The Sweet Baked Mystery Series - Books 1-6

by Katherine Hayton

  Holly fought back a laugh at the expressions that passed between the couple. It wouldn’t be appropriate to sound happy given the current surroundings. “Oh, my goodness,” she said suddenly, putting a hand up to her mouth. “Your parents!”

  Alec’s mouth dropped open in shock. “I forgot. They’ll have turned up on your doorstep by now, wondering what on earth is happening.” He dug his mobile out of his jeans pocket and groaned as he looked at the screen. “I put it on silent for the meal. Now it’s up to five messages and counting.”

  “Come on, then,” Crystal said, poking Alec in the side before she broke into a run. “Last one home is a rotten egg.”

  Holly woke to a dark figure leaning over her and gave a start as her heart thumped far too quickly in her chest.

  “Are you awake?” Crystal whispered.

  Holly’s rush of panic subsided as she recognized her sister. “Well, I’m awake now,” she whispered back. “Is something wrong?”

  After the slap-up meal at the Indian restaurant, the party had disbanded to go their separate ways. Alec and Crystal had shared an embarrassingly long farewell kiss, which ended as he left to spend the night with his parents and Crystal returned to Holly’s place along with Simon, their unexpected guest.

  Holly hadn’t caught up with any gossip from Meggie and Wendy before they made their excuses and returned home. Fair enough, too, as the two women would have their work cut out for them the next day between flower arranging and early-morning hair appointments from members of the bridal party.

  “I can’t sleep,” Crystal complained now. “Your ex is snoring on the couch.”

  Holly snorted with laughter. “Well, that’s what you get for inviting him back here. You should have let him take Brian up on his offer, then they’d be the ones having a sleepless night.”

  “I don’t know how you could stand it for all those years,” Crystal grumbled, climbing into bed beside her sister without waiting for an invitation.

  Holly scooted as far over toward the wall as she could manage. The bed really wasn’t built for two. “I used to wear earplugs when he was really loud, but I guess over time, I just got used to drowning it out.”

  “Ugh. If Alec made a sound like that, I’d kick him out to sleep on the footpath.”

  As if his unconscious mind was listening in to the conversation, Simon gave a loud snore that sounded like it was in danger of inhaling the curtains. If he’d been sleeping on the Henderson’s piggery, he would have fit right in.

  “I’m sure you’d find a way around it if you had to,” Holly said. “That’s part of making a relationship work.”

  “I don’t want a relationship to be work,” Crystal grumbled. “I want it to be a respite from everything else that’s going on in the world.”

  “You know that you and Alec won’t always agree on everything. He’s sure to have some habit that rubs you up the wrong way.”

  Crystal elbowed Holly lightly in the ribs. “You do remember that we’ve been living together for the past few months? It’s not as though he’s got any surprises left in store.”

  “Ha!” Holly said, then clapped a hand over her mouth as she realized how loud the sound was in the small house. When she took it away, Crystal was giggling. “You’ll learn,” Holly intoned as though she was a thousand-year-old goddess dispensing advice. “As soon as the marriage ceremony is over, there’ll be new habits you never dreamed of crawling out of the woodwork.”

  “I don’t think so,” Crystal said with confidence. “We know each other too well.”

  “Really?” Holly sat up enough to lean her head on one hand while she stared down at her younger sister. “Does he know that you like to squeeze the toothpaste from the middle?”

  “I’ve learned to squeeze it from the end, thanks very much,” Crystal protested.

  “How about your lovely habit of drinking water through a glass backward over the sink, so it comes out your nose?”

  “I only do that when I’ve got a cold.” Crystal sniffed. “I haven’t had one for ages, and that habit is scientifically proved to be better than just blowing into a tissue.”

  “Not when someone catches you doing it by accident,” Holly said with a laugh. “Then it just makes the other person sick.”

  “You should talk,” Crystal said with indignation. “You’re the one who stuffs wet toilet paper into her shoes.”

  “I only did that once, when we ran out of tissues, and it’s to stretch out the leather.”

  “It was gross.” Crystal accompanied the declaration with a few retching noises.

  “My point is, there’s probably a whole host of little annoying habits that you’ve been suppressing during the past few months while you get used to each other being around. As soon as you get comfortable, though, you know what’ll happen? They’ll all start to creep out again. It’s human nature.”

  “I’m not sure that squeezing the toothpaste tube from the middle is on a par with making that racket every night.”

  “You’d be astonished at what really gets at you when you live with somebody long enough.”

  “Like what?” Crystal too sat up and rested on one elbow. “Oh, experienced one, tell me of the pitfalls of marriage so that I might avoid the mistakes that you made.”

  Holly giggled at her sister’s nonsense. “Fine. You really want to know?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, I could put up with Simon’s snoring, but I couldn’t stand the way he used a toothpick after a meal.”

  In the moonlight, Holly could see Crystal’s eyes boggling. “What did he do with it?” she whispered in a horrified voice.

  “He picked his teeth with it,” Holly said with a laugh. “Just like you’re meant to. He’d dig around in his mouth and poke out all the little bits of stuck meat.”

  Crystal paused for a long moment, as though waiting for the punchline. “I don’t get it,” she said at last. “What’s so bad about that?”

  “Everything,” Holly exclaimed. “The sound, the movement, the way little bits of chewed meat would flick up in the air.” She shuddered. “I nearly called a halt to our marriage three years in because of that.”

  “How’d you get used to it?”

  “I didn’t.” Holly shook her head. “I just stopped cooking him roast meals because I couldn’t stand it. I pretended that I was struggling with eating meat so started cooking up a whole lot of fish.” She smiled with satisfaction as she stared out into the dark room. “It’s tough to get fish stuck between your teeth.”

  Crystal poked her in the ribs. “You’re such a big meany. That poor man.”

  “Hey,” Holly said, grabbing her sister’s hands. “That’s the poor man that you’re thinking of casting out of the house just because he struggles to breathe at night.”

  “Oh, yeah. But that’s sensible. If I don’t get a full eight hours sleep at night, I’m useless the next day.”

  “Do you want to put the clock radio on?” Holly asked, pointing to the device that she used as an alarm. “Just tune it past a station so we can listen to the static. That should drown him out enough to let you go to sleep.”

  Crystal fiddled with the radio for a while, until the white noise came out at a level that masked the sounds from the lounge. “Tell me something else that drove you crazy,” she said to Holly in a voice full of sleep. “I want to hear everything.”

  “I can’t tell you everything,” Holly said. “Otherwise, you’d never be able to look Simon or me in the eyes again. I can tell you about how he clips his toenails though.”

  “Did he do it inside and get them caught in the carpet or something?”

  “Definitely, or something. He used to sit on the back step and clip them, then hunt down the individual nail clippings so he could put them in the rubbish.”

  Crystal yawned. “Wouldn’t they just end up on the lawn or the bushes?”

  “Yep. I certainly didn’t care where they landed, so long as they were outside, but Simon was paranoid about t
hem. He kept saying that someone might steal the clippings and use them to extract his DNA.”

  “What?” Crystal came halfway through to wakefulness again, her voice incredulous. “Did he really believe that?”

  “Nope,” Holly said. “But I got you that time.”

  Crystal laughed until it turned into another yawn. “Yeah, you got me.”

  Holly drifted off to sleep with her arm across her sister’s chest, a smile on her face.

  “Honestly,” Simon said. “If I’d known that I was going to be an imposition, I never would have stayed here the night.”

  He’d knocked on the door earlier that morning when the phone rang and was surprised to see the two sisters in bed together.

  “You weren’t in the way,” Holly said and covered her mouth as a large yawn gripped hold. “Crystal just wanted some company last night. It wasn’t like you drove her out of her bed.”

  “Hm.” Simon kept his head down as he buttered his toast. Holly was reminded of her conversation with Crystal the night before as he then tracked down each and every crumb that worked its way free and scooped them up to drop them into the rubbish bin. It never seemed to occur to him to use the kitchen sponge like every other sane person on earth.

  “Who was it?” she asked as Crystal walked into the kitchen.

  “Just the replacement photographer,” Crystal replied, rubbing her eyes. “She wanted to check and see what time our ceremony was starting.”

  “And she phoned here at six in the morning?” Simon asked in astonishment. “What a cheek!”

  “She’s probably just eager about the job, although people certainly do get weird ideas about weddings,” Crystal agreed. “I had to field a whole lot of calls about being left off the invite list a few months back. Considering that most of the folks who called I didn’t recognize, I’m not surprised they didn’t get an invitation.” She paused for a minute to grab a coffee mug from the cabinet. “They were though.”

  “I don’t recall anything like that happening around our wedding,” Simon said. “Did you have to field calls like that?”

  Holly shook her head. “No. I remember having to listen to people’s long-winded excuses for why they couldn’t come, but that was a relief in most cases. I don’t recall anyone being upset at not being invited.”

  Crystal giggled. “Maybe that’s just your usual charm showing.”

  “Maybe someone should be careful of what she says before my morning caffeine has a chance to start working its magic,” Holly said back with a smile. “It’s probably the small-town effect,” she said to Simon. “When you’ve lived around the corner from somebody your whole life, they start to seem an important part of it even if you never exchange more than a few words.”

  “Or they’re desperate for a day out and just want a nice meal at the reception,” Crystal said. “They say that there are professional funeral goers who are just after a meal at the wake, so it wouldn’t surprise me.”

  “I keep thinking that nothing will surprise me any longer,” Simon mused. “And then something comes along and does.” He moved through to the lounge and then gave a cry of fright. “Ah, Holly?”

  She turned and saw that Petey had managed to sneak into the house, ready for his breakfast. “Who’s a good boy?” she asked, giving the golden retriever a hearty stroke along his back. Petey licked her nose as she bent down toward him.

  “I didn’t know you had a dog,” Simon said.

  Holly looked over at him with a curious glance. “We haven’t spoken much in the past year, so why would you?” She set about filling up Petey’s bowls with food and water, then washed her hands before putting her own breakfast into the toaster. “I inherited him last year.”

  “Inherited?” Simon was still frozen at the table, his eyes fixed on Petey.

  For the first time, Holly considered that her ex-husband might not like dogs. Since they’d never had a pet, the question had never arisen before. “I got him from a multiple murderer,” Holly said with a pinch of joy at winding her ex up. “He’s perfectly harmless, though, aren’t you boy?” she cooed to Petey until her toast popped up, ready. “You don’t need to worry about him biting you or anything.”

  “I’m not,” Simon said in a voice pitched half an octave above its usual level. “I’m just not used to dogs, that’s all.”

  “He’s not used to you either,” Crystal said. “But I can put him outside if it’d make you feel more comfortable.”

  Holly frowned while she buttered her toast with too much force. Petey was her dog, and she didn’t appreciate her sister and ex discussing where he’d be better suited. Then she shook her head. This was Crystal’s big day, and a momentary annoyance over Simon’s aversion to Petey should be allowed to disrupt the morning.

  “I’ll put him outside after he’s finished breakfast,” she said, turning back to them and taking a huge bite out of her toast. After she swallowed, Holly continued, “It never takes him more than a few minutes.”

  “Mind your suit though,” Crystal said. “If you’ve left it on the sofa, he might brush up against it.”

  “There’s a lint roller in the laundry, if he has,” Holly added. “His hair does tend to stand out on dark clothes.”

  The phone rang, and Holly grabbed it before Crystal could get there, pointing her sister toward the bathroom instead. If she didn’t get a start on getting ready, there’d be no time to get the hair and makeup done right before starting to put on the newly washed and dried dress.

  “Hello, this is Holly Waterston.” At least she was learning.

  “Hi, Holly. It’s Minister Woodfield here again. I’m sorry to say that my illness didn’t clear up after a good night’s sleep like I was hoping so I won’t be able to officiate at the wedding today.”

  Just think calming thoughts! “I’m sorry to hear that. You said yesterday that you’d been feeling out replacements, does that mean you have somebody lined up?”

  “I sure do. Aidan Heddle. I believe that you met him at the wedding I hosted out in Inglewood Manor. Although that turned out to be a bad affair, you’ll find him a great celebrant. Very caring.”

  Holly closed her eyes. Was it really possible that the minister didn’t know that she and Aidan had dated, then broken up? Or was he playing an almighty trick on her?

  Not everything is about you. Aidan will be great at officiating the wedding, and you know it.

  Yes, Holly did know it. “Thanks, Minister. I hope that you’re feeling better soon.”

  The minister gave a low chuckle that turned into a groan of pain. “I hope so too. I’ve sent through the details if you want to get in touch with Mr. Heddle. Otherwise, I’m sure that he’ll phone you to check-in.”

  “Thanks,” Holly said before replacing the receiver gently. What she really wanted to do was throw it across the room and rip the phone cord from the wall, but this day wasn’t about her needs, it was about Crystal and Alec celebrating their love together in front of their community.

  Along with a parade of Holly’s exes, all lined up right at the front of the church so she couldn’t get away. “Could this day get any worse?” she whispered and then slapped a hand over her mouth as though that would reverse the damage. If she wanted to challenge fate, then Holly supposed that she’d just done that nicely.

  Chapter Four

  The scent of smoke hung heavy in the air and mixed with the usual smell of Sulfur from the hot pools in the center of the township. As Holly and Crystal ventured out to their hair and makeup appointments at Meggie’s salon, Holly cast a nervous glance to the sky above. A pall hung overhead, not quick thick enough to be called drizzle but enough to obscure the ordinarily beautiful view to the mountains surrounding the town.

  “Don’t even think about calling this rain,” Crystal warned. “It’s not the slightest bit close to a shower.”

  “I wasn’t,” Holly lied, intertwining her fingers behind her back for luck as they crossed the main road. “It’s just not quite dry, either, though,
is it?”

  “It’s dry enough for the ground to stay firm underfoot and for me and Alec to exchange our vows. That’s all that it needs to be for me to be happy. What the weather does once we’re in the marquee for the reception, I don’t care.”

  “I hope that the firebug doesn’t strike again,” Holly said. A successful change of subject but not one that moved either of them to a happier frame of mind. “I wonder if the police know anything more about it.”

  “If the sergeant wants to tell us anything,” Crystal said, “he can do that at the reception. I’ve invited him along so you can pump him for information then.”

  “I don’t pump Matthewson for information,” Holly protested while her sister just laughed and shook her head.

  “Whatever you call it, then. You certainly end up with a lot more facts about the policing of Hanmer Springs than I’ve ever dreamed of learning. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you and Andrew were a perfect couple.”

  “Since when have you called him Andrew?” Holly asked, using her surprise as a deflection before she could dwell on what her sister had said. She’d had quite enough of men for the time being. If she got through to the end of the day without her exes putting her off men for life, she’d count herself lucky.

  “He told us to call him that when he was investigating me for poisoning Brian,” Crystal said. “I haven’t forgotten, even if you have.”

  There’d been so many weird incidents since that long-ago event, that Holly had to strain to remember. There was a vague feeling that her sister was right, but as they’d discussed last night, habits were hard to break. Holly had thought of the sergeant as Matthewson for so long, that it seemed disrespectful to call him anything else.

  They walked into Meggie’s hair salon, joining another early bird reservation also getting made up for the wedding. Esmerelda. Holly hadn’t spoken to the woman after the incident when Elvira had stolen the family recipe book. As Holly sighed and nodded to her, she thought that at least the day was starting out the way it would continue. Every awkward relationship she’d ever had was lining up for Crystal’s special day.