A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Box Set

by Kate Bell

  “Why didn’t you go to Henry’s? I have your favorite key lime pie there,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. I smelled a turncoat.

  “Oh, you do? I didn’t know that. I just heard there was a new restaurant in town, so I thought I’d stop by. Have you tried it yet?” she asked.

  “Indeed I have. Their desserts are terrible though,” I said.

  “Really? I heard they were the best in town. Oh, I mean, oh, that’s not what I meant,” she said, trying to backtrack. “I’m sure they aren’t that good.”

  I sighed. “They aren’t terrible. They’re very good. Very authentic French cuisine,” I said, sadly.

  “Oh,” she frowned. “Are they hurting your business?”

  I nodded. “My recipes stink,” I said, trying not to cry.

  “That isn’t true,” Lucy chimed in, coming to be defense. “It’s just a new restaurant and people always want to try out what’s new. I’m sure that’s all it is.”

  “I’m sorry, mom. That’s all I was doing. I just wanted to try something new. But I don’t have to. I can go to Henry’s. I do love key lime pie.”

  “No, honey, you should try this place out. It’s really good. Oh, and you know, maybe you could order a couple of desserts to go? I just wanted to try some for research purposes,” I said.

  “Sure, I can do that. But why don’t you just come in with me and we can all have lunch?” she asked.

  “Because she just got kicked out of there,” Lucy said, nodding her head slowly.

  “What? What do you mean?” Jennifer asked, sounding appropriately disturbed.

  I nodded my head sadly. “That little French tart was on to me. She knew who I was. She must have seen my picture on my blog and recognized me. And now I’m banned.”

  “Well, don’t you worry. They don’t know who I am. I’ll get you your desserts,” Jennifer said.

  I smiled. That’s my little girl. “Make sure you get me some of that Lemon mousse. It’s new and I haven’t tried it. And at least a couple of others. Um, four others, okay? Anything you want.”

  “Seriously? You want that many desserts?” Jennifer asked.

  I nodded. “Research purposes.”

  “Okay, I’ll stop by the house when I’m done.”

  “Thanks, honey. I always liked you,” I said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said and headed for the front door of the restaurant.

  That girl was a keeper.

  Chapter Eighteen

  After being shown the door at Le Chemise, I decided I needed a caffeine fueled mood booster and we headed to the Cup and Bean. The combination of sugar and caffeine always made me feel better. My ego needed it.

  “I’m going with the Crème Brulee latte,” Lucy said as we waited in line.

  “That sounds French,” I pointed out. I had had enough French anything for one afternoon.

  “Sorry. My taste buds were primed for French and they were denied. I need this,” she said.

  I snorted. “Fine. I’m getting a mocha with a double shot of espresso. And maybe a piece of double fudge cake.”

  “Good choice. That will make you forget you were rejected.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” I pouted.

  “Valentine’s Day will be here soon, you know,” she said.

  “I’m aware of that. Alec said he was taking me somewhere, but he won’t come clean on the details. As long as it’s not a certain French restaurant, I don’t really care,” I said.

  Lucy turned to me with a big grin. “You know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I think he’s going to pop the question,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now.”

  “Uh, what?” I said.

  “He’s going to ask you to marry him. You guys are such a cute couple and I know you haven’t been together that long, but you guys are so good together!” she gushed. “I just have a feeling about this.”

  “Stop it, Lucy. He is not going to ask me to marry him,” I said.

  “I bet he is,” she insisted. “How romantic! Ed doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body so I’ll have to live through the two of you. I think he wants to watch a Twilight Zone marathon on Valentine’s Day. Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

  “Lucy, I swear, he is not going to ask me to marry him. I don’t think,” I said, thinking about it. “No, I know he isn’t. Stop it.” It was ridiculous to think Alec was going to ask me to marry him. We hadn’t been dating nearly long enough. I mean, if he were going to ask me to marry him, wouldn’t I know it?

  “Okay, if you say so,” she said, turning back toward the front of the line again.

  I was fairly sure Alec was not going to ask me to marry him. At least, I didn’t think he was. Did I even want him to? I was crazy about him, to be sure, but it was still early in our relationship. And other than hinting that our Valentine’s Day date was a surprise, I had no other hints that he might be ready to pop the question. Other than we were crazy about each other. And so comfortable with each other. That was one of the things that I loved about him. We just fit one another so perfectly. I pushed the idea of him asking me to marry him out of my head. A thought like that would make me crazy.

  The door whisked open and I glanced over my shoulder. Jenna Maples walked through the door and got in line behind us.

  “Hi, Jenna,” I said, turning and giving her a smile.

  “Hi, Allie,” she returned. “This place always smells so good.”

  “Yes, it does. How are you doing?” I asked. I wanted to ask if she killed Spencer, but I figured Alec wouldn’t be too thrilled with that.

  “I’m great. I’ve been working all day, packing up my house.”

  “Oh?” I asked. “Are you moving?”

  “Yes, I am,” she said. She looked very chipper and happy. “I’m moving back to California. I lived there a few years ago, and I’ve missed it.”

  “Did you get a job there? What is it that you do?” I asked. I couldn’t remember her ever mentioning where she worked.

  “Yes, I did. I’ve done a little IT work in the past. I just can’t wait to get back into the sunshine.”

  I would have to tell Alec about this. I was suspicious of her saying she did IT work. Had she worked for Stanton Industries? Why was she moving? She was an unofficial suspect and Alec needed to know we were about to lose contact with her.

  The door swung open and I bit my lower lip as Meg Cranston walked through it. When she spotted Jenna, she stopped in her tracks.

  Jenna turned to see who had come through the door and smiled at Meg, then turned around, without a trace of recognition on her face. I swallowed and elbowed Lucy. Lucy turned to see why I was elbowing her and caught sight of Meg standing there.

  “You have some nerve,” Meg said, walking up behind Jenna.

  “Uh Oh,” I whispered to Lucy.

  Jenna acted as if she hadn’t heard Meg, and began searching through her purse.

  “I said, you have some nerve!” Meg said louder.

  Jenna looked up and slowly turned toward Meg. “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?”

  “You know I’m talking to you,” Meg said, moving toward Jenna. Her face twisted in anger. “Why did you kill him?”

  Jenna’s face showed surprise. “What are you talking about? Kill who?”

  “Maybe you should call Alec,” Lucy whispered in my ear.

  I pulled my phone out of my purse and held on to it. I didn’t want to bother him unnecessarily, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if these two started throwing punches.

  “My husband! You killed my husband!” Meg said.

  Jenna shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you?”

  “You know who I am! You killed my husband!” Meg screamed.

  The coffee shop turned silent as all eyes were on the two women. I didn’t know what to do, so I did all I could think of. I took a couple of steps forward.

  “Listen, Meg, try to calm down,
” I said.

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down. You and that partner of yours might be happy to sit on your hands while this murderer goes free, but I’m not going to! I won’t be silent while a killer goes free!”

  “Honestly, I don’t have a clue who you or your husband are,” Jenna said. “Why are you accusing me of killing someone?”

  “Listen, Meg, this isn’t the time or the place for this. I really think you should try and calm down. There isn’t any evidence that Jenna killed anyone,” I said quietly.

  “Evidence?” Jenna said. “I don’t even know this woman or her husband. What’s going on here? Are you talking about the man they found in the park?”

  “Nothing is going on,” I said. “Mrs. Cranston is just having a hard time with the death of her husband.”

  “Oh, and you wouldn’t have a hard time if your husband was murdered?” Meg asked me. I needed to figure out a way to get Meg out of here before she did something she regretted. I looked at Lucy for help, but all she did was shake her head.

  “Listen, if you ladies don’t calm down, I’m going to call the police,” the woman behind the counter said.

  “Let’s not have that,” I said to Meg and Jenna. “We don’t want that.”

  “You’ll be hearing from me,” Meg said. She spun on her heel and was out the door before Jenna could answer her.

  Jenna looked at me. “Really, I don’t know who she is or why she’s upset with me. This town is full of crazies. I’m going to go home and finish packing,” she said. “The sooner I leave this place behind, the better.”

  I sighed as the door closed behind her. I hoped they didn’t meet up in the parking lot. I could feel all eyes on me, and I pretended nothing had happened as I dug through my purse for something to do.

  “I hope they don’t brawl in the parking lot,” Lucy whispered to me.

  “Me too,” I said.

  I placed the order for me and Lucy and we headed for an empty table. That was when I noticed Marge Buttons sitting by herself. She smiled at me when I looked in her direction.

  I steered Lucy over to her table. “Hi, Marge, may we sit with you?”

  She nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”

  I introduced her to Lucy. “That was kind of crazy,” I said.

  “It sure was,” she answered. “I kind of freaked out when I saw Meg Cranston walk through the door. You know that Jenna used to work for Stanton Industries, don’t you?”

  I looked at her. “No. I didn’t know that. Why doesn’t she work there now?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. After we all transferred to Maine, Jenna suddenly quit. I asked around, but no one seemed to know.”

  “I wonder why Jenna keeps insisting she doesn’t know Meg or Spencer Cranston?” I asked. “I mean, if they worked together, how could she not know him?”

  Marge shrugged. “I still wonder why she quit so suddenly. Rumor had it that Jenna was going places with the company, and then she was gone.”

  I took all of this in. Something didn’t add up.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When I got home from the Cup and Bean, there were five take out boxes of desserts from Le Chemise on my kitchen counter.

  “Now that’s what I call service,” I said to myself. I opened one up and was greeted by the scent of fresh strawberries. A lovely little strawberry tart sat, waiting for me to indulge. I got a fork out of the silverware drawer and inserted it underneath a large glazed strawberry. There was a custard layer beneath the top strawberry layer, just as I expected. I put the strawberry and a generous layer of the custard on the fork and brought it to my mouth and moaned. This was good.

  “So I take it you like it?” Jennifer asked, coming into the kitchen.

  “Oh, Jennifer, thank you for bringing me these desserts,” I said. “This strawberry tart is so wonderful!”

  “I know, I had one with lunch. It was really good and I knew I had to bring you one. I’ll have you know, that little French person, inferred I was fat for ordering five desserts to take home,” she said. “I am not fat!”

  “No, you aren’t, dear. That woman is just a grumpy thing. I appreciate the sacrifice you made for me though,” I told her.

  “You shouldn’t have made yourself such a nuisance or you could have done it yourself,” she said, grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

  “Hey, I did not make myself a nuisance. She just recognized me from my blog.” I opened another box up. “Oh, the Napoleon. How wonderful.”

  I took a forkful of the majestically flaky pastry and took a bite.

  “Good?” she asked.

  I nodded, moaning. “So good. I have got to come up with some desserts to beat these. I just have to.”

  “I think everything you make is just as good as any of these,” Jennifer said, grabbing a fork and joining me.

  “Oh, thank you, honey, but I just don’t think so. I think I’m in trouble.”

  “Stop it. That isn’t true. You just need to figure out how to drum up some business. It isn’t the desserts that are a problem, but the fact that this other place is so new.”

  “Did I ever tell you that you’re my favorite daughter?” I asked her.

  “Plenty of times.”

  I heard my phone ringing from the other room. “Don’t eat all of these,” I said as I headed to the living room.

  “You better hurry back then,” she said.

  I grabbed my phone and saw it was my son, Thad. Thad was away at college in Wisconsin. “Hello,” I answered.

  “Hey, Mom, how are you?” he asked.

  “I’m good, honey. What are you up to?”

  “Nothing, just calling to say hi,” he said.

  “Oh, that’s sweet, honey. Hi right back at you,” I said, sitting down on the sofa.

  “And to say that I think I’m going to propose to Sarah on Valentine’s Day.”

  I hoped I didn’t gasp too loudly. “You are?”

  “Yeah. You aren’t too shocked, are you?” he asked, with a chuckle.

  “N-no. I mean, I guess I knew you were serious about her. And she is a really nice girl,” I said. A little part of my heart felt like it was breaking just then. Thad had brought Sarah home for Thanksgiving and she had come along with us when we went to visit my mother in Alabama for Christmas. It had taken me a little while to warm up to her, but it turned out that she was a really sweet girl. And she loved my son. But still, my heart hurt just a bit at the news.

  “I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Mom. I love her,” he said quietly.

  Tears sprang to my eyes and I took a deep breath. “I’m happy for you, Thad. I really am. How are you going to propose? Did you buy a ring?”

  “To be honest, I don’t really know yet. She’s not really a traditional, candy and flowers kind of girl,” he said. “And no ring yet. I think she’d be happier picking out her own, so I bought a plastic one as a prop. Do you think that’s okay?”

  “Sure it is,” I said, blinking the tears away. “I think you’re right that she will want to pick out her own. She probably has something specific in mind and will want it to match your wedding ring. Oh, wedding rings. I can hardly believe you’ll be picking out wedding rings!”

  He chuckled. “What about you, Mom? I get the feeling Alec will be asking you to marry him soon.”

  “What?” I said. “Why do you say that?”

  “Come on, Mom, he’s crazy about you. I bet he’s got something special planned for Valentine’s Day.”

  “Thad, do you know something?” I asked. My heart started pounding. Maybe Lucy was right. Maybe Alec really was going to propose on Valentine’s Day. Had I missed the signs?

  “Well, I haven’t talked to him, so I’m not spilling the beans or anything, but I just have a hunch.”

  “Well, I think you may be wrong,” I said slowly. But did I really think he was wrong? Alec and I had grown close very fast. We were a very young middle-aged couple and why should we wait? We had both been married befo
re and we knew what we wanted.

  “I don’t know about that,” he teased.

  “Thad, I’m happy for you. You can’t get much more romantic than proposing on Valentine’s Day,” I said, turning the conversation back to him. “Let me know how things go.”

  “I will, Mom.”

  I put my phone in my pocket and headed back into the kitchen. I wondered if Thad really did know something and he was teasing me, saying he didn’t. Why would he bring it up, otherwise? Maybe Alec really was going to propose. If he did, I hoped he would go ahead and pick out the engagement ring. I was an old-fashioned girl and I wanted him to pick it out. I trusted his taste and it would be beautiful.

  “Who was it?” Jennifer asked, digging into a chocolate cream pie.

  “Your brother. He’s going to propose to Sarah on Valentine’s Day.”

  “I knew it,” she said. “Every time I call him, all he ever does is talk about her.”

  I smiled. “Well, they are in love.”

  “I know. I like Sarah. I think she’s good for him, and she fits in with us,” she said. “And this chocolate pie is pretty darned good.”

  I sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

  “So, Jennifer. How about you? Any plans for Valentine’s day?” I asked, helping myself to the chocolate pie.

  “I just might have a date,” she said smugly.

  “Oh, Jennifer, that’s wonderful. Do I know him?”

  “Nope. He’s a boy from my English class. And that’s all you’re getting out of me for now,” she said.

  “Well, I better get more out of you after your date,” I said.

  “And what about your plans for Valentine’s Day?” she asked.

  “Alec says it’s a surprise,” I said, trying a bite of the Tarte Tatin. I wanted to ask her opinion on whether she thought Alec might ask me to marry him, but I thought it might not be a good idea. Jennifer had had problems adjusting to me dating when Alec and I first started seeing each other. While she had eventually adjusted to the idea, I wasn’t sure she was ready to think about me getting married yet. If Alec did ask me, I would have to break it to her gently. I knew she liked Alec, but she missed her father.