by Gayle Trent
“There’s no need for that. I’ll give you the ring. And then, please, just leave.” I headed toward the bedroom. “How did you know Todd anyway?”
He followed me down the hall. “He and Monty were in the pen with my brother. When they got into that mess selling stolen electronics, they called to see if I could help them come up with something else.” He snorted. “Todd promised he could set me up in some kind of construction scam, but that was a lie. He couldn’t do jack.”
“Is that why you killed him?” I looked back over my shoulder at Jeff as I stepped across the threshold into the bedroom.
“He and Monty were both worthless. I simply put both those jerks out of their misery.” He waved the gun toward the empty room. “Get me that ring.”
Opening my jewelry box, I prayed I had a ring I could pass off as Todd’s heirloom.
“Nobody move! This is the police!”
The shout came from the kitchen. Stunned, Jeff whirled toward the sound. I took that opportunity to grab a bookend off the chest of drawers and bash him on the back of the head.
“Ow!”
As he turned back toward me, I hit him again—this time in the face. He crumpled to the floor, dropping the gun and holding his nose.
I scooped up the gun and raced toward the kitchen. “Thank God you’re here! How’d you know? Did Myra call you?” I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s in there.”
“He? Darlin’, I’m here for you!” The officer whipped out an mp3 player, clicked a button, and burlesque music began to play. He stripped off his shirt as he danced around.
I made a lunge for the handcuffs I spotted at the side of his pants.
“Don’t be so impatient! I’ll be here for an hour.” He smiled and continued dancing.
“I need those cuffs!”
“All right. But it’ll cost extra.” He handed me the handcuffs.
Before I could run into the bedroom and cuff Jeff—which in hindsight wouldn’t have worked very well because they were probably kid’s handcuffs—Myra, China, and Juanita burst into the kitchen yelling, “Surprise!”
They were the ones surprised, though, because at that moment, Jeff came running out of the bedroom yelling obscenities.
Strippy Cop was surprised too. “Aw, heck no! I didn’t sign up for this. I’m out!”
“Then you ain’t getting paid!” Myra yelled at the half-naked man who pushed past her and out the kitchen door.
“You shut up and freeze!” China yelled at Jeff. She’d pulled out a pistol from somewhere. “Y’all get behind me!” She cocked the gun. “Except you. You move one more quarter of an inch, and I’ll blow you plumb back into that bedroom.”
I later learned that China had this gun in an ankle holster just in case because, you know, the killer hadn’t been caught yet. Thank goodness for China and her penchant for firearms.
With Jeff immobilized, I was finally able to get to my phone and call the police. The real police.
* * *
So Myra had been planning a surprise bachelorette party. It had certainly been a surprise—for all concerned. Poor Strippy Cop. I told Myra I’d pay his bill because had it not been for him, Jeff might’ve killed me.
“I’ll pay him,” she said with a sigh. “Even though I didn’t get to see his butt in some of them silky drawers they wear.”
“How do you know what they wear?” China asked.
“I’ve seen ‘em on television.” She scowled. “I really did want to see his butt.”
“What if it had been a disappointment?” I tried to hide my smile. “Now he’ll always have the perfect butt because you’ll never know if it wasn’t.”
Juanita was blushing. “Your cake is beautiful, Daphne.”
“Oh, my goodness.” I hopped up off the sofa and ran to check on it. Despite everything, it still looked great. I nearly collapsed in relief.
China chuckled. “Somebody up there likes you.”
All three women had followed me.
I slowly turned the cake. “Are we sure there’s no glass in it?”
“There couldn’t be,” Myra said. “We swept up all the glass, and there wasn’t any anywhere near the island.”
“You’re positive?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Thank you all for cleaning up while I talked with the police.” I hugged each of them. “I’m sorry your party turned into such a disaster.”
“It’s your party,” said China. “And it’s not a total disaster, is it?”
I smiled. “I guess not.”
“Of course, it’s not.” Juanita got out her phone. “I’ll order pizza, and while we wait for the food to get here, we can watch you finish decorating the cake.”
“But— ”
“Good idea,” interrupted Myra. “And then we can eat and watch a movie. Maybe we can find one where some good-looking man wears silky drawers.”
I laughed and cried all at once. “You guys are impossible. Thank you.”
Know the best part? We managed to keep everything from the guys until both parties were over.
* * *
The Fremont home was modeled after Crane Cottage on Jekyll Island. Like the largest private residence on the island situated off the Georgia coast, this house was built in the Italian Renaissance style. Mom was right—Belinda Fremont did love to entertain and to show off that house. Who could blame her?
Ben and I were getting married in the replica formal garden. Hedges trimmed in a repeating diamond pattern framed the left and right sides of the garden leading to a crescent-shaped fountain surrounded by a bed of flowers.
In the upper right corner of the garden, a string quartet played “Canon in D” as Leslie and Violet walked down the aisle between the rows of white folding chairs. They switched to “The Wedding March” as my dad and I started down the aisle. Everyone stood, of course, but I could see a small enclosure in the front left where it wouldn’t be obscured by the wedding party.
I smiled. Although I couldn’t really make them out from this far away, I knew that six Satin Peruvian guinea pigs—or cavies—were inside the wire bordered enclosure trimmed with white ribbon so that they could enjoy the wedding.
I glanced over at Dad.
“What’s that?” he asked. “Are they releasing doves or something afterward?”
I stifled a laugh. “No. I’ll explain later.”
Then I caught sight of Ben. He was looking at me with such love in his eyes. He was my destiny.
I squeezed Dad’s arm. Having him beside me was the only reason I hadn’t kicked off my shoes and sprinted the rest of the way to Ben’s side.
Well, Dad and the fact that it might astonish the cavies.
* * *
The reception was winding down when Mom finally came to hug me and talk with me alone.
“I’m sorry for all that business about Todd,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to invite him back into your life.”
“It’s okay, Mom. That’s all in the past. Besides, he didn’t want back into my life. He wanted my money and his grandmother’s ring.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how he got it into his head—or into the head of the man who killed him over it—that it was worth so much.”
“It was worth a lot. Before you and Todd were—” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “—married—” She resumed speaking normally as if she’d said a bad word she couldn’t say at my current reception. “His mother explained that the ring was an Art Deco ring made in the 1920s.”
“Really? Huh. And to think I shipped it back to his mother in a bubble-wrap lined envelope and didn’t even insure it.” I smiled. “Todd was so stingy I wouldn’t have thought he’d ever give me something so valuable.”
“I believe he loved you once.” She held up a hand. “I know that’s not something you want to hear.”
“No, actually, it’s a comfort. It makes me feel that the years I spent with him weren’t completely wasted.” I hugged her. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, my s
weet girl.”
And then the man of my dreams stole me away for another dance.
- END -
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader:
I hope you enjoyed Killer Wedding Cake. I have fun writing about the Brea Ridge characters and all of their adventures.
When the series was released by its previous publisher after Battered to Death, many of you wrote to ask about the next book. I'm happy to be able to present it to you at long last. Please let me know what you thought about Killer Wedding Cake—what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd like to see more of, and what you'd like to see less of. I'd love your feedback. My email address is [email protected].
Also, as you probably know, reviews are hard to come by. You, the reader, have the power to make or break a book. If you have the time, would you please visit my author page on Amazon (http://bit.ly/KillerWeddingCake) and leave a review of Killer Wedding Cake? Whether you loved the book or hated it, I'd still like to get your opinion.
Thanks for reading Killer Wedding Cake and for spending time with me and the Brea Ridge gang.
More importantly, if you or someone you know might be living in an abusive situation, please visit the following links:
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm
http://www.thehotline.org/
http://www.ncadv.org/
Best wishes,
Gayle
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gayle Trent (and pseudonym Amanda Lee) writes the Daphne Martin Cake Decorating series and the Embroidery Mystery series.
The cake decorating series features a heroine who is starting her life over in Southwest Virginia after a nasty divorce. The heroine, Daphne, has returned to her hometown of Brea Ridge to open a cake baking and decorating business and is wrestling with the question of whether or not one can go home again.
Gayle lives in Virginia with her family, including the Great Pyrenees “lap dog” pictured with her above.
DAPHNE’S KITCHEN
CITRON VODKA CAKE
(Submitted by Kerry Vincent—Above Illustration
by Kerry Vincent)
Ingredients:
250-g (1/2 lb.) 2 sticks butter softened
440g (14 oz) 2 cups of sugar
4 large eggs
620g (20 oz) 3 1/4 C plain (all purpose) flour
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
1 t vanilla essence (extract)
2 t lemon essence (extract)
Juice of one large lemon (60ml) (2oz) (1/4 C) zest of two
250ml (8 oz)(1 cup) of buttermilk
Preparation:
Grease1 x 25cm x 8cm (1 x 10 x3 inch) or Bundt pan
Set oven 170C (325F) (GM3)
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add vanilla.
Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition
Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with buttermilk, start and end with flour. Mix 2 minutes medium speed. Add lemon juice and zest.
Cook on the middle rack of the oven for 60 - 65- minutes -- for three-inch deep pans... check earlier around 45 minutes if the mixture is divided between 2 x10-inch pans.
Test with a skewer before removing from the oven. Immediately prick the cake all over with a satay stick and pour over lemon vodka sauce. This will not hurt the cake as the holes will fill with the sauce and the cake crumb will absorb the liquid and begin to swell. About ten minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven mix the following ingredients.
LEMON VODKA SAUCE
260g (8oz) 1 Cup sugar
125g 1/4 lb. butter
2 teaspoons lemon essence (extract)
Juice of one lemon then make up to half a cup with Stolichnaya Lemon (Citron) Vodka. Do not substitute.
Heat together, just enough to melt the butter. Do not boil. Pour over the hot cake and do not remove from pan until it is almost cold. This cake is extremely rich, very delicious and not for anyone watching their calories.
Serve slices with a light dusting of powdered sugar, and on the side a teaspoonful of raspberry jam and a dollop of whipped cream.
TIPS: If the cake sticks when turning it out that simply means it was left too long in the pan and the sauce has set. All is not lost put the cake back in a warm oven for a few minutes to melt the sauce or heat the exterior surface with a hair dryer set on hot.
Use one set of measurements, metric, imperial or dip and sweep – do not mix and match!
Died and gone to heaven!!!
CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO CAKE
Ingredients:
1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix
½ cup orange juice
½ cup water
4 eggs
½ cup oil
¾ cup chocolate syrup
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cake mix, pistachio pudding mix, orange juice, water, eggs and oil in large mixing bowl. Blend to moisten, and then beat for two minutes at medium speed with electric mixer.
Pour approximately ¾ batter into well-greased and floured Bundt or tube pan. Add chocolate syrup to remaining batter. Mix well. Pour over batter in pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about one hour.
SPICY PUMPKIN ROLL
(Makes 2 Rolls)
Ingredients:
6 eggs, separated
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
Confectioner’s sugar
Preparation:
Mix egg yolks, flour, pumpkin, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and remaining sugar. In large bowl with mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beating at high speed, gradually beat in ½ cup sugar until sugar is dissolved. Whites should stand in stiff, glossy peaks. With wire whisk or spatula, gently fold pumpkin mixture into egg white mixture.
Grease 15 ½” x 10” jelly roll pan, line with waxed paper, grease and flour paper.
Spread half of batter evenly in jelly roll pan, set remaining batter aside. Bake for 12 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched with finger.
When cake is done, immediately invert onto towel that has been dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Starting at narrow end, roll cake with towel, jelly roll fashion. Place cake, seam-side down, on wire rack. Cool for about 1 ½ hours.
While cake is cooling, reline jelly roll pan and bake remaining batter.
Filling
Ingredients
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp. salt
Chopped walnuts (optional)
Preparation
In small bowl, mix all ingredients at low speed until blended.
After preparing filling, gently unroll cooled cakes. Evenly spread half of cream cheese mixture on each cake almost to edges. Starting at the same narrow end, reroll each cake without the towel. Place rolls seam-side down on large platter. Cover and refrigerate until chilled (about 1 hour).
To Freeze
Wrap each pumpkin roll tightly with foil or freezer wrap, seal, and freeze for up to one month. To thaw, let rolls stay wrapped in refrigerator for about 3 hours.
To serve, sprinkle rolls lightly with confectioner’s sugar.
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