Frosty Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 15)

by Kennedy Layne

  “Thank you, Leo,” Rye muttered, shifting his weight in an attempt to stay warm. I’d been smart before leaving the house this morning, and I’d made sure that I was wearing layers. “Trust me, Bree can’t even watch a horror movie let alone believe that she might live among us.”

  I had to remind myself that Rye was a grown man and could handle his own problems. It wasn’t my place to get in the middle of his relationship, and I genuinely was wary of what would happen should someone not be able to handle such a revelation as the supernatural.

  I’d taken a risk—which was really unlike me—and I was fortunate that it had all worked out the best way possible.

  Could we hurry this along? My tufts of fur are hardening into icicles as we speak.

  “Cecelia was in love with Billy. I mean, infatuated in an obsessed kind of unhealthy way,” I informed him, going on to remind him of who was who in this equation. “You see, Mom’s circle of friends actually hung out every couple of weeks or so back in the city. When Rebecca was fired from her position as manager of the band, she somehow figured out that Cecelia had copied a key from Billy’s keyring without him knowing. One thing led to another, and apparently the two women got into a struggle at the hotel that Rebecca was staying at in the next town over.”

  “Why would Rebecca have been so far from the city?” Rye asked, causing Leo to groan in annoyance. Leo wanted more than anything to go and pick up the vehicle so that we could head back to the cottage, where I had no doubt that Heidi had a blazing fire lit in the hearth. “You said that she was fired a week ago?”

  “Liam believes that since Billy wasn’t taking Rebecca’s calls that she was going to confront him while he was in town for Mom’s wedding. Remember, Rebecca was previously the band’s manager. She was all business, and she didn’t like that Billy was giving up some major gig in North Carolina, essentially donating a Saturday in order to play at the wedding reception…and all for free.”

  Go figure. My doppelgänger has a soft side for his music like I do for my premium organic catnip edibles. It’s uncanny, isn’t it? Maybe I need some groupies.

  I didn’t bother to point out to Leo that Billy’s soft spot was truly for my mother in this particular case, but the cold coastal breeze was becoming a bit too much for me, as well.

  “Rebecca was most likely going to speak with Billy this weekend regarding her belief that Cecelia’s infatuation had grown into a more threatening obsession. She never got the chance when Cecelia attacked her in that hotel room.”

  “Are you saying that Cecelia wrote the notes to your mother? You would think that Cecelia would want your mother to marry someone else so that Billy could move on,” Rye said, lowering his voice when someone came out of the bakery. We waited a moment while the elderly gentleman began to head in the opposite direction. “I guess that means that I’m about to cast a spell in a bakery full of customers. It’s a good thing that the circuit breaker that I replaced is in the back room, but it can’t be too far from the energy source it was a part of if I want a good reading. I’m hoping that Bree is busy enough at the counter that I have enough time to find the answers that we need.”

  I glanced over through the window display of the bakery, wondering how odd Bree would find it if I joined Rye in the back room.

  Really? You have to think about that scenario?

  I sighed in disappointment, knowing that the best thing for me to do was to go and pick up my car. Leveling Rye a serious look, I made sure that he understood the time constraint that we were on today.

  “Please call me the second you find out anything,” I pressed as I even arched my brow to get my point across. “It would mean a lot to Mom to have all of this taken care of before she has to walk down the aisle.”

  Oh, that reminds me…short term memory loss. Could you please remind me to forget about the wedding? I’m thinking that I’ll hide out in the Ted-Shed for the evening. Everyone always forgets about the Ted-Shed.

  “Raven, I’ve got this covered,” Rye assured me before stepping to the side and heading toward the entrance of the bakery. “I’ll call or text you in around twenty minutes.”

  Leo and I remained standing on the sidewalk as we watched the door slowly close behind Rye. I didn’t like the way the palm of my right hand had no reaction to the knowledge that Rye was about to cast a spell to reveal who was attempting to scare my mother out of saying her wedding vows.

  Well, I’m terrified that I’m not going to make it to the Ted-Shed before your mother figures out my plan. Let’s start walking while you come up with a plan to get me out of wearing that hideous bowtie. What shall it be? The first scenario is that I came down with a chest cold. The second would be that my short-term memory loss got the best of me, and I went out and got lost. Or the third scenario, I had to go down south to investigate a tip that the squirrelpocalypse was starting early. I’ll let you choose. I wouldn’t want you to feel left out on the grand plan.

  Chapter Fifteen

  …aren’t any help to me. I mean, no help at all. This is a valid problem on my end, and you aren’t taking my personal issues as serious as you should. I’m beginning to think that you lump me in with the death trap that you call a car. I’m not one of your possessions, you know!

  “Leo, I don’t lump you in with the car,” I replied with irritation.

  He’d been talking nonstop since we had turned down the side street that would take us to Newt’s garage. I was holding my phone in my gloved hand so that I wouldn’t miss a call or text from Rye, while doing my best not to try and call him every five seconds to see how things were going.

  Well, you claim to love that death trap, but what did you do? You dropped it off at the garage on Wednesday and basically forgot about it. Do you just drop me off at the vet’s place when I need a teeth cleaning and go about your day as if I won’t accidentally succumb to some horrible death due to anesthesia? I looked up the death rate when it comes to that stuff, you know. It’s not pretty.

  “Do I not pick you up the same day? Does Dr. Jameson not inform you that I call multiple times during the morning to make sure that you’re doing okay?” I can’t believe that I was still arguing about this when we had other things to worry about. “We’ll pick up the car, drive back to the bakery, and then wait for Rye to come outside. It’s not like he’ll have time to text or call. Bree might notice something is wrong if he does something like that, so I’m sure that he’ll step outside to touch base with me.”

  We had passed the pub on the left-hand side of the street and were two blocks away from the garage. I could see my car sitting outside of the double white garage doors. Newt had called and left a message that he would only be open until noon, and I was really cutting it close.

  As for the pub, they had just opened their doors for those who wanted to watch a college football game or some sort of other sporting event. The place had their regulars, and their fried food was pretty good considering the owner’s wife was the one who usually cooked up batches of wings, burgers, and fries. It was a simple menu, and my stomach rumbled in response to thinking about it.

  Now you have me thinking about food. Do I want tuna, chicken, or—

  Warmth began to rush into the palm of my right hand.

  No, it didn’t. You are mistaken, Raven. You’re holding your cell phone in your right hand. It’s nothing more than that.

  “Leo, my cell phone has nothing to do with the heat that just gathered in my palm,” I replied warily as I came to a complete stop. The sidewalk had been shoveled from the previous stormfront that had come through earlier in the week. Mom had lucked out with the weather, and only flurries were expected during the ceremony. “Rye must have found something.”

  I highly doubt that the weather cooperated with the big event. I’m more than convinced that your mother dabbled in a bit of elemental magic to control the elements, but that’s here nor there. I won’t be seen wearing that hideous bowtie. As for your palm, ignore it until we pick up the death contraption
. My paws are turning blue from frostbite, and I’ve already been humiliated by getting my tufts of fur stuck to the asphalt once this week. Get your priorities straight, Raven.

  We would probably make better time if we did walk the two blocks to my car. Driving back to the main thoroughfare in town instead of walking was the wisest choice. Besides, Rye had promised that he would text or call. My phone should be chiming with an alert any second. I began to advance forward with haste.

  Since we have nothing better to do while we walk, can we get back to the conversation about which excuse would work best? I love my VVBFF, but I struggle with getting on board with such a union. If it’s going to happen, it’s better that I—

  Prickles of heat began to dance on the palm of my hand, bringing me up short once more. Leo hadn’t been expecting me to stop in the middle of a crosswalk, so he’d advanced a few more steps before he cut his words short and glared at me over his shoulder.

  What is your problem? Walk, stop…walk, stop. Your indecision is not helping us get to our destination, Raven. To top it off, you didn’t even have the old fuddy-duddy tear out those worn seats and replace them with heated ones…preferably leather, like my soulmate has in her vehicle. She sure does know how to travel in style. Did you know that the hole in the passenger seat almost swallowed me whole the other day?

  “Leo, my hand wouldn’t be reacting this way if something wasn’t happening back at the bakery,” I insisted, shifting a bit so that I could get a clear view of the path behind me. I wasn’t a runner, by any means, but Leo could become invisible and teleport there in no time. “You need to go back there and check on Rye.”

  Leo had almost sat down in the middle of the crosswalk before quickly changing his mind. I’m sure that the memory of his fur getting frozen to the ground yesterday was fresh in his memory.

  Will you schedule an appointment with the old fuddy-duddy to get heated seats?

  For a moment, I wasn’t sure that I had heard Leo correctly. When he continued to stare me down, I realized that he was using the situation to his advantage.

  “Are you seriously blackmailing me when someone threatened Beetle’s life?” I asked, turning the tables on him as I made sure to put my left fist on my hip in chastisement. “Your VVBFF? The person who is solely responsible for you discovering your favorite blueberry-filled edibles?”

  Well, when you put it like that…

  Leo didn’t say another word as he casually strolled to a parked vehicle near the curb up ahead and used it as camouflage to do his blip trick. I cracked a wide smile as I continued to walk toward the garage, although I still wasn’t comfortable with the fact that my ability to sense when something was wrong or when danger was near was practically working overtime.

  As a matter of fact, my hand became even warmer the farther I walked from the bakery.

  Leo should return before I even have a chance enter the garage, so I tried to ease the tension in my shoulders by swinging my arms are I strolled down the sidewalk. A glance ahead revealed that Newt had opened one side of the double garage doors. He’d been expecting me, so I waved a hand in his direction when he stepped out next to my car.

  I was literally about twenty feet away when Leo came dashing out from behind a tree, causing Newt to belly laugh as Leo ran headfirst into a snowbank. Leo wasn’t one to scamper or hurry anywhere unless it involved the so-called squirrelpocalypse.

  Had Rye discovered who had been leaving Mom notes?

  Was the situation worse than we had originally thought?

  As Liam had pointed out, the hand-written messages hadn’t really threatened anyone. The intent had been to point out that the couple would be unhappy if they went through with the ceremony.

  Is that greasy fuddy-duddy still looking this way? How mortifying was that? I materialized behind that tree over there and came eye to eye with a rabid rabbit. Seriously, that cotton ball hopper had to be twice my size with razor-sharp teeth. I don’t mess with living, breathing things that could swallow me whole.

  “Leo, what did Rye find out after casting the incantation?” I asked earnestly behind my scarf, relieved when Newt had turned to walk back inside the garage door that he’d just opened. “Who sent Mom the notes?”

  Oh, that. Yeah, the cheating wizard got waylaid by the former sheriff regarding a storage system for his garage. I think it had to do with his fishing equipment, but I might have gotten sidetracked after the newest resident feigned having a vision while she waited in line for a chocolate glazed donut.

  “Madam Rose?” I asked cautiously before quickly deciding that it was best that I didn’t know the details. Again, that was a mystery for another day. “Never mind. Let’s just pick up the car and drive back to the bakery. We’re running out of time, and I really don’t want Mom and Beetle to get married under the stress of believing someone doesn’t have their best interests at heart.”

  It wasn’t long before Leo and I crossed underneath the open garage door. I’d expected the garage to be cold, but there was actually a bit of heat that made the interior of the open space relatively warm. I could see a larger, wall-mounted space heater off the back side of where a vehicle was parked with its hood open.

  I remember my beloved Rosemary bringing her car here to be serviced. Of course, that was when the fuddy-duddy’s father used to own the garage. I might or might not have thrown a wrench or two around trying to get away from the old hound dog that used to hang out here. Hounds are nothing to mess with, you know. They look all slow and decrepit with those bags underneath their eyes, but don’t let them fool you!

  “Afternoon,” Newt said from behind a rather high counter. He still had grease underneath his short fingernails, and there was a black smudge on his cheek from where he must have had an itch. “I was able to get your heater working again and replaced a worn PVC valve that was causing your oil to leak. I’m not sure how much longer we can keep that car running, though. You’re going to need brakes soon, and that transmission doesn’t sound too good, either. There’s only so much that I’m going to be able to do before it’s time for the old girl to retire.”

  If that’s the case, I’ll be the first in line to make an appointment with the junk yard. Heated seats, here we come!

  I sighed in disappointment, having gotten almost the same speech verbatim every time the man worked on my vehicle. The old Corolla had been my first vehicle, and I couldn’t imagine getting rid of her. Leo was obsessed with heated seats, but that car had been the one that I had learned to drive in.

  “I appreciate the advice, Newt,” I said with a small smile. “I just can’t bring myself to give her up quite yet.”

  “I understand,” Newt replied with a knowing nod as he turned around to the workbench behind him. He began to rifle through a few work orders to find mine. “A lot of my customers feel that way. I’ll be honest with you, Raven. Sometimes we don’t know what we have until it’s gone.”

  Since I already had my cell phone in hand, all I needed to do was retrieve my credit card from the small pocket on the leather case. I couldn’t get a grip on the slippery plastic with my gloves on, so I began to remove them while Newt still searched for the elusive work order. I don’t think I’d ever seen him organized, but the messy system seemed to work for him.

  The palm of my hand had actually gotten warmer now that I was inside the garage, and I could only guess that it was the distance that I’d put between myself and the bakery. I probably should have stayed with Rye. I’m sure that I could have come up with a plausible excuse to be in his vicinity when he cast the incantation.

  Face it, Raven. You are the worst liar. You wouldn’t have been able to pull something like that off without…

  “Stop that,” I mouthed to Leo as he began to push a tablet off the counter.

  He’d easily become distracted as he continued to nudge the pad of paper, but that didn’t stop him from rambling on about his short-term memory loss.

  Remember our conversation about your mother’s old flames
? Some bits and pieces are starting to fall into place, and I might…just might…remember who that Scott guy might be.

  “I drove by town square this morning on my way into work,” Newt said nonchalantly as he put on his reading glasses to make sure that he’d finally discovered the right work order. “It looked as if there was some excitement going on in town square. Liam was over there with a sheriff who looked to be arresting one of the caterers, if you can believe that. It was easy to tell that she was with the staff due to that white jacket that she was wearing. Ah, here we go. I had to order a part for the heater, so I’ll make sure to give you twenty percent off labor for having to wait so many days.”

  My gaze was drawn to Leo rather than Newt, because the second that Leo had mentioned the name that Desmond had brought up…well, things had begun to click into place. Desmond had been trying to tell me that I personally knew who Scott was during our conversation.

  Leo’s paw once more nudged the tablet until it had my attention.

  Sure enough, it was the same type of paper that the notes had been written on and left for my mother to find.

  Newt’s real name must be Scott, and he was the one who was responsible for leaving Mom the blackmail notes.

  Sweet angel of mercy! Do you know what this means, Raven? It means that I’m a super genius without even realizing it!

  Chapter Sixteen

  I was right this entire time, Raven! I’m telling you, it’s those blueberry-filled edibles. They are not only scrumptious, but they’re basically scientific magic that causes the brain to produce mental antioxidants in order to rise above the average IQ of a typical non-enhanced individual.

  I found myself still in shock that Newt was the one responsible for all of the commotion this week, but I guess it explained why the palm of my hand had begun to act up the closer that we’d gotten to the garage. I’d just assumed that it was due to me walking farther and farther away from the bakery, but it had actually been the other way around.