by Harper Lin
“Hello?”
“Mom?” It was Adam’s voice. He sounded like that little boy who had held her hand tightly in the parking lot. “Are you okay?” The worry in his voice was like a slap against Amelia’s heart.
“Honey, I’m fine. I’m so sorry,” she soothed. “Is your sister there? Tell her that I’m fine and I’ll be home tomorrow.”
She heard Adam repeat the words to his sister in the background.
“What happened? Did you really get shot?”
“It isn’t like you think. It’s more like a really bad scratch, that’s all.”
Again Adam reported the details to his sister.
“Mom, we called Dad. He said…”
“Don’t tell me what he said, honey. I’ll give him a call myself and let him know that I’m bulletproof.” She chuckled a little for Adam’s sake.
“Mom?” Meg must have wrestled the phone from her brother. “Lila is here. She said she was going to take us for pizza.”
“Well, isn’t she the sweetest thing?”
“And she said not to worry about the truck. She’s got someone who can help, and you won’t even miss a day. Just enjoy your hospital food and relax.”
“Would you tell Lila I owe her, again.”
Meg relayed the message, and there was something said that made her fourteen-year-old daughter laugh. It sounded like music.
“We were really worried about you, Mom. I think Adam and I are going to have to think of an appropriate punishment. Grounding may not be enough.”
“Oh, great. Well, I’ll take my lumps.” She looked at Dan and smiled. “I’m grounded.”
“Can you have visitors? I may have to stop by and check on you.”
Amelia felt her cheeks turn red.
“Okay, Mom. We’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.”
“I love you both. Tell your brother.”
“I will.”
“Tell him now.”
“Mom,” Meg whined.
“Would you please?” Amelia laughed.
“Ugh, Adam, Mom says she loves you. Ick. There. Happy now?”
“Very. See you guys tomorrow.”
Hanging up the phone, Amelia told Dan that Lila was with her kids. Her voice trembled a little as she told him a little more about them, their personalities, and how their hobbies suited them.
“Adam will be thrilled at what a big part his photo played in apprehending a murderer.”
“Adam what?” John stepped into the hospital room, his face drawn and pale.
“John? What are you doing here?” Amelia straightened in the bed, barely aware of the pain.
“The kids called and told me you got shot.” He panted as if he were upset the wound wasn’t more serious.
“Detective Dan Walishovsky, this is my ex-husband, John.” Dan stood straight and offered his hand to John, who shook it quickly, barely looking at Dan’s face.
“Nice to meet you,” John growled as he stared at Amelia. “So, what happened?”
Amelia looked apologetically at Dan, who nodded and gave her a discreet wink.
“I’ll check on you later. Thanks again, Amelia. We couldn’t have solved this without you.” Jerking his chin up at John, Dan left the room.
“Now, before you get crazy, John, let me tell you that the kids were not in any danger and…”
“No, but their mother got shot.”
“I didn’t get shot, John, the bullet just grazed me. Thanks to the fact the old lady’s sight was going.” Amelia batted her eyelashes.
John sat down on the side of the bed, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. He took Amelia’s hand in both of his. They didn’t speak.
“John?”
“If something happened to you…who’d take the kids?”
“What?”
John looked at Amelia.
“Jennifer and I are planning a future and…”
“John, you don’t need to explain to me. I’m fine. The kids will be fine.” She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away. “Now that you’re here, we need to talk about Adam’s birthday. What is this talk about a party at the Windham?”
Amelia and John spoke for over an hour until the nurse stopped in.
“Our guest needs a little rest,” the nurse chirped.
Chapter Eighteen
When Amelia got home from the hospital—thanks to Dan, who offered to drive—she entered the quiet, empty house and immediately put on a pot of coffee.
“Would you like a cup?”
“I’ve got time for one.” Dan stretched.
“Hey, what’s going on with your stakeout?”
“Well, interesting thing. The pictures we got of Mick O’Donell and his partner’s wife? Turns out his partner knew all about it.”
“Yuck! Really?” Amelia gasped. “And he didn’t mind? That’s A-okay with him?”
Dan nodded his head while rolling his eyes. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and took a seat.
“My gosh.” Amelia grabbed two coffee cups, cringing as she reached up to get them out of the cabinet. Her arm throbbed in the place where the two pieces of skin were stitched together, but already she thought it felt better than it had the day before. Her head still ached when she touched it, but the goose egg was now maybe the size of a golf ball at most. “What is wrong with people?”
“Right?” Dan watched Amelia as she bustled around. It was like her battery had been recharged. “You really know your way around a kitchen.”
“I know my way around my kitchen,” she joked while pouring him a hot cup of coffee.
“Truthfully, I’m a little anxious. I have no idea who Lila has covering for me today.” Amelia pouted. “I trust Lila, who knows how to make a few of the basics, but someone else running around in my truck? It makes me feel like I’m wearing clothes that are two sizes too tight, you know?”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Dan took a sip from his cup.
“You were right all along, Dan.”
“About what?”
“About knowing that it wasn’t one of your officers who committed that murder. You were one hundred percent right, and I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“No apology is necessary,” Dan grumbled bashfully. “I’ll tell you what. If you ever decided to give up the cupcake business, I think the Gary Police Department could use a gal like you.”
“A gal like me?”
“You could come on a couple of ride-alongs with me. You’re certainly better company than Gus.”
“Does he know you talk about him this way?”
“Of course he does.”
“Well, I don’t think I would want to be your partner. You’d always be talking smack about me. ‘Did you see Amelia? She got shot in the arm then knocked herself unconscious. Boy, what I have to deal with.’”
Dan laughed out loud. It was the first time Amelia had ever seen a genuine smile or heard a real laugh from the serious detective. It was contagious. She laughed, too.
After talking about Mr. O’Toole, Dana Foster, and the Twisted Spoke, Dan looked down at his watch and let out a deep breath.
“Well, I guess I better get going. The chief is going to expect me to punch in sometime today. What’s that saying? Crime never takes a holiday?”
“Oh, okay,” Amelia replied disappointedly. “Thanks again for bringing me home. I would have been in a bit of a jam if you hadn’t. I appreciate it.”
“My pleasure,” Dan said, thrusting his hands into his pockets as he strolled to the front door.
“I never thanked you.” He looked at the floor as his left hand found the doorknob.
“Thanked me? For what?”
“For saving my life. You pushed me out of the way of that bullet. Mrs. O’Toole was going to get one or both of us, but your quick thinking saved us both. So, thank you.”
Dan pulled the door open but, before stepping outside, leaned down and kissed Amelia on the cheek. She stood in the doorway and watched him stroll to his ca
r, wearing that plain brown suit like he usually did, his hard-soled shoes clacking against the pavement. Before he slipped his tall frame behind the wheel, he gave Amelia a wink and a wave.
She smiled broadly and waved back.
Chapter Nineteen
It had been over four months since the shoot-out with Mrs. O’Toole. The newspapers had dubbed her the Gray Widow because she was an old lady who killed people.
Amelia tried, with Dan’s help, to keep her own name out of the papers, but a few blurbs snuck in stating she was the one who had narrowly escaped the spider’s web.
“It’s such a gross comparison,” Amelia said as she frosted the cupcakes for Adam’s birthday party. Instead of silver and black like they had been for the ladies at the Twisted Spoke bridal shower, Amelia made them a neon green and gray. They looked like fireworks in your hand. “Gray Widow. Anything associated with spiders is gross.”
“Well, thankfully it’s all over.” Lila comforted her friend as she scooted around her to empty a giant bag of potato chips into a neon-green bowl.
“Mom!” Meg yelled from the open back door. “Where are the cupcakes? The peasants are threatening to revolt!”
“I’m coming!” Amelia yelled back. “Just give me a few more minutes.”
She looked at her watch and then the clock over the microwave.
“Where is he?”
“He’ll be here,” Lila soothed. “You talked to him, right?”
“Yes, I did. I’m just nervous. I can’t wait to see Adam’s face.”
“You never told me what John said to you after the shooting.” Lila looked at Amelia down her long, thin nose. “Did he have a lot to say?”
Amelia hadn’t told Lila anything because she knew Lila’s opinion of her ex-husband already. It was just a shade darker than Amelia’s, but if she told her that John’s primary concern was about himself, she’d hit the roof. Plus, holding on to that kind of information was hard. Amelia didn’t want to risk Lila slipping and saying something in front of the kids.
It would break their hearts if they knew the only reason their dad came to visit her in the hospital was to make sure they wouldn’t be his responsibility.
“You know, that same old stuff about being responsible. How it makes him look. Nothing even worth repeating.”
“Well, I’m surprised he’s here,” Lila said, looking out the kitchen window.
“He wouldn’t miss Adam’s birthday. Not when he gets a chance to show off like this.”
“Yeah, but it was a great compromise.” Lila turned and helped herself to a handful of M&M’s. “To have the birthday party at your house then take the money they would have wasted at the Windham and buy him all those new upgrades and gadgets he likes? That was brilliant.”
“Sure was. My idea. All mine.” Amelia stooped over the counter to add a green candy jewel to the center of each cupcake. “His room in the basement is going to look like NORAD.”
“Well, you can stop looking at the clock,” Lila mumbled. “I think he’s here.”
Amelia stood up, smoothed her short hair at the nape of her neck, and pulled the wrinkles out of her shirt. Looking at Lila, who gave her the okay sign, she smiled and peeked around the corner toward the front door.
“Hi!” she called. “I was worried you might not make it.”
Dan grinned down at Amelia. He was carrying a brightly colored bag with tissue paper and bows hanging off the handle. It was the perfect contrast to his suit that was a light-gray pair of slacks and matching jacket.
“Just some last-minute paperwork.” He handed the bag to Amelia. Looking up, he waved at Lila. “Good to see you, Miss Bergman.”
“You too, Detective.”
“Okay, well, Adam and all of his friends are out back roasting marshmallows around the fire pit. John is out there with them. I guess it’s time he open his gifts.”
“Hi, Detective! Mom, are you ready?”
“Gosh, yes, Meg.” Amelia huffed awkwardly, lifting the platter of cupcakes. Dan took it from her with ease and followed her and Lila out into the backyard, where everyone began to sing Happy Birthday.
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Recipe 1: Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Makes 12
Ingredients:
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup grape jelly
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Frosting:
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low. Pour in milk. Continue to mix until smooth. Gradually add dry ingredients into the mix until blended.
Spoon batter evenly into prepared cups, about ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes spring back and are not too golden. Let cool for 15 minutes. Before adding filling or frosting, let cupcakes cool on rack completely.
Fill a squeeze bottle with jelly and close cap. Insert tip of bottle deep into the tops of the cupcakes. Squeeze about 1 tablespoon of jelly inside each cupcake.
Use the Peanut Butter Frosting to cover the top.
Peanut Butter Frosting:
Beat peanut butter, butter, and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar and mix until smooth. Add milk and continue to mix until the frosting becomes a good spreading consistency.
Recipe 2: Apple Crisp
Makes 12
Cupcake:
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Streusel:
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
Frosting:
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 1/4 cup apple butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture and milk until smooth. Fold in apple.
For streusel: Hand whisk brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add butter in small pieces until mixture is small, moist clumps. Use fingertips to mix butter in better if necessary.
For Frosting: Beat butter until smooth. Add in apple butter, cinnamon and vanilla, and finally sugar, until mixture is thick and smooth.
Assembly: Use half of the cupcake batter to fill 12 liners. Place some streusel on each one. Fill liners with remaining batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then let cool on cooling rack completely. Add frosting on top of cooled cupcakes.
All Books by Harper Lin
The Pink Cupcake Mysteries
Sweets and a Stabbing: Book 1
A Deadly Bridal Sho
wer: Book 2
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
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-atrophic Spells: Book 3
The Scariest Tail: Book 4
Purr-fect Getaway: Book 5
Box Set Volume I: Books 1-3
A Note From Harper
Thank you so much for reading my books. If you were entertained by this Pink Cupcake 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.
While you wait for book 3 to come out, you might also enjoy my other dessert mystery series:
• The Cape Bay Cafe Mysteries: about an amateur sleuth/ owner of an Italian family cafe in a charming beach town.
