Cupcakes and Killing: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Shoppe Mysteries - Book 2) (2 page)

“Lovely choice. Well, we’ll need to know how many guests will be coming; an approximate amount anyway, just so we can figure out how big to make the tier. Oh, and cream cheese frosting actually goes really well with red velvet. What do you think of that instead of buttercream?”

“Whatever you think is best, dear. You’re the expert.”

We spent the next half an hour going through all the details, and I couldn’t help but dance a little on the inside at the thought of the upcoming wedding. Mrs. Barnaby had been through a lot in the last few years, what with her husband leaving her and then Mr. Frobisher being murdered, and she deserved to finally have something wonderful happen to her. It just showed that it was never too late for someone to find happiness in life.

“Okay,” I finally announced. “That’s all sorted. We’ll send you an invoice after the wedding.”

“Lovely. Thanks, dearies. I wish everything were this simple. That florist has been an absolute nightmare. She flirted with Brian right in front of me when we went to order some flowers for the wedding!”

“Which florist? Ms. Keilson?”

“Yes. The nerve of her!”

Zara Keilson was a couple of years older than me, and she’d run one of the local florist’s shops for ten years now. I’d always thought she was a nice enough woman, but in a small town it was hard to escape the rumor mill. She’d been married once, very young, and after having one daughter she and her husband had divorced. Since then, she’d gained quite the reputation as being a tremendous flirt and rather promiscuous, if the gossip was to be believed.

“I’m sure it was innocent, Mrs. Barnaby,” I said in a soothing voice. “She was probably just being friendly.”

“Hmph. It’s remarkable how she’s only that friendly when there are men around. Oh, listen to me, I sound like a jealous old biddy. Sorry, dearies. Anyway, I must dash. Thanks for your help!”

Kaye raised her eyebrows as Mrs. Barnaby departed. “That Zara can’t seem to catch a break. I’ve barely heard a nice word about her in over a year.”

Tori joined us a second later, appearing from the kitchen and dusting off her pale blue apron. “Speaking of Zara Keilson, did you hear what happened with her old assistant?” she said.

“No?”

“Amy McNamara used to work with her, and apparently there was some accident with a pair of pruning shears. Amy had to get stitches, and now she’s quit and trying to sue Zara.”

“That’s terrible! Can you even sue someone for that? If it was an accident, that is.”

Tori shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. These days it seems like you can sue anyone for anything, I doubt Amy has much of a case, though. She was barely hurt at all. From what I’ve heard, the real reason she quit wasn’t because of the shears accident….it was because Zara was having some sort of fling with her boyfriend behind her back.”

“Amy’s boyfriend? What, that teacher from the high school?”

Tori nodded. “Uh-huh. Zara is nice and all, but she really could benefit from keeping it in her pants, so to speak. I wouldn’t be too happy if she went after my boyfriend, so I’m not surprised Amy is so upset with her.”

“Hmm…well, I suppose it’s none of our business,” I said. “Shall we close for the day? It’s after six, and I doubt we’ll get any more customers today.”

Kaye and Tori agreed, and after locking the door, I crossed the street to make sure the Sweet Shoppe had been closed properly. Everything appeared to be in order, and I yawned as I headed over to my car beside the curb. Life was good for the most part, and the next week was going to be chock-full of work to keep me distracted from the fact that Chris was being strangely distant. Mrs. Barnaby’s wedding cupcake tier would take me a long time to complete, seeing as it would require over one hundred and fifty cupcakes, not to mention all the frosting and other ornamentation.

I had to admit I was really looking forward to the wedding, because I loved getting all dressed up and having a few champagnes while watching a couple celebrate their love. I took a quick glance at the weather report in the paper when I got home, and the forecast for the next week predicted great weather. Hopefully that perfect weather would last until the wedding, so Mrs. Barnaby and Mr. Armstrong could have their perfect day… although to be fair, Mrs. Barnaby seemed so happy with the engagement that she probably wouldn’t even be upset if there were clouds in the sky on the day anyway. I couldn’t think of a single thing that could go wrong at their wedding that might ruin her good spirits.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t have predicted the course of events that would transpire within the two weeks…

***

A few days later, I was strolling down the main street on my way back to the Sweet Shoppe. I’d had to run some errands, so Kaye was taking care of things there while Tori and another young worker were taking care of the cupcake store. As I went to cross the street, a familiar dark head and chiseled profile caught my eye through the window of Zara Keilson’s flower shop.

What the…? What was Chris doing here?

I was about to go in when I noticed how close they were standing to one another. Zara was smiling seductively, her lips painted a carmine red, and one eyebrow was arched. Chris was leaning in, and it looked like they were whispering even though no one else was in the store.

A pang of jealousy cut to my core as I watched them, my mind whirling with confusion. Was Chris
flirting
with her? Also, what was he even doing in town? He definitely hadn’t called me to tell me he was coming to visit today. Zara tossed her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled at him again, and my inner green-eyed monster really came out to play. I couldn’t help it. I had to admit, Zara was very beautiful, especially considering how in her mid-forties she could still easily pass for a much younger woman. With her petite frame, alabaster skin and wide grey-blue eyes, it was no wonder so many men in town had fallen under her spell.

I’d never had a problem with her up until this moment, but obviously something weird was going on, so I finally strode into the store to find out what it was. The two of them sprang apart like scalded cats when they saw me, and Chris’ eyes went wide.

“Oh…Anne! I…uh… um…I was going to come and see you at the cupcake store soon,” he said, fumbling with his words like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I plastered on a saccharin smile. “Really? I had no idea you were in town.”

“Well, it was going to be a surprise,” he replied, flashing a grin at me; the same heart-melting grin he’d given me on the day we met.

“I see. So, err… what are you doing in here? By the way, hello, Zara,” I said, trying to keep my voice as light and airy as possible.

She smiled and returned my greeting, and Chris had the good grace to at least look flustered. “I…err…I thought I’d drop by here to get you some flowers as part of the surprise.”

Zara hastily grabbed a nearby bouquet of daffodils and pressed it into my hands.

“Yes, here you are,” she said. “Lucky girl!”

“Well, I better run,” Chris said. “I was planning on making a few quick business calls before dropping in to see you. See you soon, sweetheart.”

With that he pecked me on the cheek and dashed out of the store, and I was left gritting my teeth and standing with Zara. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, as if she knew she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“So, how’s things, Anne?” she asked, obviously trying to mask the awkwardness with polite conversation. “I had one of your cupcakes the other week. It was divine.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “Things are good. Busy as usual. How about you?”

I wasn’t exactly keen on chatting with her after what I’d just witnessed, but I didn’t want to be rude, either. She sighed.

“Oh, it’s just one thing after another with me. I’m sure you heard about my old assistant trying to sue me?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I did hear about that.”

“Well, they’ve thrown the case out, thank the lord, but the whole thing was just more stress I didn’t need. And now I’m having trouble with my daughter Mia. You’ve met her, right?”

“I think so, yes. She really likes my caramels, if I recall correctly.”

“Yep, that’s her.” She sighed again. “We’ve been having trouble for a while. She’s a very headstrong young lady, just like I was when I was her age. Anyway, we had a huge fight last night, and we both said things we didn’t mean, myself especially. I just said these things in the heat of the moment, and then she stormed out and hasn’t returned my calls since. It’s always been a struggle with her…well, since Tom and I divorced, anyway.”

Despite how annoyed I was with the woman for flirting with Chris, my heart went out to her. She looked so sad, and from what I’d heard, she didn’t have a whole lot of friends around town aside from the men she dated. No wonder she was pouring her heart out to me about her daughter, even though I was barely more than a mere acquaintance.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Just give her a few days to calm down.”

“Thanks, Anne. You’re right. I’ll try calling her again in a few days and see how things go. By the way, have you heard about Mrs. Barnaby’s wedding to Mr. Armstrong?”

“I sure have. I’m making a giant cupcake tier for the reception.”

“That sounds amazing!” she replied. “I’m doing all the floral arrangements for the reception. She and Mr. Armstrong are so cute together. Are you actually going to the wedding? They told me anyone’s welcome, so I’ll definitely be making an appearance.”

“Yes, I’m going,” I said. “I was going to invite Chris.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’ll see you two there! Anyway, I better get back to work. Thanks for the chat, Anne.”

She didn’t react strangely at all at the mention of Chris, and I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Like I’d said to Mrs. Barnaby the other day, Zara was probably just trying to be friendly. It wasn’t her fault she was so stunning and caused the rumor mill to run into overdrive.

Then again, why had Chris behaved so suspiciously when I walked in here? The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if my initial instincts had been correct. Maybe there really was something going on with them.

There was one person who’d be able to help me figure the whole thing out – Kaye.

I said goodbye and headed back to the Sweet Shoppe, and as I entered, Kaye was scooping out strawberry clouds and sherbets into a paper bag for a group of giggling school children. I busied myself wiping down the counter, and when the children had left I beckoned her over and filled her in on what I’d seen with Chris and Zara. She grabbed my hand and chuckled.

“Oh, Anne, you’re just being paranoid. You’ve said yourself that Zara is just overly-friendly with customers. I’m sure it’s harmless.”

“Yes, I know, and I really want to believe that, but why were she and Chris standing so close and whispering? That doesn’t seem like something two people who have nothing to hide would do.”

She squeezed my hand again. “Trust me, I don’t think anything’s going on. You’ve been so busy with the shops and all the orders we’re getting that your mind is in overdrive. I bet you a million dollars everything will be fine.”

“Oh yeah? You’ve got a million dollars to just throw around like that?” I asked with a grin.

“No, I just know I’m right,” she said, sticking her tongue out.

She was probably right. I was just being paranoid.

***

With Mrs. Barnaby’s wedding only three days away now, I treated Kaye and myself to a manicure and pedicure at the local beauty parlor. We couldn’t exactly go to a wedding with our nails looking chipped and ragged, could we? Mrs. Barnaby wasn’t working at the parlor at the moment, as she’d taken the last week off to plan the wedding. Two of her employees began to buff our feet, and I glanced across at Kaye and sighed with content.

“Ah, why can’t every day be like this?”

“Tell me about it,” she said. “Maybe I’ll quit helping you at the stores and become a lady of leisure. Facials and cocktails every day…”

I grinned and tossed a cotton ball at her, and she laughed before suddenly stopping, her face contorting in a frown. “Oh, wow. What’s going on out there?”

The door to the beauty parlor was open to let fresh air in, and sounds from the main street were carrying inside. Zara’s flower shop was right across the road, and we craned our necks to get a better look. Zara was standing outside the shop with a young woman I recognized as her daughter Mia, and they were glaring at each other and shouting.

“You know, I thought if I gave you a few days to calm down, you’d be more likely to listen, young lady,” Zara said.

Mia rolled her eyes. “Why should I be the one to calm down? You’re the one who needs to calm down! God, Mom, I’ve told you this a million times. You’re such an embarrassment! Do you know what everyone in town thinks of you with all those men you carry on with?”

Zara’s face fell, but she kept her ground. “Mia, I might not live the way you expect me to as your mother, but I’ve done everything I can to take care of you and give you everything you ever wanted. Do you know how hard I’ve worked?”

Mia tossed her hair over her shoulder and folded her arms, practically spitting venom at this point. “Oh yes, Mom, you’ve done such a good job, blah blah blah. Just because you’ve made a ton of money with your business doesn’t make you a good mother. I don’t care about your money! I just want you to stop embarrassing me and acting like such a...tramp! Amy’s boyfriend was practically half your age; I went to school with him, for Pete’s sake!”