The Sweet Baked Mystery Series - Books 1-6

by Katherine Hayton

  “Can we come with you?” Crystal asked. She was stamping her feet to keep warm as the heater took its time getting the temperature sorted. “A nice hot restaurant sounds outstanding about now.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Susan repeated. “Of course, you can come through. I should probably warn you that Zach can be a bit of a handful.” She lowered her voice, though they hadn’t moved any closer to the restaurant, so nobody could possibly be listening in. “I think it’s from cooking in the heat all day long. It’s made him permanently bad-tempered.” Then she tapped the side of her nose and winked. “But you didn’t hear that from me!”

  The two sisters followed Susan back out the door—the one facing poolside rather than the street—and walked into a large restaurant, blessedly warm.

  Holly’s nose finally defrosted all the way, and she inhaled a gorgeous fragrance. “What on earth is that delicious smell?”

  “Pumpkin spice soup,” Susan said. “You should come back for lunch and try some. I can guarantee that it’s worth it. Zach serves it up with fresh, crusty bread and a great swirl of sour cream. I only wish he served it all year round.”

  Crystal’s expression turned thoughtful as she sniffed the air. “I wish that I could make a cupcake that smelled that good. I wonder if he’d share his recipe so I could adapt it into a cake?”

  “No,” a voice boomed at them out of a back room. “He wouldn’t share his recipe with a stranger.”

  A tall man with jet black hair and a set of thick eyebrows to match came through into the restaurant, wiping his hands on a towel. “And he’d also like to remind his realtor that if she wants to make an inspection of the premises, she needs to give forty-eight hours’ notice, which she has not.”

  “I’m s-so s-sorry,” Susan stammered. “This isn’t an inspection. These are two clients who are interested in renting the shop next door.”

  “I thought that disgusting little pie-man was going in there.”

  The realtor blinked like a deer caught in the headlights. “There are several businesses interested,” she said after a long pause. “And none of them are disgusting.”

  “Fine. Nice to meet you, potential tenants.” The man waved in open mockery of a normal greeting. “It’s always great to have strangers who might not even end up renting the shop next to mine coming in before we’re even open.”

  “Your door was open,” Holly said with a frown. What a rude man!

  “If the door to your house is open does that mean you expect to come home and find other people living there? No. Now get out.”

  “They were wondering about the ovens next door,” Susan said, hurrying as the man turned in dismissal. “The Waterstons wanted to know if they baked quick or slow.”

  “I don’t keep tabs on what the competition’s appliances do or don’t do, Mrs. Bruntwell.” The man didn’t bother turning around as he spoke, continuing back into his kitchen.

  “Oh, well.” Susan turned back around and led the trio back to the neighboring shop. “I suppose we caught Zach on a bad day.”

  “That’s okay.” Holly smiled at the woman, wondering how on earth she managed to do business when she appeared so easily flustered. “From what you said, I gather he’s never having a good day.”

  “No, but that doesn’t help answer your question, either.” Susan began to wring her hands together. “I’m not sure what to tell you. Does it matter?”

  “We need the timings so that we can organize the workload,” Crystal said. “Just being a minute off might make our product unsaleable. If they’re a different temperature than our current ovens, we’d have to rework all the current timings to fit. It might be a lot of work.”

  “Well, how about you spend a day here,” Susan offered. “Would that give you the information you’re after?”

  Crystal nodded. “That would be perfect. Are you sure it’s okay, though? Won’t the complex be worried?”

  “The last tenant skipped out halfway through the month, so it’s paid up until the 31st.” Susan flipped up a page on her clipboard and nodded. “Officially, no one’s able to take it over until then, but having it for a practice run falls within the terms of our agreement for seeking new tenants when the old have given notice.”

  “And I won’t have a disgusting pie-man turning up during the day to give it a trial run as well?” Crystal asked, mischief sparkling in her eyes.

  At that, Susan rolled her eyes. “Zach may be a bad-tempered man, but he’s spot-on with that description. If you can save me from renting to the pie-man, both me and the Hot Springs Complex Inc. would be very happy.”

  “What times are we able to take deliveries?” Crystal asked, getting back on track. “I presume they have to drop everything at the front?”

  Susan ran through the rest of the arrangements with Crystal, while Holly wandered over to the front window to gaze out at the view. Beyond the serving window, there wasn’t a lot of space available but being right on the main street was such a bonus, she couldn’t feel too sad about that.

  With the serving window popping straight out the back, right by the poolside exit, they’d also have double the customer lines to think about. Even if they weren’t doing gangbusters, the bakery might need to take on another set of hands.

  From where she stood, Holly could see down the street to their current premises. A man in a heavy coat was staring across, blocking a clear line of sight, but if she tilted her head, the bakery came into view. Although they didn’t own the shop, she’d grown so used to being there that she thought of it as belonging to them.

  Could she really be thinking of moving out of one of the touchstones of her life just to grab a little bit more trade?

  A lot more trade, Holly argued back with herself.

  “What were the figures for the foot traffic again?” she asked, turning back to Susan and Crystal. “I’d like to go over them once more.”

  Crystal bowed out of the discussion to head back to the bakery and get the doors open again. With the mid-morning customers due in a half-hour, Holly stayed mindful of the time as she continued to pour over the numbers.

  No wonder Crystal had suggested they make an offer. The long rows of numbers that Holly poured over were enough to make her head spin.

  “And the number of tourists visiting goes up during the winter?”

  Holly had already asked the question, but wanted to hear the answer again, so contrary to what she was used to.

  “They go up by twenty-five percent during the winter months. July is our busiest time with August running a close second.”

  The numbers were astonishing, but Holly had to keep reminding herself that customers who’d been in the hot pools, then changed into their clothes again in the freezing cold, were probably searching for a hot meal afterward. Sure, they’d have more people going by their window, but that didn’t mean they’d sell more.

  Unless, they started offering warm cupcakes, straight from the oven.

  The idea glowed like a beacon in Holly’s mind. No waiting time to add the frosting, no skill in decoration required. Lava cakes, with their molten centers omitting the need for any topping at all. It would mean that Crystal had another set of timings to work out, but the idea filled Holly to bursting with promise.

  “When do we have to give you a definite answer?”

  Before Susan could tell her, the air outside filled with the sound of angry voices. They were so loud that the people must have been screaming, though Holly couldn’t understand a single word.

  While the realtor frowned, Holly pushed past her to the poolside door and opened it onto a couple gesticulating as loudly as they shouted.

  Shouting in German, Holly realized after a second. No wonder she couldn’t decipher a word.

  She didn’t need a translation service for Zach’s heated reply. “I’ll kill you,” he yelled, pointing his finger in the German man’s face. “I’ll kill you and gut you like a fish!”

  Chapter Two

  Susan tumbled out of the doo
rway behind Holly, gasping at the vehement words. “Zach Telford,” she exclaimed, getting close to shouting herself. “You apologize to these nice people and get back into your kitchen. These tourists pay your wages, and don’t you forget it!”

  Although Holly stood open-mouthed, so surprised at the reprimand that came spilling out of Susan that she couldn’t speak, Zach appeared unaffected.

  “Don’t you talk to me like that. You’re just the realtor here. This is my business. This man insulted my business.”

  “I’m the owner, not just the realtor,” Susan stated. In a minute, she’d gone from a flustered real estate agent to a cold, precise businesswoman. It made Holly wonder just how much of her earlier appearance was an act. “Either apologize to these people or get out of my premises.”

  When Zach turned his furious face toward her, opening his mouth to rebut, Susan held up a slender forefinger. “It’s against the terms of your rental agreement,” she said, with a confident assurance that told Holly her words were absolutely true. “We’ve been down this path before, and you remember how far you got. Do the right thing now or get out. I’m not going through this with you again.”

  Given the cold conditions, Holly was impressed that the two tourists hadn’t succumbed to the weather and left. They both sported wet hair, probably having come straight out of the pools.

  “But—” Zach began.

  “No. I don’t want to hear your excuses or your justifications. You cannot make threats against people, especially when they’re guests of this establishment. Now, make your apologies and offer up some compensation before these two lovely people freeze to death.”

  Zach’s face hardened so much on the phrase ‘lovely people’ that Holly was surprised it didn’t crack open when he finally offered up his apology.

  “I’m very sorry for what I said. Of course, I will not kill you.”

  He gave a short bow and seemed done until Susan cleared her throat, the sound full of meaning.

  “And, of course, you’re welcome to dine in my restaurant for free. Would you like to come inside?”

  The man glanced at his partner, who shook her head. The woman was in tears, though given her earlier screaming invectives that could just as easily be from anger as from being upset.

  “We can’t go in there now,” the man said in stilted English. “We’re cold and upset, and we just want to go home.”

  “Of course,” Zach said, “as you wish.”

  He turned, as though to head straight back inside but Susan moved over and laid a hand on his arm to stop him. “Would you like to come here tomorrow at this time and Zach will make you a special meal, just for the two of you? He does a very nice pumpkin spice soup at this time of year. Very warming.”

  “We’ll think about it,” the tourist said, nodding to his girlfriend.

  “Zach here is a much better cook than he is a human being,” Susan continued smoothly. “If you take him up on the offer, you won’t regret it.”

  The woman tugged on her partner’s arm. She’d just begun to shiver violently, as though noticing for the first time how cold it was.

  “Sure, we’ll come tomorrow.” The man nodded to Zach. “We’re staying here for the rest of the week.”

  “Well, I hope this rough start doesn’t put you off your business here,” Susan said, leading the couple away. “Why don’t you follow me, and I’ll take you through to the spa? You can enjoy a complimentary massage to warm you up.”

  Holly stood and watched them go, beginning to shiver herself.

  “That boss woman makes me cook for them, but she’s the one who caused this whole nonsense in the first place,” Zach said.

  Holly expected anger, but the hurt in his voice made her turn in astonishment. “Why? What did she do?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Zach flapped his hand in disgust and walked back into the restaurant. “She’s a monster who never wants to hear my side.”

  “I don’t know,” Crystal said, not for the first time, as they arrived home. “It seems like too big a risk. Now that we’re finally getting back on our feet it feels foolish to squander the buffer we’ve built up. If it goes downhill, we won’t have a chance to recover before the rent eats us alive.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic.” Holly opened up the fridge door, finding it almost empty. How old are those cheese slices? Does plastic cheese ever go off? Hunger trumped common sense, and Holly pulled them out to make a sandwich.

  “In the worst-case scenario, we find out in the first couple of weeks that it’s not going to work out, then we’re only out three months’ rent.”

  “Except, in the meantime, Brian’s sold our existing bakery, and we no longer have the option of backtracking.”

  “Hm. Good point.” Holly decided to offset the threat posed from the expired cheese by spreading on double the butter. “Perhaps we could ask Brian to hold the store.”

  “He’s not going to do that. If we don’t sell up, we won’t have the money at all, and if we do, then we can’t put a time frame on it.”

  “Can we hold this conversation until you do the run-through tomorrow?” Holly took a bite of her sandwich and offered Crystal the second one. Her sister wisely shook her head. “I’ve gone through the numbers with Susan, but I’d like to go over them again on my own just to check. I really think that we’ll be better off in the new store, even if the projections are slightly off.”

  “What if they’re massively off?”

  “What if the hot springs runs out of water, and nobody ever visits Hanmer Springs again?” Holly finished off her sandwich in two big bites and started off the next. “If the goal is to offset every possible eventuality then we’ll never be able to run the business.”

  “But we are running the business now,” Crystal protested. “And it’s finally doing okay. Can’t we just leave it?”

  Holly felt the same twinge of loss that she’d experienced earlier in the day, staring across the road at the bakery. Just because you were moving on to bigger and better things, didn’t make moving any less complicated.

  “Try it out tomorrow and tell me what you think after that. Perhaps you’ll fall in love with the place and won’t be able to think about NOT taking it.”

  “Or perhaps I’ll hate it so much that I’d never let you even think about it.”

  Holly crossed her eyes at her sister’s obstinacy. “Whatever. Either way, it would help us toward a decision.”

  The doorbell rang, and Holly jumped to her feet to answer it. Alec stood on the other side, with a sheepish grin on his face.

  No matter how many times he called around to see her sister, he always gave the appearance of a teenage boy, meeting the parents for the first time.

  “Come on in,” Holly said, opening the door wider. “Crystal’s in the lounge.”

  “No, don’t.” Holly turned with surprise to see Crystal pulling on her jacket instead. “You can take me out for a change. I’m sick of staring at the same four walls.”

  “Okay,” Alec said, startled. “Have you eaten?”

  Crystal waved goodbye and closed the door, leaving behind a cold gust of nighttime air. Holly shivered and pulled her cardigan tighter around her body. Now that she thought about it, she should have toasted her sandwich instead to help keep warm.

  Too late, now.

  Or not. Holly turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen to make another dodgy sandwich, this time toasted.

  The sound of Aidan’s voice always made Holly smile. Even if it was over the phone, calling to cancel their evening arrangements. “Sorry, I didn’t get around to see you tonight We had a small crisis at my cousin’s, and I couldn’t get away.”

  Holly smiled and snuggled down under the blankets, the phone pressed tightly against her ear. “Is Elvira okay?”

  “She’s fine, but her mother took a turn for the worse. It’s the flu.”

  “Oh, no.” Holly had already been through a bout with that herself and couldn’t imagine how much worse it would b
e on top of an existing disability. “Is she going to be all right?”

  “Too early to say yet, one way or the other. The doctor says she’s still at high risk of pneumonia. She had a vaccine for it years ago, but he said that it mightn’t stop it. Not with how her disease is progressing.”

  Elvira’s mother Tilly had multiple sclerosis and had been battling with a flare up for the past few weeks. To come down with the flu on top of that, especially when it was such a virulent strain this year, could be highly dangerous.

  “Take all the time you need,” Holly reassured Aidan. “And don’t worry about me at a time like this. I’ll still be here when everything gets back to normal.”

  At that, Aidan gave a small chuckle. “I sometimes think that lurching from one crisis to another is our normal.”

  Soon after that, Holly let him go. The poor man sounded exhausted, even though it wasn’t yet eight o’clock. If going to bed early was the only chance he had at restoring his energy, then she wasn’t about to take that from him.

  Which left her alone with nothing to do.

  Holly had already gone to bed herself. Not because she was tired but because she’d piled up so many rugs on the couch that to add one more would have turned it into a bed. May as well get into the real thing and save traipsing back and forth, fetching extra covers.

  Much as Holly loved this old house, it wasn’t winter-proofed at all. The wind sailed merrily through the gaps in the boards, stealing all the heat they could pump out into the air, while a constant draft blew up from under the floorboards.

  If they could earn a better income from the bakery, then first off, she wanted to set aside the money to insulate the house properly. Before next winter, too.

  Although as a girl, Holly had thought nothing of wrapping up in a dozen layers against the cold, in these times it was unusual. With subsidies available from the government under the healthy home's policy, it wouldn’t take very much to see them right.