Bakeries and Bodies
A Margot Durand Cozy Mystery
Danielle Collins
Fairfield Publishing
Copyright © 2017 Fairfield Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.
This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Message to Readers
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Thank You!
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Chapter 1
“Where is that pastry cutter?” Julia asked as she cut butter into a bowl.
“I threw it away. I mean, we’re pastry chefs, who needs a pastry cutter, right?” Dexter said from his location opposite Julia on the large, metal-topped island.
Margot observed Julia’s response as she paused to meet Dexter’s gaze. “Not funny.”
Dexter rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Not even a smile? Tough crowd this morning.”
“I was up with Nick all hours of the night last night because he’s going through a growth spurt. I’m running on little to no sleep and you are not helping.”
Dexter turned to Margot, his eyes widening in an exaggerated way. “Touchy, touchy.”
“Don’t,” Julia said, pointing the butter knife at Dexter.
Letting out a huge sigh, Margot dusted the flour off her hands and propped them on her waist. “Okay, that’s enough, you two.” They both looked at her. “We’ve got a lot to get done today and—” Margot’s phone erupted into the silence of the early morning and it was her turn to shake her head. “I’ll be right back.”
As she walked away, she heard Dexter say something to Julia to which Margot heard her reply, “I warned you—”
Cringing, Margot answered her phone. “Good morning, this is Margot of The Parisian Pâtisserie. How can I help you?”
“Morning Margot,” a scratchy voice said.
“Bentley?”
“You bet.”
“Is everything all right?”
His raspy chuckle calmed her nerves immediately. “Everything’s fine. I’m old, not dying.”
She cringed at the lightness of his tone. “What’s up? You’re calling me pretty early.”
“I just wanted to double-check on the order for this weekend.”
Margot smiled. “Is Anita harassing you again?”
“You have no idea. It’s why I called so early. I just know she’s going to come knocking on the door at any minute and ask me about the pastries—as if I’d let everyone down—and I want to be able to tell her I’ve confirmed it with you already.”
“Well, you can rest assured. I’ve got your order down here and it will be ready to be picked up on time.”
“Perfect. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”
“Does that mean we won’t be seeing you at the shop today?” Bentley was Margot’s most religious “regular” customer. You could almost set your clock by him and his order almost never changed.
“Not today, I’m afraid. They’ve got me doing all sorts of things for this community party.” Margot could easily imagine the senior living home where Bentley lived. They were a tightknit community that always made a big deal of holidays since many of the residents couldn’t—or wouldn’t—leave.
“Are you in charge of games again?”
“That, and get this—” He let out an exaggerated sigh. “—decorations.”
“What?”
“I know! Who would ever think Bentley Anderson would be on a decorations committee, but they needed help and…well, I got signed up.”
Margot smiled, thinking that it was likely one of the ladies that had coaxed him on to the committee. Just then, a loud crash echoed through the kitchen.
“Uh oh, sounds like I’m needed in the kitchen. Sorry but I’ve got to run, Bentley.”
“No problem, you go whip those youngsters into shape.”
With a light laugh, she agreed and hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, she sought out calm before entering what she knew would be a battle scene.
Ever since Dexter had arrived back at the Pâtisserie, he and Julia had been at odds. After Margot had helped find Dexter’s sister and end a devious plot in Maine, he’d come back expecting things to be like they were when he’d left, but that was far from the truth.
Margot had been in a pinch and needed to hire someone else to pick up where Dexter had left a hole. Things had gone well for about a minute. It wasn’t that Julia or Dexter truly disliked one another, in fact, Margot had a feeling they both could really like one another if they could get past the bickering. It had started out good-natured, but soon turned into something else.
They argued over everything and Margot constantly had to step in to get them back on track. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t accepted more special orders than usual since she now had two employees instead of one. But now, with her trip to Sisters, Oregon, on the horizon and wanting a quiet Christmas with Adam at the forefront of her mind, she didn’t want to play referee to two adults.
She stepped into the kitchen and was met with the sight of Dexter, covered in flour, tossing a piece of pastry dough at Julia who, after it hit her in the face, burst into laughter.
Margot knew what she had to do. “That is enough.”
Dexter and Julia froze, white flour dust leaving the room hazy.
“We’ll clean it up,” Dexter said immediately.
“Speak for yourself, I was just—”
“Stop.” Margot’s voice had taken on the serene calm that comes before a storm, and Dexter and Julia could tell.
“I am more than happy to have you both play around on your free time off, but this is work time.” She pointed to the clock that had a photo of the Eiffel Tower as its backdrop. “I cannot afford to have you two distracted like this while I’m gone. In fact, I don’t even know if I should go, not if this is what’s going to happen while I’m gone.”
“We won’t—”Julia began, but Margot held her hand up again.
“No. You won’t. Because I want to trust you both, I’m going to go make our first delivery and when I come back, I expect to see both of you cleaned up, this kitchen clean, and no bickering. Have I made myself clear?”
Dexter and Julia both nodded just as the sound of clapping came from the back door. Adam stepped in, backlit by the morning light, and grinned at Margot. “Ready to make that delivery?”
She nodded and he picked up several of the boxes as they made their way toward his car. “Don’t you think you were a little harsh on them?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said with a grin as she climbed into the front seat.
“What’s that smile for?” He started the car and pulled out of the parking space.
“I’m not really mad at them, just knew I needed to be stern or they would never really hear me.”
“It looked like a hurricane hit the kitchen.”
�
��I know.” Margot sighed. “I honestly don’t mind them having fun, but I can’t let it affect their work, you know?”
“Of course.”
“But don’t worry, I'm definitely still coming to Oregon with you.”
He grinned and pulled up to the curb where they were to make their delivery. “I knew it was an empty threat.”
When Margot walked into the bakery later that day, the smell of pastries overwhelmed her as it usually did. It was a pleasant, sweet smell of vanilla, sugar, and a hint of something that Margot liked to think of as magic. It was home to her. Comforting and pleasant.
“Looks like the kitchen survived,” she said, coming out front to talk with her afternoon help, Rosie. The older woman had a kind smile to match a kind word for every customer.
“Barely,” she said in the low, sugary voice of hers. “Those two need to figure out if they’re going to fight it out until the end or kiss.”
Margot burst out laughing. “Oh, Rosie…”
“It’s true, honey. I’ve never seen so much…something.”
Margot smiled, unwilling to comment on her workers at the moment, though her thoughts flew to how they would cope with her gone. “Rosie,” she said, pausing in the doorway to the backroom. “Do you think they’ll be okay? I mean, while I'm gone?”
“Honey,” Rosie said, propping a fist on her ample hip. “They had better be. It’s the least they could do for all you’ve done for them. Besides, you know I’ll keep them in line as best I can.”
“I know that, but it’s a lot to put on your shoulders.”
“I can handle it. Just let Mamma Rosie do her job.”
Margot held up her hands in surrender. “Enough said.”
She went back into her small office to check over their order schedule. She and Adam were leaving early in the morning and she’d asked Julia and Dexter to come back for a half an hour prep meeting that afternoon just to make sure they would be ready.
She expected them in the twenty minutes and decided to do what she could until they arrived. As she was taking stock of some of her larger bulk items, she heard the back door open.
“Hey, Margot,” Dexter said, looking appropriately chastised.
“Hello, Dexter,” she said, turning back to the shelves and her clipboard.
“I wanted to come early to…talk to you.”
She wrote down the last item she’d need to make sure was ordered before turning to face him. “What about?”
He didn’t meet her gaze, his fingers fiddling with a piece of paper. “We were out of line. It was more my fault than Julia’s and I wanted to make sure you knew that. I shouldn’t have been messing around.”
She tilted her head, waiting for him to look up but he didn’t.
“I just thought…” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I thought it would be good to lighten things up around here. I know we’ve been horrible about joking around with one another and…well, with all the pressure of the holidays and you leaving, I know Julia’s been stressed.”
This was news to Margot. “She could have come and talked to me.”
“It’s not that.” He finally looked up at her. “I mean, I’m just guessing that she is, what with Nick and her family and all. I wanted her to have some fun.”
Margot felt her compassion swell as she took in the man in front of her. He’d become like a younger brother to her and she felt that same closeness in this moment.
“Look, Dexter…” She leaned against the pantry doorway. “I usually wouldn’t mind a little fun—even throwing around some flour and dough—but now is just not the time. I’m stressed as it is leaving the shop with you two and then to walk into that this morning…well, it made me think it was a poor decision to leave you both in charge.”
“Please, don’t think that.” He shook his head and then ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. “I promise we’ll be nothing but professional. I know it got out of hand this morning, but it was my fault. You know me, Margot. I ran my sister’s bakery while she was gone, so you know you can trust me.”
She smiled at his assertion. “I know I can. That’s why I'm still getting on that plane tomorrow. I just want you to know I’m counting on you not to ruin my business.”
He offered a small smile, sensing her teasing. “Good. And I promise we won’t.”
Margot nodded once and stepped past him. “Want to help me with the last bit of inventory?”
“Uh, I have one other question.”
Something about Dexter’s tone drew Margot to a halt. “Yes?”
“I…” He swallowed and ran his hand over his hair again.
At first, Margot had thought Dexter was nervous to come talk to her, and while that still was partially true, she could now see that he was more afraid of the next part of the conversation. What could have him acting so anxious?
“It’s okay, Dexter. You can ask me anything.” She offered him a genuine smile that she hoped would ease some of his nerves.
“I want to ask Julia out for New Year’s.” His words came out in a rush and then she saw a red flush creep up his cheeks after.
“You…you do?” Margot did her best to control her smile, hoping that Dexter wouldn't see through it. She certainly wasn’t laughing at him, but couldn’t keep the irony from her words. “Aren’t you two on each other’s nerves every day?”
“That’s just it,” he said, pacing now. “I know we tease and are sarcastic to one another, but I honestly care about her and her son. I…I want to get to know her past what she shows here at work. I know there’s…more beneath the surface and I’d like a chance to get to know that Julia. And…despite how much she pretends that I’m annoying, I see when I genuinely make her laugh and it’s a really great feeling. I want to do that. More.”
“Then you should ask her.”
Dexter’s head snapped up. “Really?”
“Yes.” She allowed some of the smile to shine through now. “I think you absolutely should. And, if I can give you a word of advice?”
“Anything,” he said, eyes wide.
“Don’t give up too easily.”
He looked confused for a moment, but the door opened and Julia came in, a light dusting of snow on top of her knit hat.
“Whew, it’s starting to snow.”
Margot had feared this would happen. She desperately wanted to be able to make it out of Virginia before the large storm hit. They could still make it if the weather reports were accurate. They would see a bit of snowfall but nothing like the storm that was coming in a few days.
“We’ll keep this short.”
Julia pulled up short when she saw Dexter. Her eyes went between him and Margot then back to him. “Trying to get ahead by coming in early?” she said, a gleam in her eyes.
“Nah. I don’t need it.” He grinned, all signs of nervousness gone. But was it an act?
“All right, you two,” Margot cut in. “Let’s talk details and then I’m out of here. I’ve still got to pack. And remember—” She looked between them. “—it’ll be up to you two to keep things afloat. Please don’t sink my business, it’ll be better for us all if you don't.”
That evening, Margot put on a Christmas album and packed for Oregon. She had consulted the weather and found that it would likely snow at some point. That meant packing more than she’d like, but she knew it would be better for her to over-pack than forget something crucial. Since she was checking a bag, she felt less worry about it all.
The strains of Silent Night mixed with the scent of fir from a candle lit on the mantle. It wasn’t exactly a Christmas tree but, seeing as she wouldn’t be home during the holiday, she hadn’t bothered to do as much decorating. The season was busy for a bakery and sometimes, Margot felt a little like Saint Nicholas getting ready for the big day. But in her case, it was a lot of little, important days for people with parties planned and holiday parties to go to.
She fit the last of her clothes into the suitcase and then zipped it up, happy when it cl
osed all the way. Then, after making sure everything was ready for her in the morning, she slipped under the covers and pulled them up to her nose.
It seemed as if she and Adam would truly be heading into a winter wonderland. One where the reality of a white Christmas was a possibility. She only hoped that the week there would be fun and relaxing. She could use a break from the chaos that this holiday usually brought her.
Chapter 2
Adam wrapped his hand around Margot’s as they sat in the back of the car making their way from the airport to Sisters, Oregon, and on to the home Adam grew up in. He’d decided to hire a driver to take them to his parents’ house in order to surprise them since they’d caught an earlier flight than they’d anticipated, due to incoming weather on the east coast.
They drove down the main street of Sisters and Margot marveled at the decorations each storeowner had put up. Lights, wreaths, red bows, green bows, and so much more.
“The town really loves Christmas,” Adam said, reading her thoughts.
“I can see that.” Her gaze caught on a sign that said, Fran’s. “Is that a bakery?”
“Yep, one of two in town actually.” Margot was about to remark on the fact that this small town, not much bigger than North Bank, could support two bakeries, but they turned a corner and set off toward the mountains.
“Do your parents live out of town?”
Adam shook his head. “Not really. I mean, their estate is part of a golf course, but it’s not too far.”
Margot didn’t ignore his use of the word estate, but she decided not to comment. Adam had talked fondly of his parents, but she hadn’t heard much about their history aside from the fact that his father had been the head of some company and his mother had always been home when he and his siblings came home from school. She looked forward to getting more of a window into Adam’s world.
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