Muffins & Murder (Sweet Bites Book 3) (Sweet Bites Mysteries)

by Heather Justesen

  “Who’s Jack?” Melissa asked. Her eyes were lit with curiosity.

  I sighed. “The guy I finally had my first official date with this week. I really like him.” I put my forehead in my hands. “I don’t know what to do about this. I’ve never had more than one guy interested in me at a time before this. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “Too bad life isn’t so cut and dried, isn’t it?” Melissa asked. “And why aren’t you already married? You’re nice, successful, pretty, loyal.” She said the last bit with a wry twist in her voice.

  I shrugged. “I figured I would be by now, but it never worked out. And now I don’t know what to think.”

  “You’ll figure it out. Eventually. The course of true love never did run smooth,” Melissa quoted.

  “The trouble is figuring out whether or not it really is true love,” I said, which made everyone laugh.

  The band started playing Fishin’ in the Dark and Melissa stood. “I can’t miss this dance. Anyone coming with me?”

  I chuckled and we all joined her on the floor. It was girl’s night. There’d be time to figure out my twisted love life later.

  The scent of roses nearly overwhelmed me when I walked into the flower shop the next morning to pick up the wedding bouquet. Betsy Scofield greeted me with a big grin, “Tess, so glad you stopped in for the order this morning.”

  “I figured the wedding would be nicer if we picked them up,” I quipped. I was still tired from staying up late with the girls last night, and even later with Honey after saying goodnight to the others, hashing out the conversations I’d had with Shawn and what I could say to Jack. Now, despite the fact that I didn’t get up early to bake at the shop, I was worn out—and still stiff from the accident.

  “Funny. No, I meant because I heard you were trying to find Francine’s killer. Rumor has it she had a stalker. Besides Cole, may he rest in peace.”

  “Yes, I’ve been checking around, and yes, but we’re still looking for him.” Or figuring out why Cole was killed—there had to be more to it than his delusion that there was something between himself and Francine.

  “I was talking with Brenda—you know Brenda Joseph, of course.” She didn’t stop for me to verify, but since I’d been in her house with the collection of cats, I nodded. “We were talking last night and she said the only time anyone unusual came to Francine’s house was when I delivered the bouquet last month. I had totally forgotten, of course, but then it suddenly came to me that I had received a phone order for a big bouquet of red roses for Francine.

  “The man gave me a name and a credit card to pay. So, this morning I dug through my paperwork and I found the order with the credit card number on it. I even wrote down the number he called from in case I had a question later or the credit card didn’t work. Oh, look,” she pointed out the window. “There’s the detective. I called dispatch a while ago to ask him to come by to look at this. I thought maybe it could be evidence.”

  “That would be terrific.” Invaluable, actually, but I didn’t have time to look at the paperwork before Tingey walked in.

  “Hello, Betsy, Tess.” He frowned when he saw me standing at the counter. “What are you doing here?”

  I knew he wondered if Betsy called me. “I stopped in to pick up flowers for the wedding today. I know it’s unusual, but Kat had this crazy notion that a bouquet would be a nice variation from the usual ho-hum.” I didn’t stint on the sarcasm.

  “Lucky timing.”

  “I thought so too. Betsy just mentioned the flower purchase someone made for Francine.”

  Betsy held out a photocopy. “I have to keep the original for my files, of course, but since it’s my handwriting anyway, I didn’t think it would matter if it was just a photocopy for you.”

  He nodded and accepted the papers, looking over them. “I don’t know this name.”

  “Maybe it’s an alias,” Betsy suggested, delight shining in her eyes.

  “We’ll find out,” Tingey said noncommittally. He tucked the sheet into the binder he was carrying. “Anything specific you can remember about the caller?”

  “It’s been a month,” Betsy said, holding her hand to her forehead. “I don’t know that I paid that much attention. He wasn’t old or young, probably thirties or forties. But I was surprised he didn’t just have me put his name on the card instead of having me sign it so cryptically.”

  “What did it say?” I asked.

  “These aren’t lilacs, but I hope they’ll do. I’m watching over you. YPC. It’s just weird. His initials weren’t YPC.” She shivered. “At the time I thought it was supposed to be reassuring, but with her having a stalker, it’s just plain creepy, isn’t it?”

  I nodded as I wondered if the guy actually did intend for the sentence to be comforting instead of creepy. The letters had been obsessive, but not overtly threatening. I paused for a moment. Hadn’t one of them said something about lilacs?

  I fought with my better judgment for a moment, then let it win. “Detective, I have something to show you at my place. Can you help me with this to the van and then follow me to my shop?” Thankfully, Honey loaned me her wheels for my errands this morning.

  His brows lifted. “Are you just angling for help to move things?”

  I knew he was going to cuss me out for having the letters and not turning them over sooner. “No, you’re going to want to see what I found.” I wasn’t telling him how or where I found them—that would be asking for trouble.

  There were two boxes of flowers, plus a couple of big vases Kat had provided that were filled with blooms. They would stand on pedestals on either side of the bride and groom as they were married. The rest of the flowers were already part of the landscaping.

  I waved goodbye to Betsy and Tingey followed me home.

  “Any thoughts about replacing your SUV?” he asked as he followed me up the stairs to my apartment.

  “No time to car shop until Lenny gets back. And I need to do some research.” I unlocked the door and he followed me in. “You didn’t mention Shawn was coming into town.” There may have been a hint of accusation in my voice, since he’d had ample opportunity to bring it up that week.

  “He asked me not to. He wanted to surprise you.”

  “Of course. I was surprised.” I admitted.

  His brows winged up. “Not happily, I take it?”

  I was careful about my words. He and Shawn were good friends, after all. “The jury’s still out. It’s good to see him, but...”

  “You’re not interested like he is?” His brows lifted in disbelief.

  “It’s not that. It’s Jack King.”

  He nodded. “Ah, I wondered if I saw something going on there.”

  I sighed. Were there no secrets in this town? It wasn’t like we’d been out a lot of times or anything. Pushing the thought away, I retrieved the notes Honey had found at Francine’s. “We came across these a day or so ago. I’ve been meaning to call you, but things have been busy.” As excuses went it was down in the valley of lameness. I’d scanned them into my computer the previous morning, but hadn’t been too concerned about getting them to him right away.

  He took them and started reading the top one. His eyes darted to mine after only a few seconds. “Where did you get them?”

  “They were Francine’s,” I said, doing my best to keep my expression flat.

  “Yes, I can tell that,” he said with some exasperation. “But how did you get them?”

  I sighed. “You already know you won’t be able to use them as evidence in a court case because of the chain of custody, so why are you asking me for details I can’t give you? Maybe they’ll lead you to the killer. They’re nowhere near enough to convict with and you have the others that Francine turned into the police in Abilene that you can use to create a paper trail. One of the letters there mentions her lilacs. That can’t be a coincidence.” I did my best to deflect attention away from myself, but had the feeling it wouldn’t work.

  He crossed his arms.
“If you told me where you found them, would I be tempted to write you another ticket for trespassing?”

  I paused for a moment. “Possibly. But I didn’t carry off evidence from anywhere you hadn’t already checked, so it’s not like I tampered with it before you had a chance to find them yourself.”

  He let out a low growl. “You were nearly killed the other night. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

  I lifted my chin. “Yes, it tells me I need to be more careful to be sure I know where I’m going on deliveries and that the recipient is actually celebrating a milestone.”

  He sighed, apparently giving up on getting a straight answer from me. “I’ll see what I can find out about the information Betsy gave me, and we’ll check the paper for prints, though between yours and Francine’s and everyone else you let touch them, they’ll probably be useless.”

  “It was just me and Honey who’ve touched them since we, um, stumbled across them.”

  He scowled. “Good to know. Now get to that wedding. I bet you have a ton to do before the ceremony.”

  “You would be right.” I locked up and went downstairs to retrieve the food we’d made for the reception. It took several trips back and forth to the van to transfer all of the cake layers and signature cookies we’d made for the reception.

  Detective Tingey didn’t stay to help, and I think I heard him mutter the phrase stumbled across my right foot, before he slammed his car door and tore out of the parking lot.

  When I arrived, Honey was all but tapping her toe in the driveway. She helped me unload while I filled her in on what Betsy had said and my conversation with Tingey.

  “Are we in trouble again?” she asked.

  “The jury’s still out, but I think he’s decided to go with ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ For now, anyway. It makes it simpler for all of us.”

  She looked relieved. “No kidding. I wonder if Betsy’s information will help at all.”

  “Doubtful. With our luck the credit card was stolen.”

  We roped Kat’s brothers and Lenny into helping move everything out of the van and then Lenny and I got to work assembling the cakes while the rest finished decorating.

  The cakes were set and I was adding streamers and ribbons to the backyard decorations, adjusting the flowers we picked up from the local florist in their appointed places, and setting up the wedding cake. Lenny and Kat had gotten to know quite a few people in town since their arrivals, but it had only been three months, so their circle of friends wasn’t very big yet.

  Honey already had the decorating well underway when I returned from my errands. With a few extra hands it didn’t take long to get everything set. We did our best to keep the future brothers-in-law away from Lenny while he worked. It was mostly effective.

  “Anything else that needs to be done?” Honey asked when we tied the end of the bows. “Do they have the rings? The officiator? They did get the marriage license, didn’t they?” She was more nervous than I was.

  “Yes, they’ve got everything important. They just want nice and simple and everything looks great. Don’t worry, it’s all under control.” But I still checked and double-checked my list when we had everything set to go.

  “It seems like a good time to be celebrating a new beginning, doesn’t it?” Honey asked when she had adjusted the last bow. “I’m really sad about what happened to Francine, but this is something special, isn’t it? A chance for new beginnings for Lenny and Kat.”

  “They’ve been together for years,” I said, just to poke at her. When she sent me a long-suffering look, I relented. “But yes, you’re right. It’s right. I love seeing them together, the hope and excitement of their future practically radiates from them.”

  “They can’t help it,” a male voice said from behind me. “When you’re in love, it’s hard not to show it.”

  I turned, smiling to greet Jack. He looked so handsome in his suit. It reminded me of the first time I met him (also at a wedding)—though he hadn’t been smiling then, and he hadn’t had that intense look in his eyes when he ran his glance over my dress and heels. It made me happy that I’d pulled out the green cocktail-length dress from the back reaches of my closet. “Glad you could make it,” I looked around. “Where’s Sadie? Didn’t you bring her?”

  “She’s coming later with Mom. She’d just get frustrated and bored if she had to sit here for the next,” he checked his watch, “forty minutes before this all starts. I wondered if you needed a hand.”

  “We’ve got it under control,” Honey said. “I’ll just check on the bride.” She vacated, leaving us alone to talk.

  “Looks like you’ve been busy,” he said, glancing around the backyard.

  “Sure have.” I ran my hands over my skirt, smoothing any wrinkles that might have popped up while I fixed a couple of bows on the edge of the seating. “It looks nice, doesn’t it? I like that they opted for a small, simple ceremony. It suits them.”

  “I just saw the cakes inside. Are you sure you mean simple?” His lips curved.

  I laughed. “Lenny went pretty overboard on the cakes. Aren’t they incredible? I’m so lucky he’s working for me.”

  Jack’s eyes widened. “He did all that decorating himself?”

  “Every last bit. I only helped him center the pieces when he put the layers together earlier and provided a sounding board for him to bounce ideas off of.”

  “As busy as you two are getting, you might need to hire a grunt for the front counter so you can both decorate full time.”

  “I know.” It was both exciting and worrisome—I’d had such bad luck with employees before Lenny moved to Silver Springs. “I’ll leave that worry for another day. You look terrific, as always.”

  “You too.” He slid his hands into his jacket pockets. “I heard you were at the Silver Spur last night.”

  I hated gossip sometimes. When it was about me, anyway. “Yes, we went to celebrate the wedding, sort of a bachelorette party, without the booze and strippers.”

  He nodded. “Heard you and Shawn spent some time on the dance floor.”

  Now I felt pressure growing in my chest. “I ran into him. I didn’t tell him I’d be there, and it was only the one dance.”

  “And the kissing.”

  I wished I were the one with pockets to bury my hands in, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Before I came up with a response, he nodded. “I know we never discussed what was going on between us, or what our expectations are. I guess I can’t blame you for sliding right back into things with him the moment he hits town. Did you know he was coming?”

  “No.” I said this with a little more force than necessary, perhaps, but I didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding. “I had no clue he was applying for a job here, that he was coming to interview or that I would see him again anytime soon. He walked into my store yesterday less than two minutes before you did and took me by surprise. Really, I didn’t know anything.”

  He nodded. “What did you tell him about us?” There was uncertainty in his gaze, and his brows furrowed.

  “I told him that you and I had just started dating, that I didn’t know where things were going, but there was something here. He seemed to understand, but hopes maybe I can see both of you for a while.” My voice grew rough as I said this last phrase, showing my uncertainty. I didn’t want to lose him because I was being a flake, but I liked the idea of dating them both—for a while.

  Jack nodded. “I won’t say it doesn’t bother me. I thought I waited until you had no other guys tugging at you before I asked you out.”

  I crossed the space between us and put my hand on his sleeve. “This surprised me too, Jack. I… there’s something between you and me. I definitely want to see what it is.”

  “But you want to see what’s up with Shawn, too, don’t you?” He nodded when I didn’t respond right away. “I can deal with that, for a while, not for long.”

  “I feel like a flake even considering dating you both.”

  He brushed t
he hair back from my face, trailing his fingers along my cheek. “Don’t. When you end up with me, I want it to be because you knew I was the right choice, that we belong together and not to think about what might have been with Shawn.”

  “You sound pretty sure that I’ll choose you.” This was a side of Jack I’d never seen before.

  He wrapped one of my curls around his finger. “I have to believe that. I’ve already fallen for you, hard.”

  I felt light-headed at his words. Seriously? “But we’ve only had one real date.”

  “And spent a lot of other time together. I’m not saying everything’s going to be perfect for us, but I think what we could have will be worth the risk, so you can have some time to figure it out.” He gave the lock of hair a tug and released it. “But don’t think I’m going to stand back and let him have the field.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I didn’t want to risk losing him, but he was right. I needed to take the time to get to know both of them. Choosing was probably going to be one of the hardest things I would ever do.

  The ceremony went surprisingly smoothly. The ring bearer only took the aisle at a half run, and he didn’t war whoop or pull faces at the people who attended. We all made it down the aisle in perfect rhythm to the music, and when Lenny looked up to see his bride standing at the end of the aisle in flawless white lace, his jaw nearly dropped. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and the nerves that had been plaguing him all day seemed to melt away, replaced by his smile.

  I was undeservedly pleased, considering I really had very little to do with today’s happiness. I had to believe they would have worked things out without my interference, but I was glad my meddling last summer might have helped them reach the wedding today instead of several months down the road.

  As they repeated their vows, my eyes drifted over to Jack, who sat with his mother and daughter. He was watching me and his intense blue eyes met mine. I remembered his words earlier, that he thought I was worth the risk of getting hurt. That he had fallen for me. Even now it made a lump of emotion grow in my chest.