The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 1) (14 page)

Tom caught the look on Angie’s face and his eyebrows went up.

“Yes, please. I’ll be right back.” Josh headed to the men’s room.

“What’s this?” Tom questioned.

Angie turned to reach for a clean mug. “What’s what?” When she faced the counter and put the mug down at Josh’s place, she saw a sly grin on Tom’s face.

“What’s going here?” Tom’s question was tinged with a teasing tone.

“Where?” Angie tried to avoid Tom’s interrogation. She filled Josh’s mug with coffee.

“Well, when Josh came in something like flirting seemed to fill the air between you.”

Angie scowled. “Hush, you. Here he comes.”

Josh sat down and sipped his coffee.

“So, Josh, anything new?” Tom looked like he was about to chuckle. Angie narrowed her eyes at him.

“The reception really went well the other night. Did you enjoy yourselves?” Josh directed the question more at Angie than Tom.

“It was great. We had a very nice time,” Angie told him. As she moved away to wait on other customers, she shot Tom a warning look. Tom smiled at her innocently.

Angie kept glancing over at Tom wondering what he was talking to Josh about and hoping he wasn’t going to embarrass her. Her heart pounded double time. When she was packaging some donuts into a box for a customer, Tom got up from his stool, and called, “See you tomorrow, Angie.” Angie looked over at him, standing slightly behind Josh. Tom formed the shape of a heart with his fingers and held them next to his chest.

The scowl she shot Tom quickly turned to a smile when she caught Josh looking at her.

“More coffee?” Angie asked sweetly.

“Please. Tom’s a nice guy. We were talking about him doing some work for us on some projects we might have planned.”

Angie wanted to groan imagining Tom having plenty of opportunity to tease her and Josh if anything happened between them. “Tom’s a great guy. I’ve seen his work. It’s excellent. He’s a careful craftsman. Very knowledgeable.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t have much time to talk to you at the resort open house the other night.”

“That’s okay. We had a really nice time. My sisters and I haven’t been out together like that for such a long time. It was fun.”

“It was a huge turnout. We were pleased that so many people from town showed up.”

“I ran into my former employee, Lisa Barrows. She said the resort was keeping her busy.”

“Lisa gave her notice the other day,” Josh said. “Did she tell you?”

Angie’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “No, she didn’t tell me. She’s quitting? She’s only been there a week.”

“She’s moving back to central Massachusetts. She said it’s all been too much change for her too fast.” Josh lifted the mug and sipped his coffee.

Angie said, “Her mom passed away a year ago. Professor Linden’s death hit her hard. She seems really stressed lately.” Angie felt badly for Lisa. Lisa wanted to make her retirement home in Sweet Cove and Angie was sorry that things didn’t work out the way Lisa had planned.

“Well, I hope things will be better for her when she makes the move,” Josh said. “She doesn’t seem happy at all.”

“Maybe I’ll invite her to dinner before she leaves.” Something about what she was hearing about Lisa made Angie uneasy. Something flickered in her mind, but then was gone.

Josh’s phone buzzed and he checked it. “Davis is after me.” He grinned and reached for his mug. “It’s all work with him, no down time.” Josh took the last swallow of his coffee. He seemed like he wanted to say something. He hesitated, but then blurted, “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a bike ride on the Sunday after you close up the shop. I thought you might be at a loss for what to do without having to be at the bake shop that day. It might be a nice distraction.”

Angie’s heart fluttered at Josh’s thoughtfulness. “I’d like that.”

Josh beamed at her. It seemed like his whole body flooded with energy at Angie’s positive answer. “I’ll come by the Victorian about 2pm?”

Little flashes of electricity bounced between them.

“I’ll be ready.”

The girls set up a long wooden table in the music room of the Victorian. It was covered with beading tools, silver findings, and containers of beads made of silver, gold, pearl, shell, and glass, in every color imaginable. The music room had large windows overlooking the back yard and a door led to the wraparound porch. The sisters thought the room turned out to be a perfect jewelry shop for Jenna’s business. One wall had built-in wood cabinets and shelves where Jenna could store her pieces. In a few days, they planned to bring in the two antique cases that would display the finished jewelry. Jenna could work at a table by the windows while customers browsed the cases.

Ellie had moved into the Victorian a few days ago after finishing her work at the Boston hotel. She was spending the days building a website for the new bed and breakfast, applying for permits, cleaning, organizing, and ordering some new linens for the bedrooms. Ellie was researching the most cost effective way to advertise the B and B since they had a very small budget.

Jenna, Angie, and Ellie perched at the work table putting the pieces together following Jenna’s designs. There were a lot of online orders to finish and send out. It was a cool early May evening, and the girls had made a fire in the room’s ornately carved fireplace. Euclid slept, curled up on the rug in front of the crackling fire.

“So Lisa quit and is moving away?” Jenna used a tool to crimp a small silver bead in place. “The professor’s death must have really taken a toll on her.”

Euclid lifted his head.

Ellie picked up a silver clasp to attach to the bracelet she had just strung together. “You said her mom passed away not long ago. Maybe it’s all just too upsetting for her. It was probably too soon to move to another place.”

A flare of anxiety pulsed through Angie’s veins. She put down the necklace she had been working on and watched the flames dancing in the fireplace. Euclid sat up and stared at her. When Angie shifted her gaze and met Euclid’s eyes, she opened her mouth in surprise at the thought that flashed in her mind. She dropped the tool she was holding and her sisters looked up.

“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked.

“I just had an idea.” Angie’s hands trembled. “What if Lisa saw something the day the professor died.”

Ellie and Jenna had puzzled looks on their faces.

“What if she saw someone put something in the professor’s drink? Maybe she’s afraid to come forward and tell. Maybe she’s afraid the killer will come after her.” Angie’s heart was racing.

“That’s why she’s been so upset.” Ellie’s eyes were wide.

“It makes sense.” Excitement flowed through Jenna’s voice. “That’s why she quit the bake shop. She must have seen the person there almost every day.”

“That poor woman, she must be afraid for her life.” Angie stood up and started to pace around the room.

Euclid let out a low hiss.

“She knows who did it,” Angie said. “But she’s afraid to tell. I bet she suspects someone but is afraid to speak up. Or…what if the killer threatened her?”

A low guttural growl vibrated in Euclid’s throat.

“I need to talk to her.” Angie stopped pacing and stared at her sisters. “I’ll invite her to dinner. I’ll go to the resort and ask her in person. It will be harder to refuse me if I ask her in person.”

“How will you get Lisa to admit what she saw? Who, she saw?” Jenna twirled a bead between her fingers as she thought.

Ellie straightened. “Tell her you think
you
saw something. Tell her you think you saw someone put something in the professor’s drink, but you aren’t sure, and you don’t want to name the person unless somebody else has suspicion. Ask her if she saw anything that day. Maybe when you tell her you’re suspicious of someone, she’ll feel safe telling you what she saw.”

Angie’s face lit up. “You’re a genius.” She hugged Ellie. “Now I just have to get her to talk to me. I’ll go to the resort after work tomorrow and invite her to go to dinner.”

For the second time in a few days, Angie parked her car in the lot of the resort. Her cell phone beeped with an incoming text just as she turned the car off. It was from Jenna telling her to call as soon as she was done talking to Lisa. Jenna and Ellie were driving up the coast to a nearby mall to search for some new window treatments for a few of the bedrooms they’d be using for the B and B.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Angie reached for the door handle and the quick movement of her head caused a wave of dizziness to engulf her. She leaned her head against the headrest and took in some deep breaths.
What was that about?
She gingerly opened the car door and stepped out. Feeling steady, she headed for the entrance of the resort. The closer she got to the door, the more she felt the strange thrumming beating in her blood.
Is there some weird magnetic field around here that makes me feel this every time I’m on the point?
She tried to ignore the sensation by focusing her attention on how pretty the area looked in the glow of the setting sun.

Angie walked through the lobby and approached the registration area where she asked the desk clerk if he could call Lisa Barrows to the lobby for a moment. He agreed, and Angie moved to a group of sofas set up in the middle of the lobby.

A few minutes later, Lisa came around the corner and when she spotted Angie, she stopped short. Trying to recover from the surprise of seeing her former employer waiting for her, Lisa plastered a smile on her face. “Oh, Angie. Hello. This is a surprise.”

“Hi. How are you?” Angie moved closer to Lisa. “I ran into Josh Williams and he said you were moving back to central Massachusetts.”

Lisa nodded. She looked down at the floor. Angie thought Lisa might elaborate on the reasons for her sudden decision to leave Sweet Cove or at least say something about how she thought it would be a good move for her, but she remained silent.

“I came to ask you to join me for dinner,” Angie said cheerfully. “I’d like to take you out for a nice meal to thank you for all the hours you put in at the bake shop.”

Lisa’s face flushed and she started to stammer, “I … I’m working….”

Josh came out of the restaurant just then and saw Angie and Lisa talking together. He smiled brightly at Angie as he walked over to the women. “Hey.”

Angie greeted Josh with a warm smile. He was such a welcome contrast to Lisa’s nervous and withdrawn manner. “I came to ask Lisa to dinner. Since she’s moving away, I’d like to take her to dinner as a thank you for working at my shop and to wish her well.”

“That’s great. What a terrific idea.”

“I don’t get off for two more hours though,” Lisa said.

Josh turned to Lisa. “Oh. Go ahead with Angie. It’s quiet here now. I’ll pay you for your full shift. No worries. Go ahead and have a nice meal together.”

Angie was impressed by Josh’s kindness. He made her feel warm and happy.

“I don’t think I should do that,” Lisa started to object, but Josh cut her off.

“I insist. You’ve been working hard. Take the time for a nice meal. In fact,” Josh looked towards the resort restaurant. “Please have dinner here. It’s my treat to both of you.”

“How generous,” Angie smiled. “Thank you.” She didn’t think she would have been able to convince Lisa to eat with her, but now that Josh made the offer to have dinner at the resort, it would be very awkward for Lisa to refuse. Angie wanted to kiss Josh, and not just because his suggestion made it easier for her to get Lisa to join her.

Lisa gave off the nervous vibe of a trapped animal. Her lips turned down and her shoulders drooped. Angie put her hand on Lisa’s arm and gently nudged her towards the restaurant. “This will be perfect.”

Josh walked with them and spoke to the restaurant hostess, and then he turned to leave. “Enjoy dinner,” he told Angie and Lisa.

The hostess led the women to a small table by the windows. She handed them menus.

“It’s beautiful here.” Angie opened her menu and looked over the choices. “I bet you’re looking forward to getting back to your old town and relaxing for a while.”

Lisa sipped from her water glass. “Yeah. I think it’s for the best. I made too many changes too soon.”

“It was a big adjustment when I moved up here from Boston last year to open the shop,” Angie said. “Even though I was familiar with Sweet Cove from spending so much time here as a little girl, it was hard leaving my sisters, living alone, and running a new business.”

Lisa didn’t say anything.

Angie continued, “It can be hard to deal with life stresses. They can take a toll.”

Lisa was looking out the window at the ocean. “Yes, they can.”

Sitting across from Lisa put Angie in a state of discomfort. The woman would barely converse and her mood was so morose that it caused Angie’s stomach to tighten from anxiety. Looking at Lisa, a slight sensation of dizziness washed over Angie and she had to fight the urge to get up and get away from the older woman sitting across from her.
This is going to be a long meal.

The waiter came over and took their orders. Angie requested another iced tea.

Since there wasn’t going to be much conversation coming from Lisa, and even though she was dreading it, Angie thought she may as well bring up the subject she wanted to speak to Lisa about. She had spent hours trying to think of a sensitive way to ease into the discussion, but nothing ever seemed like a good way to do it. She took a deep breath.

“I wanted to bring something up,” Angie started.

Lisa’s eyes grew wide and her hand fluttered as she reached for her glass.

“It’s about the day the professor died.” Angie leaned forward and kept her voice low. “I’ve been thinking about it, going over the day in my head.”

The older woman stared at Angie.

“I think I saw something,” Angie said.

The color drained from Lisa’s face. She gripped her water glass so tightly that Angie was afraid it would shatter in her hand. “Like what?” Lisa’s voice shook.

“Well, I’m not sure, but I wonder if I saw something….”

“What do you mean?” Lisa looked like she might jump out of her skin.