by Carol Durand
Get Early Access to My Books For FREE!
Every two weeks you’ll get a new Cozy Novella from me absolutely FREE.
Sign up now! http://bit.ly/CarolDurand
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2015 by Maven Publishing - All rights reserved.
All rights Reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Table of Contents
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 1
Melissa Gladstone nodded appreciatively from her safe spot on the sidewalk. The sweet little cupcake, cookie and muffin shop, Missy’s Muffins and More that she had inherited upon the untimely death of her parents was being rebuilt after a devastating fire, and seeing it rising from the ashes was a profound relief. Her second shop, Crème de la Cupcake, in the nearby town of Dellville, had opened shortly after the fire, and was doing very well, with early morning customers lining up before the 6 a.m. opening time for coffee and a cupcake on the way to work.
The Dellville shop was thriving under the watchful eye of Ben Radigan, Missy’s former assistant, who had been promoted to Manager. The new girl, Cheryl, that she had hired was working out well too, not just as an assistant, but as a sweet addition to the painfully introverted Ben’s dating life. Things had finally settled down for Missy, after a couple of hair-raising adventures, and she looked forward to a peaceful time of ‘business as usual’.
Satisfied that work was progressing well in LaChance, she guided her little blue car to the two lane highway that led to Dellville to check in with Ben and Cheryl.
“Hi, Ms. G.!” Cheryl called out upon her arrival at Crème de la Cupcake. “You just missed the tail end of the morning rush. Ben’s in the back, loading up trays, because we sold out of almost everything that we had up here,” the bubbly brunette reported happily.
“Well, that’s certainly good to hear,” Missy smiled at her enthusiasm.
The bell jangled behind her and she turned to see Clara Clements, the elderly owner of the ice cream shop across the street, shuffling in.
“I saw your car pull up and decided to come over and say hello,” Clara announced with a cheery wave and broad smile.
“I’m glad you did! You look like you’re in good spirits today,” Missy observed, going over to give the tiny woman a hug.
“Oh yes dear, I really, really am,” she nodded. “I have a buyer for the ice cream store! She’s coming in from California this week, so I’ll show her how everything works, then I’ll be headed to Florida at the end of the month.”
“Oh wow, congratulations, Clara!” Missy exclaimed. “That’s great! If the new owner needs anything, you be sure to tell her to come over and see me.”
“You know I will, dear. I think you two will hit it off immediately. She’s about your age, single, no family that I know of.”
“Hmm…that’s interesting. What on earth brings her from California to Dellville, Louisiana if she doesn’t even have family here?”
Clara edged closer and lowered her voice. “Well, I couldn’t figure that out either, but I’m thinking that there’s something…or someone, that she was definitely ready to leave behind.”
Missy nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if that’s the case, I hope she makes a wonderful new start here. This town may be small, but it’s friendly.”
“Exactly my thought!” the kindly woman agreed. “I’d better get back across the street – just wanted to share my good news.”
“I’m glad you did, I’m happy for you.” They hugged again and Clara shuffled back across the street.
Missy went to the back to check on Ben, and when she came back out to the front of the shop, satisfied that he had things well under control, she was delighted to see Detective Chas Beckett coming in the door.
“What great timing!” she beamed at the handsome detective, standing on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I was just about to go to lunch. Join me?”
“Yes, I’m starving,” Chas agreed, holding the door open for her. “I can tell you about Cora Nesbitt’s mystery while we eat.”
“Oh good, I’m looking forward to that, the poor dear.” Cora Nesbitt provided Missy with fresh peaches every summer, and the muffins and cupcakes that she made from them were legendary. A few weeks ago, shortly after the shop in LaChance had burned down, Cora had come to her with a bizarre story, hoping that she might be able to help. Missy had immediately called in Chas, and the two of them were trying to figure out how to help the frightened woman.
The couple sat down at a bistro table, in the shade under a green and white striped awning and ordered their lunch.
“So, what’s going on with Cora?” Missy asked, anxious for news.
“The unfortunate reality is that she’s definitely not imagining things. There really is someone coming into her house at night, there are items disappearing from her home, and there are absolutely no leads as to who might be doing such things. I advised her to take photos of all of her belongings so that she would know if anything went missing, and several items have, both inside and outside.” Chas shook his head, frustrated. “I haven’t come up with a single lead after talking with neighbors and family members.”
“You don’t suppose she’s in danger, do you?” Missy frowned.
“At this point, there doesn’t seem to be any indication of a threat to her personally, but any time there is an intruder in a residence, the potential for danger exists,” he said grimly.
“I wish she had someone who could stay with her.”
“Well, I have patrol cars doing surveillance several times a night. If the intruder keeps returning, we’ll get them eventually,” Chas assured her.
They dug into their lunches with gusto, talking about everything and nothing, simply enjoying each other’s company, until Chas pushed back his plate. “As much as I’d love to spend the afternoon in your most pleasant company, duty calls,” he grinned at her fondly.
“I understand. I need to get back to the shop anyway.”
The busy detective dropped Missy off at Crème de la Cupcake with a kiss on the cheek and a dinner invitation for later in the week. “Stay out of trouble,” he teased.
“Always!” Missy winked.
Chapter 2
Missy knew before she went into the shop this morning that it would be a busy day. Ben had come up with the idea of posting the Cupcake Flavor of the Day on a signboard in the front of the shop every Monday, for the entire week. Some varieties were more popular than others, and today’s flavor, Mochaccino with Caramel Fluff, seemed to be a particular favorite. Just as she had anticipated, patrons were lined up in front of the store before Ben unlocked the front door, so Missy mingle
d and chatted with them while they waited. Once inside, time seemed to move in fast forward as one customer after another came in, made their selection, paid and left. A few sat at tables to enjoy their early morning treat, but most just passed thru on their way to work. When the last few in line had been served, it was nearly lunch time. Cheryl and Ben had just finished restocking the glass cases up front, when the bell above the door jangled again. Missy looked up to see Clara Clements coming in with a woman who could only be the new owner of the ice cream store that she had mentioned.
“You’ve had quite the rush over here this morning,” Clara observed.
“Yes, it was a little overwhelming, but the time just flew by,” Missy agreed.
“This is the gal who is buying my store. Echo Willis, meet Melissa Gladstone. Missy, Echo,” Clara introduced the woman who had come in with her. She had an abundance of coppery-red hair, and wore a gauzy taupe-colored camisole with a faded gingham skirt and brown leather sandals, looking very California.
Missy held out her hand, “Hi, I’m Missy. It’s great to meet you. Congratulations and welcome to the neighborhood.”
“Nice to meet you too, thanks,” the woman smiled, and Missy noticed that she had the most beautiful jade-green eyes.
“Let me get you two a muffin and some coffee and we can sit down and chat for a bit,” she offered, extending the hospitality for which her home state was known.
“Oh, no, thank you,” Echo demurred quickly. “We have to get back across the street, the attorneys will be there with paperwork soon, we just wanted to come say hello,” she explained. “I’ll definitely come back by later this week though, so we can get to know each other better.”
“That sounds great,” Missy agreed, wondering what had suddenly made the new woman seem so nervous. Chalking it up to her being in an entirely new world with a whole new set of responsibilities, she dismissed her concerns and saw Clara and Echo to the door, wishing them well.
Missy had been working for a while on a new recipe for fluffy lemon cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting and a decorative drizzle of raspberry. Since Ben and Cheryl were doing a fantastic job of running the shop, she decided to head back to the kitchen to whip up a batch and see how they turned out. While the cupcakes were baking, she prepared the cream cheese frosting, which turned out lighter and fluffier than she had imagined, and when the light yellow cakes were cooling on the rack, she pureed luscious, ripe raspberries, combining them with the raw sugar and her secret blend of flavors. After frosting and drizzling one of the moist lemon cupcakes, she took a huge bite, delighted to find that they had turned out even better than she had expected.
Frosting the rest of the batch, Missy decided to take two of her delightful creations up front for Ben and Cheryl to try. The combination of cream cheese, lemon and raspberry flavors was one of her favorites, so she wanted to get an unbiased opinion.
“Hey, you two,” she called out, carrying a tray with the cupcakes to the front with her. “You have to try these and let me know what you think. They’re my new lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberry,” she finished, coming up to the counter and noticing that a rather scruffy looking customer was staring at her as she put down the tray. “Oh, hello, I didn’t know that there was anyone in the shop. How are you today?”
“Pretty good,” the shaggy haired, bearded man in a rainbow t-shirt, faded jeans and leather sandals said. “Those cupcakes sound good, do you have any more of that kind?” he peered over the counter curiously.
“Oh, sure,” Missy said, caught off guard. “You can have one of these, and I’ll get another one from the back.”
“Thanks.” The man accepted the cupcake and took a large bite, making a face as he chewed.
“Oh dear, don’t you like it?” she asked, worried.
“I’m not much of one for sweets,” the man shrugged, swallowing hard.
Missy thought that his response was a bit strange. Why on earth would he come into a cupcake shop if he didn’t like sweets? “Well, then, I won’t charge you for the cupcake, since you didn’t care for it,” she offered generously. The man looked as though he was in need of a good meal, and perhaps couldn’t have one, so she couldn’t, in good conscience, charge him for a cupcake that he didn’t even like.
“That’s cool,” he nodded. “My mom would really be into this though…can I have one for her?”
Thinking that this was the oddest person that she’d met in a while, Missy told him that of course he could, and handed him a white paper bag with his mom’s treat inside. Thanking her again, he pulled a piece of lime-green paper out of his pocket that he had torn from an advertisement on her bulletin board. Cora Nesbitt was looking for peach pickers, and had put up the flyer with tear-away tabs that had her phone number on it.
“Hey, can I borrow your phone to call this lady? I’m looking for work,” he explained.
“Certainly,” Missy agreed, thinking that this strange stranger was really beginning to wear out his welcome. She directed him to where Cheryl stood behind the counter, and asked the hesitant young lady to hand him the phone. He got directions from Cora and headed over the pick peaches. Missy shook her head in disbelief when he popped the rest of his cupcake in his mouth as soon as he reached the sidewalk. Cheryl and Ben both gave her new creations a profound ‘thumbs up,’ so she made a large batch for the next day before going home to have a relaxing romp in the park with Toffee, her devoted Golden Retriever.
Chapter 3
She had left her cell phone in the house. When she got in and checked, there were several missed calls from Chas, along with a text message that said only, ‘call me immediately when you receive this.’ Puzzled, she hit #1 and send on her phone to call the handsome detective on his cell.
“Missy, where have you been?” Beckett said in a low voice when she answered the phone.
“Toffee and I went to the park to play fetch, why?” she asked, somewhat alarmed at his manner.
“Are you at home?” he ignored her question.
“Yes, of course. Chas, what is going on? Why are you acting so strangely?” she demanded, worried.
“Stay put, we’ll talk when I get there.” He hung up without even waiting for a response. Missy was baffled. Chas was a quiet person, but his manners were impeccable. She couldn’t begin to imagine what might have happened that caused him to act like this. Figuring that she’d find out soon enough, she hurriedly showered and changed into clean beige linen shorts and a black sleeveless blouse, putting her curly golden locks up in a casual ponytail. When Chas rang the doorbell a few minutes after she finished dressing, she opened the door with a smile, but he breezed in the house passing her without even a peck on the cheek.
“Chas, for heaven’s sake, what is wrong?” she asked, frustrated and a bit hurt.
“Come sit down,” he gestured to the spot next to him on her comfy, overstuffed couch. She did as he asked, still wondering. “The entire police force has been instructed to be on the lookout for you. I’ve been told to stay away because of a conflict of interest, but I had to come over here to talk to you for myself. Cheryl and Ben said you left the shop after they did, but can you account for your time this afternoon?” he asked, urgently.
“I left the shop around 4:00, came home, changed into athletic wear and took Toffee to the park. I got in just before I called you, why? What is going on, Chas?” Missy was beginning to get scared.
“Missy…” he began gently. “You’re wanted for questioning as a person of interest in a homicide.”
“What?” she interrupted. “That’s impossible! Wait, who died?” she asked, dreading the answer.
“Mrs. Nesbitt,” Beckett answered softly. “I’m sorry.”
Missy’s hands flew to her throat in shock and horror. “Oh no!” she exclaimed, tears pooling in her eyes. “Not Cora. She was the sweetest…” Missy dissolved into tears.
“I knew the two of you were friends, so it made no sense to me that you would be a suspect, but appa
rently there is some evidence that implicates you.”
“Evidence? What evidence? There can’t be evidence of a crime that I didn’t commit! Oh, this is horrible, Chas,” she cried. “What happened to poor Mrs. Nesbitt?”
Beckett sighed, running a hand through his thick black hair in frustration. “I can’t discuss the case with you, Missy, it wouldn’t be good for either one of us. I’m going to go now, so no one can say that anything inappropriate has occurred, and there will probably be a squad car stopping by shortly. Just do what you always do, tell the truth and you’ll be just fine.” Chas stood to go, gathering the distraught woman into his arms for a gentle hug, then heading for the door.
Chapter 4
Missy was frustrated as she sat through an interrogation at the hands of another LaChance Police Department detective, Gilbert Johnson.
“Detective Johnson, I have told you three times now – I left the Crème de la Cupcake in Dellville around 4:00. From there, I came home, changed into athletic wear and took my dog, Toffee, to the park to play fetch. We got home from the park at about 6:45, and your officers arrived at 7:15. What more is there to say?” she demanded, tired, hungry and impatient.
“Why do you think that there was a bushel basket full of peaches near Mrs. Nesbitt’s back door that had a paper, with your name written on it, tucked into the basket?” the detective grilled her with a glare.
“I have no idea, but offhand, I’d guess that she had planned to bring me a bushel of peaches so that I could make my peach muffins and cupcakes, like I do EVERY YEAR!” Missy shot back, tired of Johnson’s insinuations.
“Did you see Mrs. Nesbitt today?” the infuriating man asked.
“No, I did not.”
“Did anyone in your shop see Mrs. Nesbitt today?” Johnson persisted.
“I doubt it. Cora always makes sure that she comes in whenever I’m there, so that we can chat and catch up.”
