Sweets Shop Cozy Mysteries Boxset

by Maisy Morgan

  “You have some serious nerve!” he could hear his grandmother shouting, and this bothered him terribly. Mary wasn’t a shouter.

  He had a hard time hearing exactly what was being said from where he sat in the back, but he knew they were shouting, and he didn’t like it. Tripp could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. But he knew that Mary was trying to get the man to leave and that he was refusing. That much made him nervous, and anxious enough to pull out his cellphone and call Preston.

  “Tripp?” Preston answered the phone with a bit of surprise in his voice. They had exchanged cell numbers, but neither of them had ever actually called one another before.

  “Preston, can you get to the shop?” Tripp asked. “There’s this weird guy here, and Grandma is acting really nervous. She sent me to the kitchen, and I can hear them yelling at each other. It’s making me really uneasy.”

  “I’m two minutes out kid,” Preston said, and Tripp hung up the phone.

  He counted down the two minutes before peeking out into the shop from the kitchen. “I’m telling you I don’t want to hear what you’ve got to say,” Mary was saying. “You have ten seconds to get out of my shop before I call the police, and I mean it!”

  Right on cue, Preston entered just as the man was calling Mary a five-letter word that made Tripp want to bolt out and hit the man with the mixing bowl that was sitting within reach. “Whoa!” Preston said appalled, clearly not expecting to walk in on anything so serious. “What did you just call her?” Preston questioned. “Man, get out of here before I drag you out!”

  The man turned toward Preston, looking ready to fight until he saw that Preston was dressed in uniform. He wasn’t a complete idiot. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “That was uncalled for, and I’m leaving. Mary, just take this. It’s my card, and it’s got my cell on it.”

  Mary stood with her arms crossed, so the man put the card down on the counter before leaving. Preston stood with his mouth gaping open. “What was that?” he asked. “Who the heck was that jerk?”

  Mary shook her head picking up the card and slipping it into her pocket. “Someone I haven’t seen in a very long time,” she said. “Fifteen years in fact. What he is doing in the middle of Georgia, I don’t know. His name’s Jonathan. That’s my ex-husband.”

  Tripp immediately slipped back into the kitchen. The angry, burly man with the white button up that had just gotten into a screaming match with the most level-headed woman Tripp knew — was his grandfather. It was clear that Mary didn’t want him to know this, and she certainly didn’t want the man, Jonathan, to know that Tripp was here with her. Tripp hurried across the kitchen not wanting to be anywhere near the door when his grandmother came to get him. While she had not told him so directly, he was under the impression he wasn’t supposed to have been eavesdropping on the conversation.

  Even though he had put some distance between himself and the door, he could hear his grandmother’s voice although he couldn’t quite make out the words, he could tell she was a bit hysterical after the encounter. He frowned, wondering if calling Preston had been a good idea at all. Surely his grandmother didn’t want to broadcast to Preston, of all people, that her ex-husband had just randomly shown up in town? There was a slight pinch of guilt in his stomach. Had he made things worse?

  The kitchen door opened, and Mary stood in the doorway smiling at him. “You called Preston didn’t you,” she said, feeling a bit of emotion well up in her at his concern.

  “Yeah, well, that guy was acting really nuts,” Tripp said waiting to see if she was going to tell him who the man had been.

  “Thanks for taking the hint and dipping out so quickly,” Mary said. “Come on out.”

  They headed back to the main floor of the shop where he saw Preston angrily snacking on a key lime pie bite at the counter. Tripp grinned at him. “You good?” he asked.

  “Just glad you called me,” Preston said shoveling the rest of the snack Mary had given him as a thank-you into his mouth.

  “So,” Tripp asked, “who was that guy?” He knew the answer, of course, but he wanted to see if he was allowed to know. Evidently, he was not.

  “Just some idiot I knew from LA,” Mary said. “He happened to be in town and decided to look me up. I don’t know why he thought that would be a good idea. We hated each other.”

  “I see that,” Tripp said feeling slightly resentful. Was she really not going to tell him? It appeared so.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Really,” Mary assured Tripp. “He’s just some moron from LA.”

  “Okay,” Tripp said, looking bothered. Mary was certain that Tripp knew something more was up than what she was letting on, but she didn’t feel as though this was an ideal time to tell him that she had just kicked his grandfather out of her shop.

  She set Tripp to work behind the counter as a handful of customers had just slipped in, and she and Preston went and sat down at one of the tables furthest from the counter. “Are you all right?” Preston asked in a low tone voice while gently laying his hand on top of hers.

  “I don’t like lying to Tripp,” she said. “I suppose I’ll have to tell him eventually. I just want to wait until the circumstances are better. I wasn’t expecting Jonathan to just come walking into my shop. It’s been fifteen years Preston! I haven’t seen him since before Tripp was born. He left after that fight with Lilly and sent divorce papers in the mail. I signed them, and that was that. He hasn’t tried contacting me once since then, and now he travels across the country to pop in and see how I’m doing?”

  “I’m sure he’s here for a reason,” Preston said. “Without a doubt though, I definitely don’t like the way he was acting.”

  “I didn’t really give him a chance to talk,” Mary said. “Jonathan always hated that. I just wanted him out. If Tripp hadn’t been here, I might not have been so jumpy.”

  “Does Jonathan know?” Preston asked.

  “I called him Allen. Pretty sure Jonathan doesn’t know Tripp’s middle name. I’m not even sure if he knows his first,” Mary admitted. “Lilly was still trying to decide what to name the baby when he left. I just can’t believe that after all this time he would fly across the country and show up like this.”

  “I agree with you,” Preston said. “Something isn’t right about all this.”

  She sighed and leaned back in her seat crossing her arms. “I know I was planning on letting Tripp work the shop again today, but with Jonathan lurking around, I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you a hard pass today Preston.”

  “I don’t blame you,” he said. “The last thing you want is for Jonathan to show up and start talking to him or screaming at him the way he did you.”

  “I’d prefer if Tripp didn’t even know the man was here right now,” Mary said. “If he shows up again, I would want to be here. I don’t want him talking to Tripp.”

  “Understood,” Preston said. “I have to get going though. You know if you need anything, especially if he comes back, just call me, okay? I’ll be here in a split second.”

  “I know you will,” Mary said. “Thank you, Preston. Thanks for getting here so fast.”

  “Of course,” he said as he got up from his seat. He shot Tripp a casual wave and approving nod before dipping out of the shop.

  Mary sighed, her mind all over the place. Jonathan! Fifteen years since she had last seen him, and then he just shows up wanting to talk? She didn’t want to give him the time of day. She certainly didn’t want him anywhere near Tripp. The man had abandoned her and their daughter all for what? Just because their daughter became pregnant? It was sickening, and to just show up out of nowhere; it definitely had her blood boiling.

  “Hey, Grandma,” Tripp sang slightly as the couple who had entered the shop for cookies left. “I think we’re running low on the double chocolates. To be honest, we could probably use a few more of the mini key lime pie special.”

  “Well, it looks like I have got some baking to do,” Mary said. “Y
ou got the front?”

  “Got it,” he said.

  She slipped into the kitchen and started pulling out ingredients that she would need for the double chocolate cookies and the key lime pies. It was about ten seconds into this before she realized that she didn’t have enough eggs to make even one of the desserts. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she thought aloud. The idea of leaving Tripp for even five minutes to run to the grocery store made her nervous, but it wasn’t as though she could just leave her shop without stock. She pulled out her phone and decided to call in a favor to Cindy.

  “What’s up pretty lady?” Cindy sang into the phone.

  “I need a favor,” Mary said. “I know you’re working today, but I have got to run to the grocery store. I don’t really want to go into too much detail right this second. I’ll fill you in later, but there is a sketchy gentleman who is messing with me that I don’t want to show up and start talking to Tripp when I’m gone.”

  “Oh, wow,” Cindy said. “Okay, well, like you said, I’m working today, but I can easily see your shop from here,” she said. “Just who is this sketchy person?”

  “My ex-husband, but Tripp doesn’t know that’s who it is,” Mary said.

  “Oh, heavy, you’re going to have to give me the run down later,” Cindy said. “Is he safe?”

  “He’s not crazy or anything if that’s what you mean,” Mary said. “I just don’t want him talking to Tripp and getting him upset.”

  “Why don’t I send Hannah down there to help watch the shop, and I’ll keep an eye on things from here? That way he’s not alone, and if your ex decides to show up, they probably won’t get into too deep of a conversation with Hannah there by the time I march by butt over there and kick him out,” Cindy suggested.

  “Are you okay with that? Is Hannah okay with that?” Mary asked.

  “You mean is she okay with me giving her permission to leave work and go hang out with Tripp inside a house of sweets? Yes, I think she’s fine,” Cindy said, and Mary thanked her profusely.

  It only took a few minutes before Hannah came rolling up to the front door. Mary held the door open for her, and Tripp looked a bit confused. “Hey, Hannah,” Tripp said.

  “Hannah is going to hang out while I run to the store,” Mary said, and while Tripp seemed confused by this, he also looked quite glad to be able to spend some time with her.

  Mary told him to call her or Preston if ‘that man’ showed up again before heading out. The nearest grocery store was about a fifteen-minute drive, but might as well have been hours away as far as Mary was concerned. The idea of leaving Tripp at the shop for two minutes right now made her anxious. The thought of Jonathan showing up while she wasn’t there made her nauseated.

  She zipped down Highway 85 toward the grocery store, turning off on 74 before arriving at a large parking lot complex. It was made up of various stores, and the largest was the grocery store. Before heading inside, she checked her phone twice for good measure, to see if Tripp had messaged, and to make sure her phone was turned up loud in case he did. On her way inside, she scorned herself for not making sure that they had enough eggs prior to the shop opening for the day.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mary wasted no time in getting a grocery cart and hurrying to the back to grab eggs and milk, knowing those were the items she most urgently needed. She paused then at the dairy section to contemplate whether or not to grab a few more items she knew she was short on or to wait until after the shop closed. The idea of driving all the way back to the grocery store was daunting especially since the only reason was so that Tripp would spend ten less minutes at the shop without her. Despite her hesitancy to do any more than a quick run, she went through the rest of the store grabbing items she knew they needed both for the house and for the shop itself.

  The baking aisle is where she spent the most time. There were coconut shavings and every flavor of extract one could imagine, plus sugar, flour, and various flavors of melting chocolates that were gradually piled high in her cart. “Butter,” she mumbled, scorning herself for not having already grabbed the butter when she had been picking up milk and eggs.

  She spun her cart around only to collide with the last person on earth she wanted to see – Jonathan. “Sheesh!” she exclaimed, a combination of a surprised shout and an exclamatory noise of disgust. “What are you doing here?”

  He held up an empty grocery basket. “Shopping,” he said.

  “Uh-huh,” she said with a slight hiss. “You followed me here. You straight up followed me here from my shop in Brooks. If I see you again, Jonathan, I swear, I’m calling the police.” She attempted to push her grocery cart around him, but he stepped in her way.

  “You can give me five minutes of your time Mary,” he insisted.

  “No, I don’t think I can,” she said and attempted to force her way around him again, but he dropped his basket and grabbed her grocery cart. “Are you serious right now?” she snapped. “I’ve got pepper spray!”

  “No you don’t,” he snapped.

  “Fine, I don’t, but you’re acting like a nut job, so let go of my cart!” she rammed the cart toward him causing him to fumble into the shelves and knock over a bag of flour. A considerable amount of the white substance shot up into his face and ruined his dark colored pants.

  “You’re the one who’s acting crazy, Mary!” he snapped while brushing off his pants.

  “Me?” Mary questioned. “You fly across the country and show up at my shop? How did you even know about me being in Brooks? You had to have been creeping on me online. You think after fifteen years of dead silence you get to just show up and talk to me? I don’t have any interest in what you have to say to me Jonathan.”

  “I’m not here for you Mary,” he said at last, picking up the flour bag that had busted, only to realize the bottom had completely torn. He wound up covering his shoes, and he swore under his breath.

  While Mary was tempted to laugh at the mess he had caused on his slick black shoes, she was much more concerned by what he had just said. He was not here for her? Could he know about Tripp being here with her? Had he come to see his grandson? She glared at him. “What are you here for then?” she asked. “Why are you following me if you’re not here to talk to me?”

  “I mean, I’m here to talk to you, but I’m not here for you,” he said. “It’s Lilly.”

  Mary froze. She let go of the handle of her grocery cart that she had a death grip on, fully prepared to ram him with it again. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice now soft and frail. “Is she okay? Have you heard from her? Is she hurt? Oh my goodness, this is too much.”

  “Easy,” he said his voice now calm and soft as well. “She’s fine Mary. Better than fine actually. Mary, she checked herself into a rehab clinic. It’s a very good one. She has herself a new boyfriend. Decent guy, I guess, and he’s got this whole knight in shining armor passion about him, because he’s doing everything he can to help her get clean. The guy’s name is, I think, Michael or something like that. He’s got money, and he’s got Lilly set up at AToN.”

  “AToN?” Mary questioned. “That’s one of the best rehab centers there is. Who is this guy?”

  “Who cares Mary?” Jonathan said. “I mean, seriously, who cares? You should see her.”

  “Wait, you’ve seen her?” Mary asked. “When? How?”

  “That’s why I’m here,” he said. “She couldn’t find you, but her boyfriend managed to track me down. He told me Lilly had been asking about me, and I went to see her at AToN. She’s clean Mary. They’ve got her on one of those twelve-step programs, and she’s reaching out to people she’s wronged, and obviously that’s not me. She was looking for you, but we talked,” Jonathan’s eyes narrowed slightly and he wrung his wrists. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t start,” Mary said. “Tell me about Lilly.”

  “I feel so guilty, Mary, for everything I’ve done. ”

  “Stop,” Mary snapped. “I don’t care about your feelin
gs, Jonathan. Tell me about my daughter. How is she?”

  “When I saw her two weeks ago, she was still having withdrawals, but I’ve been staying in contact with her through her boyfriend, and it sounds like she’s still doing really well with the program,” he said with a slight, sad smile that appeared on his face.

  “You mean you flew to Georgia just to rub in my face that you spoke to Lilly?” Mary asked with somewhat anger.

  “No!” he snapped. “Look, I get it. You’re mad at me. I’m not proud of myself either right now, but I’m not here to make you feel bad or to brag about what a good dad I am because I spent half an hour with the daughter I abandoned. I’m here because Lilly asked me to find you Mary. She wants to see her mom. That’s it. I’m here because I told our daughter that I would find you and tell you where she was, and tell you how she is doing. That’s it, and, well, maybe I felt like I owed you a real apology, too.”

  Mary crossed her arms, but she forced herself to exhale deeply. “Okay,” she said. “I suppose that I may have overreacted to seeing you just a bit.”

  He smirked. “You think?”

  “Shut up, I’m not done,” Mary said. “I’m furious that you’re here. I’m not even going to bother sugar coating it. You could have called me.”

  “I suppose. I only managed to track you down because you’ve got a following online for your little shop,” he said smiling. “You always did like baking.”

  “Don’t try getting sentimental with me. Don’t you dare,” Mary said. “You should have called my shop if you had the information. You didn’t have to come all the way out here.”

  “You and I both know you would have just hung up on me if I had tried calling you,” Jonathan said.

  “Probably,” Mary admitted. “Do you have Lilly’s information for me then?”

  “Yes,” he said digging around in his pocket and pulling out a pamphlet for AToN. “Here. It’s got the information for the center on it, and I wrote all of her contact information and her boyfriend’s number on the back.”