Premeditated Peppermint

by Amanda Flower

  Charlotte’s mouth made an O shape. “Does that mean I will be on television when I work at the market?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Maami, can I talk to you a minute in the kitchen?”

  My grandmother wiped the sugar and flour from her hands on a white linen towel. “Yes, my dear.” To Charlotte she said, “Make sure that we have plenty of those peppermint meltaways for tomorrow. I think they will be quite popular. The young Englischer from New York certainly enjoyed them.”

  Charlotte nodded, and Maami and I went through the swinging kitchen door to the back of the shop.

  My grandmother perched on one of the metal stools in the large industrial kitchen. “What is wrong, granddaughter? You seem distressed.”

  “I’m not distressed. Well, perhaps a little. I just saw Emily in the alley, and she wouldn’t speak to me.” I sat on the stool next to her.

  Maami patted my hand. “She will come around.”

  I didn’t tell her I had essentially said the same thing to Nutmeg. “Maami, I need to talk to you about Eric and what he and his producer would like to do here at the shop. It’s really your decision, but I think it would be a wonderful boon to our business.” I went on to describe the show and what Rocky proposed. I made no mention of the romance angle between Eric and me. Rocky had agreed it was off the table, so it was not worth even mentioning.

  My grandmother listened in silence and only spoke when I was done. “You want to do this.”

  I nodded. “I do, but it’s your decision. This is your shop. You’ve let me change so many things so far, it almost doesn’t feel right to ask for anything more.”

  She squeezed my hand. “It is your shop too. I am just the caregiver for a time. Your grandfather always intended this to be yours. We expected you to run it your own way, so I have let you have your website shop. You will be the one to move us forward. I know the business will not thrive standing still. The Amish way is slow to change, but you are not. It is right for you to be the next at the helm of this shop. Your grossdaadi would never have asked you to leave New York, but it is what Jebidiah most wanted for you—to be here.”

  Tears sprang to my eyes as she mentioned my grandfather. I missed him so much, and I knew my grandmother had to miss him twice as much as I did. It was a miracle she could bear it.

  “Being on television is not the Amish way. I will have to ask the bishop and the deacon,” Maami said.

  My heart sank. I knew that Deacon Yoder and his outspoken wife, Ruth, would be against it. I should have known this would be my grandmother’s decision.

  “I will call the deacon’s shed phone and ask for counsel,” Maami said. “We must do what is right in the eyes of the church.”

  * * *

  I tossed and turned all night in the small guest room that I shared with Charlotte over the candy shop. I was on the bed, and Charlotte slept on a cot in the corner of the room. The sleeping arrangements were far from ideal, but I had been working so hard to move the candy shop back into the black that I hadn’t had time to search for an apartment. My goal was to find one before Christmas, but with Christmas just two weeks away, and with Eric in town, it was unlikely I’d have the time to look.

  At some point I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up, Charlotte’s cot was empty. Since Charlotte had started working at Swissmen Sweets, she had been the one to rise early and help my grandmother make the candies for the day. That gave me more time to work on marketing and to experiment with new recipes. It also meant that I had time to meet Rocky at the production van, but I didn’t know what to tell her. By the time I had gone to bed, my grandmother still hadn’t heard from her district elders that it was all right to film in the shop. Part of me balked at the very idea of asking someone else’s permission on how to run my own business. But I knew this was my grandmother’s culture, and there was so much I respected about it. At the same time, this was something I could not wrap my head around as a non-Amish person.

  I groaned and rolled over in the bed. I wrapped my pillow over the back of my head. I could hide all I wanted, but I knew that I would end up going to see Rocky even if I had no answer to give.

  I rolled out of bed.

  This late in the year, dawn was just breaking when I walked out the front door of Swissmen Sweets at seven to meet with Rocky. I was relieved when I walked down the stairs from the upstairs apartment and across the main part of the shop that neither my grandmother nor Charlotte saw me. I didn’t want them to ask me where I was going.

  I stopped by the gas lamppost that the van had grazed the day before and saw that the mark was much deeper than a mere scratch. It would take some doing to repair it. I wondered if Aiden had ended up ticketing the network or Josie.

  A fresh blanket of snow covered the square. The frozen grass beneath the snow crunched and cracked under my steps. Each step was as loud as a gunshot in the sleepy village. Although I knew that all the Amish were likely awake at this hour because they were early risers, there was no one outside this early on such a cold day. No one except for me.

  The booths were all set up for the Christmas Market, which was to run Friday and Saturday for the next two weeks leading up to Christmas. From what my grandmother had told me, the Christmas Market was a huge draw to English shoppers who visited Amish Country by the busloads and who were eager to find the perfect gifts for family and friends back home.

  The only thing “off” about the market was the gazebo’s blue and white twinkle lights—which drooped from the eaves. I wondered if maybe the wind had torn them down overnight, but when I looked around to see if anything else was disturbed on the square, I didn’t see any evidence. I also thought I would have heard any high winds in the middle of the night, seeing as how I’d barely slept. I had tossed and turned and worried over Eric being in Harvest. Why was he in Amish Country really? Was it the television special, or was there another motive? I prayed the motive wasn’t me.

  I sighed. I was using my concern over the lights as an excuse to stall because I didn’t have a straight answer to give Rocky until my grandmother heard from her bishop or deacon.

  And maybe a tiny part of me didn’t want to do the show. Obviously, it would be better for the candy shop. Really, any exposure on the prestigious Gourmet Television network would do wonders for business. But was it good for me? For my mental well-being? No. Certainly not. And, well, to be honest, I realized now that Eric wasn’t someone I wanted to be tied to. I didn’t like the reminder of the mistake I had made by staying with him for so long. I didn’t trust him. And I certainly couldn’t shake the niggling thought in the back of my mind that no good would come of his presence in Harvest.

  As I drew closer to the gazebo, I made up my mind that I would fix the twinkle lights on the gazebo before I walked to the production van to give Rocky the bad news about my grandmother’s decision to wait for a decision from the church elders. After that, I would go inside my candy shop and help my grandmother prepare our peppermint treats for the Christmas Market. I was happy that we had Charlotte working for us now. She had volunteered to mind the booth during the market days. Maami and I would help as time allowed. If the Christmas Market was busy, the candy shop promised to be busy as well.

  I knocked the snow that had fallen overnight off my boots before I stepped into the gazebo. A string of lights hung listlessly to my right. I touched the cord and saw where it had been ripped down from the nail. It didn’t look very hard to fix. I only had to find the end.

  My glove-covered hands moved down the cord as I turned to the middle of the large gazebo. I dropped the cord of lights as if I had received an electric shock.

  Rocky Rivers lay in the middle of the gazebo with a cord of twinkle lights wrapped around her throat twice over. Her unusual gray eyes were drained of any life. Long moments passed before I saw Eric standing over her, looking as guilty as sin.

  Chapter 5

  “Bailey, please, you have to help me. It’s not what it looks like.” Eric’s voice wavered as h
e spoke.

  I asked myself, What did it look like? It looked like Eric had strangled a woman with Christmas lights. That was exactly what it looked like. I took a step back to the safety of the gazebo steps. I should run away, get as far from Eric and the dead woman as possible. I couldn’t process this. Eric had killed someone. Even when I thought I was in love with him, I knew Eric was capable of bad things, but I never would have guessed this. I never would have thought him capable of such violence. It wasn’t possible for me to be attracted to someone who was capable of such a horrible act.

  “I have to call the police,” I mumbled as I backed away. The soles of my boots slipped on the gazebo floor, which was slick from the blowing snow.

  Eric grabbed my arm. “No, wait. Don’t! Give me a minute to get my story straight.”

  I wrenched my arm out of his grasp. “Get your story straight? You mean make up a story as to why you killed her? Is that what you mean?”

  “No, no! I didn’t do anything to Rocky. I would never hurt her!” He was white as a sheet, which was quite an accomplishment considering his expertly applied spray tan.

  “Really? Then what are you doing here?”

  Eric’s breathing was shallow. “I . . . I knew she was meeting with you this morning, and I wanted to be in on the meeting. She has no right to meet with you alone. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t even know that you existed. I didn’t want her to make you any promises that I didn’t know about. This Christmas special was my idea and should go off the way I want it to.”

  I stepped away from him. “So you killed her? Because she made a meeting with me and you didn’t like it?” I was on the edge of the gazebo steps now. I could run away, and Eric would never catch me before I reached my candy shop across the street.

  “Bai, please, don’t look at me like that.” Eric sounded as if he was on the verge of tears.

  “Look at you like what?” I asked as I took another step back. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to fall down the steps and onto the snow-covered grass.

  “Like I killed someone.” His voice was tight.

  I didn’t argue with him, because that was exactly how I was looking at him.

  “I didn’t kill her.” His eyes were pleading with me. “I promise you.”

  I wanted to believe him, but Rocky was dead and he was standing right there.

  “You know I couldn’t do this. Do you realize how murdering the executive producer would ruin my television career if not my entire life in New York? Don’t you see how something like this would destroy everything that I have built for myself ?”

  I was about to take one more step backward and fall out of the gazebo when his comment made me freeze in place. “A woman is dead, Eric, and all you can think about is yourself.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “But doesn’t my selfishness prove I wouldn’t do something this stupid? I would never do something that could end my career. Bai, you know better than that.”

  Eric had a point. Killing Rocky would not advance his career in any way, and to Eric, his career always came first. I’d learned that the hard way when we were together. Still, I was hesitant. Eric might not have entered the gazebo with the intent to kill Rocky, but murder wasn’t always planned. “Maybe it was an accident. You said that you came in here planning to confront her about speaking to me alone.”

  The flush on his face deepened. “Of course I was going to confront her about it. This is my show! I should know the deals that Rocky offers you. Just because she works for the network, she thinks that she can tell me what to do. I don’t answer to anyone. I told the network that when I signed this deal in the first place.” He sounded angry.

  “That’s a motive, Eric,” I said quietly.

  “Motive! You have to be kidding.”

  “You just said she bossed you around and you hated it. That’s motive. If you got mad enough, you could have killed her in a fit of rage.” As I said this I realized how small the gazebo was. My heels hung over the edge of the steps, and I placed my hand on my phone in my coat pocket. This conversation had gone on long enough. I had to call Aiden and the police. I needed them to take over from here.

  Eric must have seen my reaction, because he said, “Bai, come on, you know me. You know I wouldn’t do anything like this.”

  “I do know you, Eric, but I never knew you as well as I thought I did, not even when we were together.”

  “Listen, you know I wouldn’t do this. Think of all the bad press this is going to create. The Christmas special is surely off the table now, and there is a good chance that my show will tank altogether. Rocky was the driving force behind it with the network. The other producers have their own pet projects to pitch. No one is going to want to take my orphan. Rocky’s death hurts my career.”

  My stomach knotted. It was impossible not to think of the woman whose unseeing eyes stared back at me. She was more than just a means to an end for some TV show. She was someone’s daughter. Maybe a mother or a sister. She was bossy and maybe crafty, but on a bone-deep level, I knew she wasn’t bad. She certainly didn’t deserve this. No one did.

  “Bailey, I swear I didn’t do this!”

  I needed to get away from Eric. All I had to do was run down those stairs and back to Swissmen Sweets.

  But Eric was right—I did believe him. As callous as it was, I knew Eric wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his career. He’d worked too hard to get where he was. That was something Eric and I had in common, or at least we used to until I left the fast-paced life of New York behind. Now I measured success differently.

  “I believe you,” I said.

  He dropped his hands and sighed with relief. I could be mistaken, but I thought I saw tears in his eyes. “I want you to believe me, Bai. You can’t know how much it means to me.” He took a step toward me.

  I held up my hand, silently telling him to stop. “Someone did this to Rocky, and the sooner we find out who, the better.” As I said the words, I found myself scanning the square. The tables and booths were set up for the day. A manger had sprung up overnight to my right. All it needed were the people and animals to complete the scene. Straw lay on the inside of the makeshift structure, and snow covered the small shelter’s roof. This was not a place you would expect to find a dead woman. I wished I could say it was the first time this had happened to me.

  “The sheriff’s department needs to be informed as soon as possible,” I said more to myself than Eric. “I have to report this to the police.”

  “You mean Deputy Brody,” he said with a curl to his lip.

  I gave him a look. “Deputy Brody is the finest officer on the force. I’m certain he will be investigating this crime.”

  “You speak very highly of him,” Eric grumbled.

  I ignored his dig. “What’s your story?” I asked instead. I was inclined to think that Eric wouldn’t kill an innocent woman, simply because he was too careful to risk killing his own career in the process. But that didn’t mean I could be certain.

  “It’s what I’ve already told you. I came here to meet with you and Rocky. I know you well enough to know that you would come to at least hear her out. You’re too savvy to let an opportunity like this pass you by.”

  I ground my teeth. It bothered me that he’d pegged me so well. “How long have you been here?”

  “I arrived just a minute before you did, and I found her.” He glanced back at the body. “I found her just like that. When I saw her, I couldn’t move. I froze. I . . . I’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean, I have seen dead people at funerals, but not . . . not like this.”

  “Did you touch anything?” I asked.

  “No, of course not, except . . .”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “Except the light cord. I picked it up. I thought it had gotten knocked down. I didn’t know she’d be at the end of it.”

  I grimaced. “I planned to do the same thing.”

  “Yes, but the deputy won’t believe that you have a re
ason to kill Rocky. He will believe that I do. I could be in real trouble, Bailey.”

  He was right. He was in real trouble.

  I took a deep breath and then another quick look at the body. That’s when I noticed the crumpled pieces of cellophane near her feet. There were at least five of them. I recognized them immediately. They were the pieces of cellophane that we used in the shop to wrap many of our candies, including, I recalled, the peppermint meltaways that the sound guy had gushed about and had eaten by the handful.

  “I need to call the police, and we shouldn’t be in here with the bod—Rocky.” I turned and hurried down the steps. I was relieved when Eric followed me out of the gazebo.

  By the time my first step landed on the grass, I’d called 911 and was put through to the dispatcher. Unfortunately, this was not the first time I had called the police in Holmes County to report finding a dead body, so I knew the drill. I rattled off what I’d found, and the dispatcher promised to send a deputy out immediately.

  As Eric and I waited by the gazebo, a group of Amish men arrived to finish setting up for the Christmas Market, which was scheduled to open at noon. That was assuming that the Christmas Market would go on despite this latest development. I bit my lower lip.

  I paced while waiting for the deputies and wasn’t the least bit surprised when Aiden and his young partner, Deputy Little, were the first to arrive on the scene. The temperature seemed to drop as a light snow began to fall.

  Aiden jumped out of his cruiser and pulled up short when he saw me pacing in front of the gazebo while Eric hovered over his phone. I wondered whom he was texting. Should I have stopped him from doing that? Could he be warning someone? Who could it be?

  “Bailey!” Aiden cried. “Are you all right?”

  I stopped pacing as he jogged over to where I stood. “I’m fine. A little shaken.” I closed my eyes. “That poor woman. I’ll never get used to this sort of thing.”

  “I don’t ever want you to get used to this sort of thing,” he said. Aiden’s whole body sagged as he exhaled in obvious relief. “I was so worried,” he added just loud enough for me to hear. “Thank God, you’re okay.”