chuckle.

  “There's a mistake then," Maple went on. "You must have gotten it wrong, darling.”

  “No mistake. This is the cake.” Joy motioned to the two-tiered masterpiece she had created the night before. "I have every right to be here. What are you doing here?"

  Maple joined her assistant Lenny and cleared her throat. She ran her fingers across a large box with The Sugar Room logo on it.

  “Joy, darling. You have it all wrong because this in the cake.” With a dramatic sweep of her hand, Maple untied the box. It fell away to reveal a two-tiered cake with beige frosting and delicate lace icing. “A lemon, poppy seed sponge with black tea -”

  “Black tea icing -” Joy frowned. This wasn't good. They had baked near-identical cakes. This wasn't good at all. Had Joy gotten it wrong? Joy couldn't remember the last time she'd screwed up on an order.

  “The cakes have arrived,” a high-pitched squeal erupted from the middle of the ballroom. A flurry of colorful silk scarves and jewelry danced towards the catering table. It was Bridget Clarke, the bride-to-be. Bridget had some clarifying to do.

  “You mean cake,” Sara Beth responded bluntly. "The cake has arrived."

  “No I mean cakes. Plural. As in I ordered two cakes." Bridget clapped her hands together, causing her bracelets to jingle and her rings to crash together like musical instruments.

  “Two cakes, darling?" Maple questioned Bridget. "If you wanted two cakes, The Sugar Room could have made you two cakes at a fair discount." Maple sounded frustrated, but she forced out a friendly laugh to try and hide her anger. Lenny put a hand on h
is boss's shoulder, which she briskly flicked off.

  “As you can see from my necklace, I'm a Libra.” Bridget motioned to one of her five necklaces. It was a set of scales studded with gemstones. Joy and Sara Beth exchanged confused looks. Maple squinted at Bridget in confusion.

  “Libras are notoriously indecisive,” a voice came from behind Bridget. “Bridget couldn't decide on a cake for the wedding, so she's taste testing both of yours today.” A smaller woman with wavy red hair appeared, wearing almost as many pieces of jewelry as Bridget.

  “Testing us?” Joy asked.

  “Bridget is pitting you off against each other,” the red-haired woman explained. "May the best cake win."

  “That's right, Willow," Bridget said, looking at the red-headed woman. "There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition. By the way, this is my dear sister Willow.”

  “A pleasure to meet you,” Sara Beth replied first. She shook Willow's hand, giving Joy more time to process the news.

  “Willow is a Gemini if you couldn't tell.” Bridget laughed, ignoring the obvious tension between the two cake makers.

  Maple ignored all common cordiality and boldly asked Bridget, “Did your sister say you are pitting us off against each other? For the love of cupcakes, why would you do that? I'm not starring in a reality T.V. show right now, am I? I think you're legally obligated to tell me if you're filming us right now." Maple quickly fixed her hair.

  “This isn't a joke. As a jewelry designer, I'm very visually oriented, you see?” Bridget motioned to her jewels. “With such an eye for detail, I need to see the cakes side-by-side before deciding on who to hire for the final showpiece. What better way to decide who will make my wedding cake than with all of my friends?”

  Maple grunted and motioned for Larry to join her in putting the finishing touches on their cake.

  Joy nervously looked over at the two cakes. They looked nearly identical. Both were beige with white icing lacework. Joy's cake had a string of edible pearls cascading around the base layer, and three sugar magnolias. She had added them to give the cake a sophisticated edge, but now Joy began to question her choice. Did Maple's cake look more professional? Keeping it simple often made things look a little more polished. Joy let out a sigh and shook her head. She understood where Bridget was coming from, but that didn't stop Joy from feeling a knot of anxiety in her stomach. She had been competing with Maple for customers for years, but never directly next to her.

  Sara Beth placed her hand on Joy's shoulder and whispered, “You are mad. I can sense it.”

  "Of course not," Joy answered. "You take all of the time you need to decide." Joy took a page from Sara Beth's book on sweet-talking customers.

  "That's very mature of you." Bridget nodded.

  “Hors d'oeuvres?” A server approached the group.

  “What is this?” Bridget looked at the tray.

  “Here we have asparagus vol au vents, and these are the prosciutto crostinis with fresh fennel,” the server replied.

  “I know what they're supposed to be,” Bridget said with a fierceness in her eyes. “I see no asparagus sprig on top of this vol au vent, and I see only a limp slice of fennel on this crostini. Thank you for carrying these around but please go back to the kitchen and get this atrocity fixed.”

  Joy, Sara Beth, and Willow watched as Bridget walked out of the room with the server. They could tell from the look on his face that he would be getting a talking-to, despite the huge smile that Bridget wore on her face.

  “She's a perfectionist,” Willow said to Sara Beth to explain her sister's behavior.

  A crash of thunder broke through the room. Sara Beth jumped. Willow let out a squawk.

  “Did you just squawk?” Joy asked as politely as possible.

  “Oh, you heard that? This is Charles.” Willow peeled back the collar of her jacket. Suddenly a small parrot stuck its head out.

  “SQUAWK,” the parrot repeated.

  “Hello there, Charles.” Sara Beth introduced herself.

  “This has to be the strangest wedding we've ever done,” Joy mumbled when Willow was out of earshot.

  ***

  Despite the storm, hundreds of guests began arriving, and the bridal shower quickly fell into full swing. A D.J. played Bridget's favorite songs, and guests began filling up the dance floor. Sara Beth used her southern charms to get one of the servers to get her a champagne glass of sweet tea. Joy tried her best to have a good time, but she felt awkward and unsettled. She wasn't a big party person, much preferring to spend her nights at home in her seaside bungalow with her cat, Cheesecake.

  Joy watched Bridget work the room. The bride-to-be constantly pointed to the huge windows in the ballroom and talked about the view of the beach, though no one could see much beyond the torrential downpour that was raging outside.

  Joy kept an eye on Maple, particularly when she hovered around the cake table. Joy didn't put it past her nemesis to sabotage her cake. Underhanded tactics were part of Maple's mode of operations. Just recently, Joy had heard about a stunt that Maple had staged at the Senior Center. Maple gave the seniors free cupcakes and then asked them to raise their hands if they agreed that The Sugar Room had the best frosting in town. Only the people who raised their hands got a second cupcake. Now there was a gigantic banner above The Sugar Room saying Voted #1 Best Frosting in Town. Whenever Joy drove past, she thought about ripping down the banner or setting it on fire. The most frustrating part for Joy was that she had been blessed and cursed with her mother's morals. She could never bring herself to do anything underhanded or nasty to Maple, no matter how much she despised her.

  Maple reached out to touch a sugar flower on Joy's cake, and Joy opened her mouth to yell at her. The music stopped suddenly, and a woman in bright red stepped onto the stage and spoke into a microphone. Maple caught Joy's scowl and put her hands in her pockets, stepping away from the cakes.

  “Hello, everyone," the woman in red said. "Thank you for coming out for my best friend's bridal shower.”

  The crowd applauded, and everyone gathered around the stage.

  “For those of you who don't know me,” the woman continued, “I'm Maya Jordon, and I'm very proud to announce that I am the maid of honor for the upcoming wedding of my beloved best friend and business partner, Bridget. Bridget and Matthew are the perfect pair. Give it up for Bridget, everyone. Doesn't she look incredible today?”

  Bridget waved to the crowd.

  “Let's get to the best part of a bridal shower," Maya joked. "The gifts! And if anyone would like a piece of cake while we open presents, there are two incredible looking cakes back there and two incredible women serving them. Let's all give a hand to the cake ladies.”

  The room applauded. Maple put on a huge smile and waved enthusiastically, motioning to her cake. Joy felt faint as many people looked at her all at once. But Joy pulled herself together and copied Maple's gestures toward her own cake. She had no idea what she was doing. The crowd started to move toward the cake table. Joy felt like she was about to be trampled by a stampede. Luckily, Sara Beth rushed forward and joined her at the table, grabbing a serving knife.

  Joy watched Maple cutting perfect slices with sharp edges and hardly a spilled crumb. She passed the pieces over to Lenny who placed them on a plate and decorated them with a small edible pansy. Joy felt her anxiety kick in. She hadn't brought any edible decorations. She hadn't thought it was necessary to pull out all the stops for a bridal shower.

  Sara Beth snapped Joy out of her panicked state by passing her the cake knife. Joy's assistant stood beside her, holding plates and making small-talk with the guests to keep all the attention off of Joy. This was for the best because Joy quickly became completely engrossed with cutting perfect slices of cake. They needed to be exactly the right size without a single crumb out of place. Joy got better and better at it. The bride and her maid of honor, Maya, took to the stage again.

  “Alright everyone, the time has come," Maya announced.

 
Joy and Maple both reluctantly put down their knives as the crowd turned to watch Bridget open her gifts. A line of gift-givers had formed by the stage. Joy watched as Willow pushed her way to the front, her red hair and green parrot making her stand out.

  “Me first,” Willow demanded. Bridget gave her sister a kiss on the cheek and scratched Charles under his chin. Willow's parrot chirped happily.

  The crowd grew silent as Willow presented Bridget with a small gift. It was tied with a gold ribbon and decorated with small bells. Bridget unwrapped it gently, and then gasped when she saw what was inside.

  “It's beautiful.” Bridget sighed.

  “I spent months in antique stores looking for the perfect thing for you. It is your something blue, you see?” Willow explained. Bridget held up an antique locket decorated with blue gems that shone with an intense sparkle.

  "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue," Bridget recited. "Oh Willow, I love it."

  The crowd applauded as the sisters hugged, but the applause was cut short by a blood-curding scream.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Bridget's bridal shower ended early. The police announced that a woman had fallen to her death and that no one was to leave until they had questioned all of the guests. Rain slammed against the windows, and the wild wind rattled the frames. Joy worried that the weather was getting worse and, fearing that flying debris would shatter the windows, she stood squarely in the middle of the room. Sara Beth stood with her, sipping the last glass of sweet tea she had been given before the party had turned into a crime scene.

  Detective Sugar made his way around the room with his thick notepad. He gave Joy and Sara Beth a nod from across the room when he noticed them. The detective questioned Willow. He then spotted Maple and proceeded to look confused that both of the town's cake makers were catering to the same party.

  Detective Sugar was a tall, eccentric man. Ever since Joy had sold him one of her cherry tarts, he had become a regular at Patty Cakes Bake Shop. The detective came in almost every night just before closing and ordered a slice of cherry tart and a cup of strong black coffee. Being privy to the happenings of the town, he was well aware of the rival between Joy and Maple. It wasn't a secret that Joy's tarts meant that the detective was squarely in the Patty Cakes Bake Shop camp. Joy watched as Charles the parrot crawled gently onto Detective Sugar's shoulder and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek.