by Ann S. Marie
“What?” she feigned innocent. “Planning a grand opening of a café?”
He grinned and a cute dimple surfaced on his smooth skin. “You know what I mean,” he said as he cocked a brow. He looked positively irresistible whenever he did that.
“I can’t say I promise.” She shrugged innocently.
He frowned.
“Okay, fine.” She gave in to his pleading expression. “I’ll try not to get myself tangled up like that again if somebody happens to get murdered. But I couldn’t just sit back while you guys try to figure out my fate. I mean, I just knew it had to be someone close to Brad or Bradley and close to me who tried to set this whole thing up.”
“But that’s what we’re here for, Dana. To serve and protect.”
“Of course.”
“And you’re here to serve your customers, right?” He grinned and a cute dimple surfaced on his handsome cheek. “But on a more serious note. Please don’t let me see you ever pull a stunt like that again. There are some dangerous characters that I’ve encountered in my line of work, Dana. It’s not all fun and games. Actually, it’s never fun and games. But people see detective shows on TV and they think they can play cops and robbers or play detective. But they’d be playing with their lives.”
“Okay, Lieutenant Colombo.” Dana gave a playful salute.
His grin deepened, and he looked positively adorable.
“Okay, I deserve that. Sorry to get all serious on you there. It’s just that...”
“It’s just what?”
“Well,” he hesitated, combing his fingers through his delicious mousy hair. “I know I probably shouldn’t tell you this but...” He arched a brow and looked irresistible.
“But what? Hey wait a minute. That’s not like you to hesitate. You’re usually all confident and authoritative. What’s wrong?”
“Well, I’ve never quite met anyone like...” Just then his cell phone buzzed and annoyingly interrupted their private discussion. Troy reached in his pocket to answer it.
Anyone like who? Like me? Is that what Troy was going to say? Oh, great. Now, I’ll never know how he truly feels about me. Not that I really want to be in another relationship right now. Not after what Ramone did to me. But oh, boy, Troy was a million worlds apart from Ramone.
Dang it! Now she’d never know. The opportunity had been missed by the sound of a smartphone ringing.
Troy looked a bit distracted as he excused himself politely from Dana and spoke to whomever it was on the phone.
“Right,” he said into the phone. “Right. I’ve got you. Don’t worry, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Love you, too.”
What?
Dana’s face fell.
She felt the sound of her heart smashing to the ground into a tiny thousand pieces. So much for a chance to get to know detective Troy any better. I love you? I’ll be there soon? Well, duh! Of course, he would be taken. But what about all that talk about he’s never met anyone quite like me? But then again, he didn’t exactly finish his sentence now did he? Maybe he was going to say something to the effect of, he’s never met anyone quite annoying or quite obnoxious. Who knows?
Dana fought to regain her composure and hide her private embarrassment. Well, that confirmed it then. All the good ones were taken.
After Troy had finished his call. He glanced down at his watch and then turned his attention back to Dana.
“Sorry about that. Well, I’ve got to be going now.”
“Yes, of course. Don’t want to keep your wife waiting now, do you?”
A puzzled expression slid across his handsome face. “My what?”
“Um. Your, you know, wife or girlfriend. Fiancée?”
Troy tilted his head back and laughter escaped his lips. “My wife, girlfriend or fiancée, huh?” His hands were shoved in his pants pockets and he looked positively adorable.
Dana nodded. She felt her insides melt like warm honey on a bun. She also felt a pang of embarrassment.
“I’m a complicated man, Dana. Relationships are not on my agenda right now. I’ve been through the ringer and back where that’s concerned.”
“Sorry to hear that. I can certainly relate to that though.”
“That was my mother on the phone,” he said sincerely. “She means the world to me.”
“Your mother? Oh, yes, of course, it was.”
Okay, so Dana had a bit more to learn about being a detective. She surely got that situation wrong. And thank heavens for that! But then again, he wasn’t looking for a relationship and neither was she, right?
But why did her heart flutter in her chest whenever he was inches from her?
Now that was a mystery.
Epilogue
A month later...
“Uncle Merv, are you all right?” Dana Sweet moved closer to her elderly uncle as he held his cane in the hallway of his house. She’d just stopped by to pay him a visit at his house after running some errands for him.
She dropped the bag of groceries by the door as she went over to him. He was standing holding his cane in one hand as he placed the phone receiver down with his other hand. He looked as if someone had died.
“You don’t look too well,” Dana continued, hugging him. “Where’s Aunt Nia?”
“She’s at the nail salon, getting her monthly manicure and pedicure. You know how much she never misses a chance to pamper her nails.”
“I know. Oh, dear. Are you all right?” She helped him into the kitchen and sat him down by the kitchen table on a wooden oak chair.
“Oh, pumpkin. It’s my dear older sister,” Uncle Merv said, sobbing. “She’s back in hospital again.”
“Oh, no. Not Aunt Mary!”
“Yes, you’re grand-aunt Mary, pumpkin. She’s not too well. I don’t know if she’ll make it this time.”
“What is it?”
“Well, you know that she’s an invalid, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, her son Max has been taking care of her at the estate but...but my dear nephew won’t be able to any longer.”
“Oh, no. Why?”
“He’s been arrested.”
“Arrested? But why?”
“For murder.”
“Murder? That’s awful! Uncle Max is so quiet and shy. What happened?”
“His wife was found poisoned?”
Dana gasped. “Oh, no. But uncle Max was always fond of her. Why would he do that? Was it a crime of passion? Were they having a heated argument?”
“Well, I’m not going to lie to you, pumpkin. He was my nephew but the guy liked to get around, you know. He was a bit of a lady’s man. And he had stolen that wife from a friend of his. Well, an ex-friend and business associate.”
“Do you think it’s possible that the jilted husband had anything to do with it?”
Uncle Merv sighed heavily and looked at her with sadness in his eyes.
“I know this is a bit much to ask, pumpkin and you probably want to get things going with the Cozy Cupcakes Café and all, and that online Fox Magazine of yours, but...well, since you’re good at solving riddles, I thought you’d like to help me out here. You know, Max might have been a player but he was the only one to look after my sis.”
“I know, Uncle.”
“And if she stays in that nursing home, she’s a goner. You know how much she doesn’t like to be in institutions. I can’t have that, you know.”
“No, you can’t,” Dana said, thoughtfully, her eyebrows knitted in concern. “And Aunt Mary has been so kind to all of us over the years when she was well.”
And that was true. When Dana’s parents died when she was only a teen, Aunt Mary was one of the first to step in to help Dana and her grandmother by sending money to make sure to take care of them—so were Auntie Nia and Uncle Merv.
Still, Dana really didn’t want to get involved in having to solve another murder again, outside of a murder mystery riddle on her own blog, that is, but this was family. And she didn’t think that
Uncle Max could be capable of murder.
After all, she herself was wrongly a suspect in a murder she had nothing to do with over a month ago when the food critic for the Berry Cove Gazette ended up murdered just shortly after he’d slammed her in an unfavorable and unfair review. It also turned out that the food critic had been dating her competitor, too.
“No. You certainly can’t have that tragic circumstance happen, Uncle Merv.”
Oh, no. There she went again...
* * *
***AVAILABLE NOW: Book 2 in the Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery series
BLUEBERRY CREAM CUPCAKE & MURDER
Thank you for reading Strawberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery, Book # 1)
Coming soon...
More delightful stories set in the cozy small town of Berry Cove in the Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ann S. Marie enjoys reading and writing cozy mysteries and solving mind-boggling mystery riddles with intriguing suspects. Join her email list for updates on more cozy mysteries that will make your toes curl and your heart smile. You can send her an email at [email protected] with the subject line: Email Sign-Up.
She loves to hear from readers.
* * *
Recipes
Dana Sweet’s STRAWBERRY CREAM CUPCAKE RECIPE
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting
Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Total Time: Approximately 60 minutes
Yields: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh (or frozen strawberries) approximately 10-12 strawberries ***should yield approx. 1 cup of pureed strawberries when blended (use ¾ cup for the cake mixture, then ¼ cup for the frosting)
1 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of softened butter or margarine
1 ¼ cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
½ cup of almond milk (vanilla flavor)
Frosting:
1 ½ cups of heavy whipped cream
¼ cup of strawberry pureed ***(see above and use from the left over pureed strawberries from the cake mixture).
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius)
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners
Set aside
In a high-powered blender, place sliced strawberries and chop and mix into a puree
Set strawberry puree aside
In a large mixing bowl, add softened butter or margarine and beat at medium speed
Then gradually add sugar and continue to beat well for approximately 2 minutes
Add eggs to the mixture and beat well
Add vanilla extract to the mixture and beat well
Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture gradually to the mixing bowl
Add Almond Milk and continue beating well in mixer
Add in strawberry puree (approximately ¾ cup, then leave the rest for frosting later)
Divide cake batter evenly among the 12 cupcake cups and fill each to approximately 2/3 full
Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cake is golden brown
Remove cupcakes from baking pan and cool
Set aside
In a large mixing bowl, add whipped cream, sugar, vanilla extract and mix on high speed for approximately 4 minutes
Slowly add the remaining strawberry puree (1/4 cup) to the mixture and continue to blend for another 30 seconds
Once cupcakes have been completely cooled, place frosting in cake decorator with star-tip and pipe frosting around the top of the cupcake swirling it up high and then decorate with a strawberry on top (if desired).
Cupcakes may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Dana Sweet’s WARM APPLE PIE SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
Serves 1
1 apple
½ cup of distilled water
¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of maple syrup or buttermilk syrup
Directions:
Cut or slice apple into chunks. Be sure to remove seeds.
Place apple chunks in a high-powered blender.
Next, add water, vanilla extract, maple syrup, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon in blender.
Blend until smooth.
You can first use the chopping speed, then the mixing speed and then use the puree speed (depending on desired smoothness).
Pour mixture into a microwavable mug or cup.
Next, microwave on high for 1 minute and 45 seconds.
Top with creamy whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
Serve and Enjoy!
A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery!
