Expression sober, eyes sad, she said, “Yeah. I hope so. It wasn’t easy.”
A knock sounded on the back door and BeeBee shook her head as if in a daze. Sam unlocked the door to let Victoria inside; BeeBee and I cleaned off the work table.
“Morning,” Victoria smiled.
“Good morning,” Sam answered. I waved and BeeBee gave a little nod.
I looked to BeeBee and she gave a tiny shake of her head. I understood; she would finish sharing Eva’s story later.
“How did things go at the college?”
“Eh.”
Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Not so good?” I guessed.
“It isn’t that,” Victoria shrugged. “It ended up being a huge college fair. You know, where tons of different places all send people with information booklets and they set up tables and give away rubber bracelets and water bottles and lanyards.”
“Sounds like you scored some swag. How is that bad?” Sam asked.
“My scholarship is to the college here, in Seashell Bay. Mom says I can’t go away to culinary school until I get the basics all taken here with the free college money.” Victoria sighed as she tied on her apron. “But Millie found an art school that she really wants to go to. In Chicago.”
“When does college start?” BeeBee asked, seamlessly falling into the conversation.
“At the end of August. Millie would have to move at the beginning of August to get a place in the dorms.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Sam gave her a quick hug. “I know we will all miss Millie if she goes, but it’ll be especially hard for the two of you.”
“You know what that means?” BeeBee asked, hands on hips.
Victoria shook her head.
“That means we have to make this the best summer ever before Millie leaves, plus we get to plan a going away party.” She smiled.
“That’s right!” I chimed in, eager to cheer up Victoria. “You can bake all of her favorites and we can do a send-off surprise party here at the Ooey Gooey.”
“She would love that,” Victoria licked her lips. “And it does sound like fun.”
“It’s settled then,” Sam clapped her hands. “I’ll take care of decorations.” Sam loved a good party. “I better get out front and make sure we are ready to open soon.”
I nodded, turning to Victoria. “And you and I have lots of cookies to mix because I’ve been slacking this morning.”
The oven timer buzzed. Victoria crossed her arms and pursed her lips as if the sound completely contradicted my claims of laziness.
I raised my hands in defeat. “I didn’t say I did nothing. I just admitted I haven’t done as much as normal.” The teen laughed and slipped on a pair of oven mitts. Fresh cinnamon smells leapt from the oven as she removed the tray of Cinnamon Bun Cookies.
BeeBee said goodbye and slipped next door to help Flo.
Victoria and I mixed, baked, and chatted easily about the classes she would be taking in the fall and the changes we would need to make to her schedule at the bakery. A constant hum filled the room as mixers buzzed and the walk-in fridge made running noises. The sounds were a comforting background noise, until a tremendous banging on the back door broke the spell and scared me to death.
The spoon I had been scooping cookie dough with went flying. Victoria jumped and caught her hand in the mixer. Sam even came rushing through the swinging door.
“What in the world is that noise?” Sam asked, eyes darting around the room.
More banging, the door shaking with the violence, reverberated through the room. Muffled yells could be heard as well.
I motioned Victoria back away from the door. Sam took one look at Victoria’s hand and pulled her to the sink to wash blood from her injured fingers.
Flipping open my pocket knife, I clutched at the handle as I approached the door. Maybe the person on the other side would go away if I didn’t unlock it. Then again, I thought as the banging commenced, maybe they needed help.
Knife at the ready, heart hammering in my chest, I flipped the lock and opened the door swiftly, keeping my foot poised to slam it shut.
CHAPTER 5
Heavy rain and earth-shaking thunder took me by surprise. I stepped back, dropping my knife. It clattered across the floor. Lightning cracked across the sky, lighting up the figure hunched under his coat. “Griff?!” I swung the door wide and my boyfriend stepped inside. Water slid down his coat, dripped down his nose.
“BeeBee’s missing!” he looked between us all with wide eyes. “She isn’t anywhere at the house.”
“Oh…” I picked up my knife and slammed the door shut against the weather. I leaned my forehead against the door. Shuffled my feet. Did we really forget to tell Griff? I gulped. “Umm, about that.” I turned to face Griff.
“Do you know where we should look? Have you heard from her?” Griff kept talking.
“Griff!”
He quieted and looked into my face. “BeeBee is fine. She rode with Sam and me to work. I’m so sorry we forgot to tell you.”
“Busy morning. I assumed Piper texted you, she probably thought I did,” Sam looked to me and I nodded. “BeeBee woke up early and came to the bakery. She’s over at Flo’s now.”
Griff dragged a hand down his face.
“We’re really sorry! I didn’t mean to worry you,” I hugged him, wet clothes and all. “Thank you for coming to get us and find her though. It means a lot.”
“Two dozen.”
I stepped back and cocked my head. “What?”
“Two dozen cookies is the going price of giving a man a heart attack,” he gave me a gentle nudge toward the counter. “Go on, start bagging them up. I’ve got work to do after all.”
“You’re incorrigible,” I rolled my eyes. “Two dozen of anything or something specific?” I asked him as Sam handed me a to-go box.
“I’ve been knocking in the rain for a long time,” he tapped his foot.
“We never heard you,” Victoria said.
I glanced over to see Sam bandaging her finger with supplies from the first-aid kit. “You okay?” I asked.
“I’ll be fine,” she nodded.
“I’m sure you couldn’t hear over the rain,” Griff said. “Still, I think two dozen cookies with nuts and chocolate will cover the heart attack factor.”
“Honestly, I didn’t even hear the rain, much less the knocking. Didn’t know it would be storming today at all.” I placed an assortment of nut-filled, chocolate-oozing fresh cookies into the box, licking my fingers after I closed it up. Mini Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Filling. Yum – I might have to eat the ones that I didn’t give to Griff.
“It started about ten minutes ago,” Sam said. “The storm. Moved in out of nowhere. Instead of a sunrise over the tops of the buildings, I looked up from the counter to see a looming black cloud rolling in. The bottom dropped out of the sky right after. We had a few of the business crowd stop in, but not many customers are going to come out in this mess. I better get back up there in case I’m wrong though.”
Griff took his cookies and jacket. I wished him luck with leak calls and inspections today and told him to be careful in the weather. Locking the door back, I leaned against it. “Alright. Now, we clean up this mess and try again.” Cookie dough smeared the cabinets where I had tossed my spoon in fright. Victoria’s mixing bowl had overturned when she jerked her hand free.
“This all needs to be thrown out now, right?” She asked me as she surveyed her station.
“Yep. We can’t serve people part of your finger,” I winked. “Not even if we discount it.”
“What’s going on with Sam’s mom?” Victoria asked as she scraped the contents of the mixing bowl into the trash can.
“What do you mean?”
“The posts going around social media. Haven’t you seen them?”
I frowned. The newspaper article must have been photographed and shared online. Sam wouldn’t be happy to hear that. �
�I saw the newspaper with the mohawk. I’m sure it will die down soon enough.”
Victoria rinsed the bowl, shaking her head. “No. That isn’t what I’m talking about. Hold on, I’ll show you in just a second.”
I crossed the kitchen and stored my finished bowl of cookie dough in the walk-in fridge. When I turned, Victoria had finished loading the dishwasher and held her phone out for me to take.
More pictures. No mohawks. This time, Deidra did not have a mohawk. She also did not have on a top, though thankfully creative caption blurred out the full image. WIFE OF THE MAYOR IS LIFE OF THE PARTY this headline read. I noticed the photo still showed a teenage Deidra. Maybe she did some questionable things in her younger days; it still seemed someone had a very personal agenda to make Deidra look as bad as possible though. Why else dig up things from eons ago? And where were they getting these pictures anyway?
“Do you mind if I take your phone out and show Sam?” I wanted to be ahead of any other bearers of bad news.
“Of course not; go ahead.”
“Thanks.” I pushed through the swinging door, relieved to see the café mostly empty.
“Hi, Piper.” Barbara, one of our regulars held up a cup of coffee in greeting, her other hand holding onto a bag of goodies. “Sam just told me how great the summer sales have been for the Ooey Gooey Goodness Bakery and Flo’s Flowers. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” I smiled, keeping the phone behind my back.
“I always love it when small businesses help each other out,” she said. “Have you girls thought about coming back to another yoga class at the spa?”
“Maybe,” Sam made a noncommittal noise.
Barbara laughed. “It gets easier,” she promised. “Well, I have to run. Today is a mess and if I’m not back soon my husband will send a rescue party.”
A cacophony of noise - pounding rain and rumbling thunder, car horns honking, tires splashing through puddles - all poured into the bakery as Barbara opened the door to leave. I could see the streets had small rivers of water flowing down the sides as the rain fell too fast for the drains to keep up.
“A mess is right,” I said to Sam as the door shut. “And unfortunately, the weather isn’t the only one.”
“What else? Is Victoria’s finger not okay after all?” Sam glanced the direction of the kitchen.
“She’s fine. I’m not sure about the rest of us. Look at this,” I pressed the phone into her hands.
CHAPTER 6
I worried about the havoc Deidra might wreak when she saw the newest glamor shots of herself going viral on the web. Sam had just left out the back door to get BeeBee and visit the hair salon after looking at the post.
Just like the first, Sam had never seen this picture before. “I know everyone has a past,” she had said, blinking her eyes as if trying to un-see the photo, “but this craziness isn’t like my mother at all. I can’t imagine her ever leaving the house without lipstick, much less being in public sans a shirt.”
I continued to mull over the sudden media interest in Deidra’s past. “Well, Mina. What do you think?” I fluffed the little palm leaves as I poured a bit of water into the dirt for the plant.
“Ummm…Piper?” Victoria stared at me from the counter. “Who you talking to?”
Woops. I hadn’t heard the swinging door open. Caught talking to the potted palm, great. Maybe I’m losing my mind. “Nobody.” I shook my head. “What’s up?”
“Nothing really. I was wondering, can I have my phone back?”
“Yes, I’m done. Do me a favor though? Try not to show anyone else those photos of Sam’s mom.” I retrieved the phone from my apron pocket and returned it.
“No problem.” Victoria disappeared back to the baking.
~
“Whoowee,” the door opened, the sound of the bell overhead drowned out by the storm which hadn’t slackened. “Looks like we’re in for a real frog strangler. Must be some big tropical storm.” Gladys plopped her umbrella in the makeshift umbrella bucket that I’d set up by the door.
“And hello to you,” I laughed.
“Good afternoon,” Gladys continued to wipe her feet on the mat. A useless attempt, considering the amount of water it had soaked up today, but I wouldn’t try to stop her. “Did Sam already leave?”
“Yes, she should be at the hair salon by now. I’m not sure how well the plans for house shopping are going to hold up in this weather though.”
“House shopping?” Gladys asked as she joined me behind the counter. “Is Sam moving?”
“No.” I explained Sam’s plans for the day.
Gladys gave a little smile. “Good, good.” She poured herself a cup of coffee. “Too bad about this weather though. Maybe she and Landon will have to cozy up somewhere dry, what do you think?”
I rolled my eyes. Gladys and her matchmaking never failed to catch me by surprise. “I wouldn’t count on it,” I told her. “BeeBee is with Sam; she’s getting her hair colored, too.”
“Maybe I should color my hair?” Gladys twirled a finger through a tight gray curl. “Not blue though; then I’d look like one of those blue-haired old women. Hmm,” her forehead creased. “Maybe blonde. Or dirty blonde!”
Seeing that my opinion wasn’t at all needed, I extricated myself from the hair color discussion before it was too late. “Since BeeBee is out with Sam, I think I’ll go check on Flo.”
Gladys waved one arm at me, still muttering to herself about hair. I took that as a sign that she didn’t mind manning the cash register alone for a bit. Weighing my options, I decided darting down the sidewalk and into Flo’s from the street side promised a bigger chance of staying dry than going out the back and hoping she heard me bang on the back door. Before I got across the room, Gladys called me back.
“What did Deidra come in here throwing a fit about?” she asked me.
“She was just…wait a minute, you were nowhere near here. How did you now Deidra came in throwing a fit yesterday?” My brows drew together. I crossed my arms as Gladys shuffled guiltily.
“Mina told me,” she shrugged.
“Mina. This Mina?” I pointed to our potted palm.
Gladys nodded.
“Listen, I know you like to talk to Jack and Drew,” the palm trees at her home. “And maybe I slipped up and spoke to this plant today; I admit, she’s cute. Still, you can’t expect me to believe she told you about Deidra.”
“Not in so many words,” Gladys shifted her eyes from me to the door. “Hello!” she greeted as a bedraggled group of teens flooded the café, along with about a gallon of water sloshing off of them. “Come in, come in. Who wants coffee?” Gladys latched on to the excuse to ignore me.
With a sigh, I resigned myself to picking up this conversation another time. Back on track to my current destination, Flo’s, I exited and hurried next door.
“Hi,” I greeted.
“Come on in,” Flo smiled. “What brings you over today? I hope it isn’t for another batch of break-up flowers?” She raised her eyebrows, eyes twinkling merrily beneath.
“Very funny.” I chuckled, recalling Flo’s confusion when Griff and I came in to buy first-date / last-date flowers for Kendra. “Actually, I came to check on you. Need any help while BeeBee is gone?”
“How sweet!” Flo beamed. “Thanks, but no. This weather is keeping customers away for the first time in weeks. I hate to admit it, but I’m thankful for the break. I’m nearly caught up on arrangements to make.” She indicated a lineup of beautiful bouquets and vases behind the counter. “When I finish, I’ll work on balancing the books. BeeBee plans to be back later this afternoon.”
“That’s good to hear. I do hope this bad weather moves on though.” I glanced back out the storefront windows. Gray skies as far as my eye could see. “I don’t think I’ve seen a storm this bad since I moved to Seashell Bay. What did Gladys call it?” I chewed on my lip thinking. “A frog strangler?”
Flo snorted. “I haven’t heard that term before. Guess it makes se
nse; as fast as the water is rising out there, a drowned frog or two wouldn’t be surprising.”
I chuckled but the image of a little cartoon frog splayed out with his tongue lolling from his mouth popped into my head, chasing the chuckles away. Poor frogs. Poor us; if it got any worse that would be flash flooding. “I guess I should get back to the bakery,” I told Flo.
“One minute.” She finished tying a loop of ribbon around a vase and then beckoned me closer. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Speaking of Gladys, I received an order of flowers to be delivered to her.”
My mouth dropped open. “Really?”
Flo nodded. “I’m only telling you this to confirm I can deliver these to the bakery, of course.” She wiped the grin from her face, all business as she discreetly spun a short vase so that the card faced me.
“Of course, of course,” I bobbed my head, leaning to get a look at the sender’s name on the envelope. Frédéric.
“Anyway,” Flo settled the vase back amongst the row of completed arrangements. “I thought you could let me know when Sam is back…I mean when a good time to deliver the flowers to Gladys would be.”
I smiled. “You bet. Keep your phone handy; I’ll shoot you a text.”
Back at the bakery, I grabbed a kitchen towel and dried off the spattering of rain from my arms and face. Even with the awning, you couldn’t go outside without getting a little wet. The group of teenagers still sat at two tables by the window. I grabbed the coffee pot and refilled their glasses while Gladys rang up an order for a young woman at the counter.
“These cookie sandwiches are legit,” one of the teen boys nodded at me as I poured his coffee.
“Thank you. Can I get anyone anything else?”
“Your number,” one of them wise-cracked. The girl beside him slapped his arm.
Saving my eye roll for when my back was to the table, I smiled politely and left them to their snacks. “Gladys,” I said as the customer left the counter. “I’m going to help Victoria in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything.”
Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery Box Set Page 49
