Cupcakes and Killing: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Shoppe Mysteries - Book 2) (3 page)

Zara mirrored her daughter and crossed her arms. “Fine. If you despise me so much and don’t need my money, then I won’t give you any more. Good luck financing that little startup of yours and paying your rent without me.”

She turned away, and Mia called out after her. “So what, you’re just going to cut me off? Well, fine. May as well call your lawyer and get him to cut me out of your will, too.”

Zara turned back, her face red with anger. “Maybe I
will
do that, then! Maybe I’ll retire early and spend all my money on a lovely cruise around the world instead of paying for all your stuff.”

“You wouldn’t do that. I’m all you have,
mother.
Although the cruise might be a nice idea. No one here likes you enough to miss you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,
darling
. And plenty of people like me.”

Kaye and I watched the scene unfold with horror. Mia might have been ashamed of her mother’s not-so-stellar reputation, but the way she was speaking to her was just plain awful. And in public too! It was utterly shameful.

Mia stormed away, and Zara stood by the door to her flower shop, a forlorn expression marring her otherwise pretty features. She turned and pulled the door shut and locked it, obviously not in the mood to work any longer.

“Should we go and talk to her?” I said to Kaye in hushed tones. “I feel kinda bad for her. Her daughter is vicious!”

“Hmm…I don’t know. After that display, she probably just wants to be alone for a while.”

“I guess so.”

Once our manicures were done, we checked in on the stores to make sure everything was running smoothly and then headed to one of the local dress clothing boutiques. While getting our nails painted, we’d decided we may as well go all out on our day of luxury and pamper ourselves with new dresses for the wedding.

I selected a few mid-length floral patterned dresses to try on, and Kaye grabbed a pretty satin dress in an emerald green color.

“Am I too old for this type of material?” she asked, wrinkling her nose as she inspected it.

“Of course not. That color would bring out your eyes, too. Want to go try it on?”

We headed into the fitting room and entered separate cubicles, separated by dark red curtains. I slipped into my first choice and then vetoed it. It was a little too short, even for a spring wedding. As I was unzipping it, I heard the curtain on another cubicle swish open, and a vaguely familiar voice speaking in a hushed tone.

“There you are. I knew I saw you come in here.”

“Amy, what are you doing here? Can’t I try on a dress in peace?”

I recognized the second voice as Zara, and I stopped still and listened. She’d referred to the first voice as Amy…it must have been Amy McNamara, her ex-employee.

“You might have gotten my case thrown out, but I’m not letting you get away with the rest of it,” Amy said, her voice dripping with anger. “You think it’s okay to just steal everyone’s boyfriends?”

“For God’s sake, Amy. I’ve tried explaining this to you a hundred times! I had no idea that man was your boyfriend. We met at the pub one weekend, and that was it. I loved having you work for me, and if I’d known he was already taken by you, then I wouldn’t have gone near him. Please just listen to me for once.”

“Oh, that’s a load of bull. You just can’t keep your hands off any of the men in this town. Young…old...it doesn’t matter to you. Well mark my words, Zara, I’m going to get you back for this. Just wait and see.”

My God, the poor woman was being attacked from left, right and center today! First Mia, and now Amy. There was a heavy sound of footsteps as Amy marched away, and I slipped back into my clothes before quietly exiting my cubicle. Kaye emerged a second later as well, and we exchanged a glance before peering into Zara’s cubicle.

“Err… Zara? Are you all right?” I asked, my eyebrows knitted in concern.

She sniffed and turned away, trying to mask her teary eyes. “I’m fine.”

Kaye and I looked at each other again.

“I have an idea,” Kaye said. “Why don’t we go grab some hot chocolates at Jerry’s? You’ve had a bad day, Zara. I think you could use a chat and a warm drink. What do you say?”

She turned back to us, her face pale. “I suppose that would be nice. Thank you.”

The sales assistant raised her eyebrows at us as we escorted Zara out of the store, but she said nothing. None of us had bought anything, but our dress shopping would have to wait. Zara had been publicly attacked twice in just a couple of hours, and I felt terrible for her. Sure, she had a reputation, but that didn’t mean she deserved all the hate she was getting.

We found a booth at Jerry’s café and ordered three large hot chocolates, and Zara was silent for a long time.

“I barely even know you two,” she finally said, looking up at us. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Well, that’s not true. We kind of know each other,” Kaye said. “And besides, like I said, you’ve had a rough day. You could use some friends.”

She gave us a watery smile. “I don’t have many friends around here. Most of the women in this town don’t want much to do with me.”

Neither Kaye nor I knew exactly how to respond to that, and Zara sighed.

“It’s okay. I understand why. I’ve dated quite a few men over the years, so I’ve practically been painted with a scarlet A. They all think I’m after their husbands or something. But it’s not true.”

“So you really didn’t know about Amy’s boyfriend?”

“Of course not. She was a wonderful worker and I even considered her a friend. I’d never hurt her. I knew she had a new boyfriend, but I’d never met him, and she hadn’t told me his name yet. He’s the one who decided to go out and cheat on her, yet I’m the one who gets all the disgusted looks and rumors spread about me.”

Kaye reached across and patted her hands. “That’s small town life for you, Zara. People like to gossip, and word gets around in five minutes flat. So if Amy is spreading rumors about you because she’s angry, then every second person is just going to believe it without question.”

Zara nodded slowly. “Yes, I know. You’d think I’d be used to it by now. I’ve lived here for almost my whole life.”

We all paused to take a sip of our drinks when they arrived, and Zara furrowed her eyebrows.

“I know why no one trusts me. It’s because I never married again after Tom and I divorced, and just casually dated instead.”

“Why is that?” Kaye asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Tom wasn’t exactly very nice. He used to hurt me. So I got out of there and took Mia with me, and thankfully he soon moved far away. After that, I just never felt like I could really commit to a man again. I was scared they’d turn out like him. I mean, he seemed nice enough before we got married, but he wasn’t.”

“I see. That makes a lot of sense,” Kaye said. “But regarding the rumors Amy is spreading about you, don’t worry. If there’s one thing I can guarantee about this town, it’s that people will have something else to gossip about within a month.”

That was true, but none of us had any idea just how true it would soon turn out to be.

***

The wedding was upon us faster than I’d anticipated, and Kaye, Tori and I had almost run ourselves ragged preparing all the cupcakes in time. Red velvet cupcakes required a lot of red food dye to give them that deep crimson shade, and every time I poured some into the cake batter, I’d feel a little sting of remorse as I thought of Mr. Frobisher. Red food dye had been the cause of his death, and I was glad that Rosie was behind bars now and unable to hurt anyone else.

First thing on the Saturday morning, we delivered the cupcake tier to the white marquee in the park which had been set up for the reception, and then we went back to my house to get ready. Tori was coming along to the wedding as well, seeing as her mother was a good friend of Mrs. Barnaby, and she helped tame my wild chestnut hair into presentable waves.

“Wow, this looks great, Tori,” I exclaimed, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

“Do me next!” Kaye said, even though her hair already looked lovely, sleek and shiny in a stylish chignon. “Oh, by the way, Anne…is Chris still coming?”

I nodded. “Yep. He’s giving us all a ride there. He should be here soon. We’ll pick up Daniel along the way, unless he wants to meet us there.”

In the last week, Chris had gone back to being completely normal. No strange date cancellations or absences, and the incident with Zara Keilson had been completely forgotten. Kaye had been right; I had nothing to worry about. He was being as sweet as ever.

Half an hour later, he picked us up and glanced at Kaye in the backseat. “We’re collecting Daniel, right?”

“No, it’s okay, he just texted me saying he’s running a bit late; something about the office. He’ll meet us at the reception.”

“All right then. Let’s go!”

Practically half the town turned out to watch the ceremony, and the church pews were packed. Kaye, Tori, Chris and I managed to squeeze ourselves into a back one like sardines, and Chris rubbed my hand and squeezed it after noticing goose bumps spreading across my arms.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “I’m just excited.”

A few moments later, the chatter in the church died down, and music began to play. We all held our breaths in anticipation and turned to face the doors, and a wide smile broke out across my face as I saw Mrs. Barnaby enter the church arm in arm with Mr. Armstrong, their faces radiant with joy. She was wearing an ivory-colored skirt with a matching long-sleeved top, and her hair was pulled back in a chignon. The overall effect was chic and elegant, but not too over-the-top.

The ceremony ran smoothly, and only minutes later Reverend Barker was declaring them husband and wife. The church erupted in cheers, and several people stood up and threw confetti over the happy couple as they slowly exited the building, held up by well-wishers.

“Well, time to get down to the park,” Kaye remarked. “I hope there’s some other food there aside from our cupcakes. I’m starving!”

“Just let me grab my camera from the car,” Tori said. “I want to take some pictures.”

By the time we arrived at the park, the marquee was already filled with guests and champagne was flowing. Daniel finally arrived, and he and Chris went to get some drinks for us. While we waited, Tori began to snap pictures with her camera, and we made the rounds and said hello to everyone we knew.

“Anne, these cupcakes are to die for,” Reverend Barker said, sidling up beside me.

“Thank you, Reverend,” I said, smiling warmly.

He nodded and moved on to chat with someone else, and Zara Keilson approached us a moment later. “Hello, ladies,” she said. “I see your cupcake tier is going down a treat!”

“Sure is,” Tori said, holding her camera up to take some more happy snaps. “There’s already hardly any cupcakes left!”

“I had two,” Zara said with a wink. “But don’t tell anyone.”

“How are you, anyway?” Kaye asked. “Feeling a little better?”

Zara moved in a bit closer. “Yes, I am. You know what, you two were absolutely right…no one is even looking at me or talking about me. They’re all too busy gossiping about this wedding!”

“See? I knew it would all blow over soon,” Kaye replied, patting her on the shoulder. “Ooh, is that smoked salmon pate over there? I’ll be right back.”

Kaye breezed over to the long table on the right of the tent, where the caterer Mrs. Barnaby had hired had set out trays of cana
pés
, dips and other small nibbles. Seeing as it was such a casual affair, there weren’t going to be any sit-down meals, and I thought it was nice. It made it seem like a real party rather than a regular stiff, uppity wedding reception.

Chris and Daniel finally returned with our drinks at the same time Kaye returned with snacks, and Chris handed a champagne flute to me before noticing Zara.

“Oh, sorry, would you like me to go and get you a drink?” he asked.

“No, it’s fine, I have a glass already. I left it on that table over there before I came over here to chat,” she said, pointing behind us. “Anyway, I better go and grab it before someone else drinks it. I’ll be back in a minute.”

She smiled and vanished into the crowd, and then reappeared again with a half-full glass. “Cheers!” she said.

We all toasted her and gulped down mouthfuls of champagne, and Chris began to tell us some story about a crazy neighbor he had to deal with in Boston not long ago. As he spoke, Zara’s eyes suddenly widened, and she clutched at her chest.

“Zara? Are you okay?” I asked, my eyes wide with concern.

Kaye grabbed Zara’s arm, seeing as it looked like she was about to collapse, and her chest heaved as she tried to catch a breath.

“I…I… what…”

She was trying to speak but couldn’t seem to get a full sentence out, and then her knees buckled and she crumpled forward.

“Oh my God!” I said. “Chris, call 911!”

Chris hastily pulled out his cell phone and dialed. By this stage, Zara was lying on the ground surrounded by me, Tori, Kaye, and Daniel, and I wished I’d taken a first aid course so I’d know what to do. I felt utterly helpless, and I couldn’t imagine how Zara must have felt as she lay there struggling to breathe.