Sweets Shop Cozy Mysteries Boxset

by Maisy Morgan

  It was Stacey, and she and Bradley were standing there laughing. Tripp was disappointed the moment was over, and he and Kara exited the car on his side. “Jerk,” Kara said to Stacey, laughing.

  “Oh, shut up,” Stacey said. “I just saw your grandmother, Tripp. She and that cop guy were talking to our moms. He’s super cute for an old guy.”

  “Wow, I’m standing right here,” Bradley said. Tripp noticed the pickup truck parked nearby.

  “Yours?” Tripp asked.

  “Yeah,” Bradley said. “One of dad’s old work trucks, but it’s pretty cool for a first car, I think.”

  This made Tripp feel significantly better about the Volkswagen. If someone as cool as Bradley was driving a hand-me-down vehicle, it would be okay for him to be driving around in something he himself fixed up. “Tripp, come with me to order some wings,” Bradley said, nudging him playfully.

  The girls hopped up into the back of Bradley’s truck, chatting away. Tripp smiled up at Kara who told him she wanted some lemon pepper wings before he followed Bradley through the parking lot towards the wing shack. They ordered with the hostess at the restaurant, asking for their wings to-go. Evidently, the plan was to eat in the parking lot in the back of Bradley’s pickup. “So…” Tripp said uncomfortably. “How are you doing?”

  Bradley frowned. “I know what you’re going to ask, and I’d rather you didn’t,” Bradley snapped.

  “Sorry,” Tripp said. “I just… I know what it’s like to lose your dad. I just wanted to make sure you were good.”

  Bradley stared at him for a moment, and he seemed to be contemplating what he was going to say next. His decision was made for him, though, because the hostess arrived back with their wings, interrupting his thoughts. They paid in cash and then headed back across the parking lot, where the girls were looking quite comfortable in the pickup, having opened up some lawn chairs. Tripp laughed at this. “You guys come prepared, huh?” Tripp asked as he handed Kara’s food to her.

  He and Bradley sat on the tailgate while the girls took the lawn chairs. “Oh, crap, we forgot drinks,” Tripp said suddenly.

  “Nah, I got you,” Bradley said, hopping down and circling around to the front of his truck. He went digging around for a moment, and when he returned, he was carrying a six-pack. He tossed each of the girls a beer and sat the rest of the pack between him and Tripp before climbing up and sitting back down on the tailgate. He pulled a beer out of the packaging and handed one to Tripp.

  Tripp frowned, and every part of him was screaming not to take it, but he did anyway. One beer was not going to hurt him, he decided. He popped open the can and took a sip. It was absolutely disgusting, but he drank it. He only sipped on it, but looking back, he could see that Kara was chugging hers down quickly. She sat it down to continue eating her wings.

  “So, Tripp, where are you from again? California, right?” Bradley asked.

  “He’s from LA,” Kara said, pride in her voice as though this somehow awarded her cool-points for having been the one to bring Tripp along.

  “Sweet, Hollywood?” Bradley asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Tripp said. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, though.”

  “Have you ever met any celebrities?” Stacey asked.

  “My dad and I met Bruce Willis once. He was having lunch with one of his daughters, I forget which one… and we talked some. I’ve seen a lot of celebrities around town, but that was the only time I can remember actually having a conversation with one,” Tripp said.

  “Bruce Willis, like, the Die Hard guy?” Kara asked.

  “Yeah, that’s the one,” Tripp said.

  “Cool,” Bradley said. Bradley got quiet for a moment, and Tripp could tell he was once again contemplating asking him something as he had done moments ago in the wing shack. At last, Bradley seemed to decide it was okay. “Tripp, why do you live with your grandmother?”

  Tripp frowned. “You mean, where are my parents?”

  “Yeah,” Bradley said.

  “I was kind of wondering that too,” Kara admitted. “But I wasn’t going to just ask you. That’s kind of rude, Brad.” Stacey snickered slightly, but she immediately grew serious as well.

  Tripp slumped his shoulders slightly. “Well, that’s my maternal grandmother. I actually don’t know her that well at all. Her daughter, my mom, she was just like… I guess thirteen when she got pregnant with me. She didn’t handle it well. Got into drugs. Then my dad ended up raising me by himself.”

  “Was he really young too?” Stacey asked.

  “Yeah,” Tripp said. “About a year older than my mom, I think. By the time I was three, my dad had full custody and totally cut my mom out because she wouldn’t get clean, so I’ve never really met her. My grandma was trying to help my mom at the time, trying to get her clean, so Dad pretty much cut her off too because he didn’t want me around all of that.”

  “So… um… what changed?” Bradley asked uncomfortably.

  “Mom disappeared, and my grandma couldn’t find her. That was a couple of years ago. She eventually reached out to my dad, wanting to meet me. We started talking some—Dad kind of let her back into our lives pretty slowly. Then about a year ago, there was a break-in, and this creep shot my dad. Next thing I knew, my grandma showed up at the police station, and she’d already invested her entire retirement fund into a new life out this way—so off to Georgia we went.”

  “Dang, man,” Bradley said sympathetically. “You’ve had it rough.”

  Tripp shrugged. “I’m holding up all right, I suppose. It’s kind of weird being dragged across the country with a relative you hardly know, but my grandma’s all right. She’s trying, I guess.”

  “She seems really nice,” Kara said.

  “She is,” Tripp said, glancing down at the beer in his hands and feeling guilty suddenly. He had drunk about half of it now. “Though she’ll probably kill me if she finds out I was having a beer with you guys.”

  “No worries,” Bradley said. “We got you covered, Hollywood.” Bradley handed him a pack of gum.

  “Ooh, our movie is over,” Kara said suddenly. “I’ve got to get Tripp home.”

  Tripp followed Kara to her car. Stacey called after, “See you at school, Hollywood!”

  “Is that going to stick?” Tripp asked under his breath, and Kara giggled.

  “I kind of like it,” she said.

  They drove back into Brooks, laughing and talking the entire way, and they kissed for just a moment on the porch before his grandmother swung the door open. She spoke sweetly with Kara for a moment before Kara headed off. As soon as Kara left the driveway, though, his grandmother glared down at him. “I called you four times,” she said angrily.

  Tripp pulled his phone out of his pocket, and he did indeed have several missed calls. His ears went warm, and the lie came out ridiculously easy. “Sorry, Grandma. I turned it down since we were in a movie, and I forgot to turn it back up again.”

  She sighed heavily. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to jump down your throat the moment you got home. How was the movie?”

  “It was good. Kind of lame,” he said, a little alarmed at how easy this was for him.

  They headed inside, and Tripp helped his grandmother prepare a batch of a new cookie recipe they were trying.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mary grinned ear to ear as she nibbled on the fudge that Ella May had just cut up for her. They had been working in the kitchen all morning that Monday, playing around with one another’s recipes since it wasn’t too busy. It was Ella May’s first official day at the shop as Mary had hired her almost immediately after calling the woman’s references. “This is the best bit of fudge I think I have ever had in my life,” Mary said.

  “You are being too kind,” Ella May said with a handwave as they slipped out of the kitchen and into the shop’s front. “You gave me a great starting point with that recipe of yours. I just adjusted some of the measurements.”

  �
�Well, it’s perfect now,” Mary said. “I’ll be sure to update the recipe. How are you feeling about the register?”

  “Oh, I may be old, but I think I can handle a cash register,” she said with a hand wave.

  A customer entered, and Ella May proved herself to be more than just talk. She handled the transaction with ease and even convinced the woman to buy nearly double the amount of fudge she had originally intended to get. “Nice,” Mary said once the woman left.

  “Not my first rodeo,” she said.

  The door opened and Officer Preston entered. He smiled kindly at Mary, and then his eyes drifted towards Ella May. “Well, hello there, Ms. Ella May,” he said.

  “Officer Preston,” the elderly woman said, smiling. “Welcome to Lilly Pad Sweets!”

  “You working here now?” Preston asked her curiously.

  “That’s right,” Ella May said. “I was looking for something to do in my retirement, honestly. I get bored so easily. I should have known better than to retire so soon. So, what can I get for you, Officer? I know you’ve got a liking for lemon bars. We just finished up a batch a few minutes ago.”

  “I appreciate it, Ella May,” Preston said with a slight laugh. “I’m actually just here to chat with Mary.”

  “If you like her,” Ella May said with a wink, “you should buy some of her sweets.”

  Mary laughed, but Preston came forward with a smirk and bought a lemon bar. “You got yourself a good one, Mary,” he teased. “Ella May is a pretty feisty woman, I’ll tell you.”

  “Oh yeah? I’m just glad to have found some good help. So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Mary asked as Preston finished chewing his lemon bar.

  “About to go interview Bob and Darren,” Preston said. “They’re at the construction firm’s offices today, so I thought I’d try to get a good idea about their work relationship with Ken. They’ve agreed to let me look in Ken’s office too. Thought I’d see if you were interested in riding along.”

  “Sure thing,” Mary said, turning to Ella May. “Especially now that I’ve got someone who can actually watch the shop for me while Tripp’s at school. You think you can handle the place for a couple of hours without me?”

  Ella May smiled. “I think I can handle it perfectly well on my own for a bit, as long as you aren’t gone too long.”

  “Thanks, Ella May,” Mary said, grinning at the woman as Preston escorted her out the door.

  “So, you’re doing well enough to be hiring employees now, huh?” Preston asked as they climbed into his police cruiser. “I’m glad you’re able to take a little bit off your plate. Plus, it’s nice having you to tag along. You’ve got a way with people. You get them to open up better than I’ve seen some guys on the force do.”

  “Thanks, Preston,” Mary said. “Glad I can be of use.”

  They eventually pulled into a large parking lot where a moderately sized office building sat. Mary followed Preston inside, and they entered upon a rather sad scene. They saw Jaden standing by a front desk, Bob and Darren talking to her in whispers. She was crying and wiping her eyes, and Mary was certain they were having a conversation about Ken. There were flowers set up on the front desk, and Darren was explaining to Jaden, who seemed to have just walked in herself, that some of their long-term customers had sent the flowers there for her husband. In a corner of the lobby was Bradley, sulking in a chair and pretending that he couldn’t hear or see the conversation happening with his mother and her work companions.

  “It’s just a lot, you know?” she said, and Bob suddenly tapped her arm, grabbing her attention and pointing towards the door where Mary and Preston now stood.

  Jaden turned, and she looked a bit uncomfortable upon seeing Mary and Preston. Her shoulders slumped slightly. “Mary, Preston,” she said with a slight sigh.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Jaden,” Preston said.

  “Well, I do work here,” Jaden said. “I’m obviously taking some time off, but I had some paperwork to bring by for Bob and Darren. I didn’t want to put them in a bind because I wasn’t here.”

  “Very considerate,” Preston said.

  “Excuse me,” she said, and then she paused to look at Bradley for a moment. “I’ll just be in my office for a few minutes, and then we’ll go home, sweetie.”

  Bradley nodded, very interested in his phone. “Okay,” he said shortly, and his mother disappeared down a hallway.

  Preston came and shook hands with Bob and Darren. “Things really difficult around here already?” Preston asked.

  “We put the word out to our customers,” Bob said. “We all split the workload on each project, so it’s not like Ken had a project he was doing without us. So far, we’re managing alright. Ken was a good people person—he was usually on the front end of things—contracting, that sort of thing.”

  “We let our clients know things might slow down while we adjust for the next month, but we’ve had a good reception from them,” Darren said, waving his hand at all of the flowers sitting on the desk behind him. “And, as you can imagine, we’ve got a lot going on trying to get things straightened out.”

  “I get you,” Preston said. “We’ll make this quick. Let’s start by just talking about what happened…” Preston glanced back towards where Bradley was sitting.

  “Hey, Brad, why don’t you put your headphones in?” Bob suggested.

  Bradley glanced up, shrugged, and did as Bob suggested—sticking his headphones in and turning up the music on his phone. “You guys really look after each other’s kids, huh?” Mary asked.

  Bob shrugged. “It’s my daughter’s boyfriend. I’ve got to.”

  “I think that’s sweet,” Mary said. “That you all are so close, I mean.”

  “Looks like Kara and Tripp are getting kind of serious,” Darren said. “She really likes your grandson. Hope he’s behaving himself with my daughter.”

  “He’s a good kid,” Mary assured him and smiled. “So, did you guys see anything? Anything at all that might get us a lead on what happened to Ken?”

  Darren shrugged. “Can’t say that I did. Bob and I were out by the pool when it happened. Didn’t even realize Ken was up on the roof.”

  Mary and Preston exchanged glances. “The pool?” Preston asked. “You two?”

  “Yeah, why?” Bob asked.

  “Because Nat said she was in the kitchen with Jaden and Darren when Ken fell. Your wife said she was with you out on the back porch by the grill,” Mary said.

  “Oh, well,” Darren said, attempting to double back. “Yes, that must be right. Sorry, it was all a bit dramatic. Hard to remember exactly what we were doing. Yes, that’s right. Bob and I were by the pool, but I went inside with Jaden and Nat right before he fell.”

  “Yeah, and then I met Lana on the porch because I was checking on the hot dogs,” Bob said.

  Mary frowned, a wave of distrust washing over her. Preston started grilling the men on their stories, and she could tell they were getting uncomfortable. Deciding that it was time just to let Preston do his work, she slipped away over towards where Bradley was seated. Now that Preston had caught the men in a potential lie, she felt it was time to let Preston take over. Bradley, not wanting to be rude, removed his headphones when Mary sat down near him. “How are you?” she asked.

  “I’m fine, I guess,” he said, staring blankly at her for a moment before glancing away towards the hall where his mom had gone.

  “You holding up all right?” she asked.

  He contorted his face slightly. “Fine,” he said shortly. It was clear that the last thing he wanted to talk about was his dad. It was, without a doubt, a very difficult time for him. “Football tryouts are coming up,” he said, deflecting. “You think Tripp will want to try out?”

  “I’m sure—he’s had a lot of fun hanging out with you and your friends; he might just give it a go,” Mary said, and distantly she heard the sound of a shredder. A few moments later, Jaden was exiting from the hall and Bradley sprung to his fe
et to get away from Mary as quickly as possible.

  “You ready, hon?” Jaden asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bradley said politely, and he and his mother left after telling Mary bye.

  Not wanting to make themselves look any more suspicious than they already had done, Bob and Darren offered to let Preston and Mary look around, giving them free range of the entire building. “Where do you want to search first?” Preston asked Mary as Bob and Darren continued chatting with one another in the lobby, leaving them to it. “Ken’s office?”

  “No,” Mary said. “Jaden’s.”

  They found Jaden’s office, and it was incredibly well decorated and colorful compared to the rest of the building. It was an interior designer’s dream—beautifully put together, a sparkling chandelier hanging down from the ceiling adding a perfect touch to the room. “Why did you want to search Jaden’s office first?” Preston asked.

  Mary opened up her purse, sitting on the floor by the shredder. She then dumped the contents into her purse. “Because I think Jaden came in here and shredded something she didn’t want us to see.”

  “She said she was coming to drop off paperwork,” Preston said.

  “Yes, but did you see any paperwork?” Mary questioned.

  “Good point,” Preston said. “Looks like you and I have a little bit of a puzzle to put together later then.”

  Mary smirked. “Yeah, looks that way. Come on; let’s see if we can find anything else worthwhile.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  After the interview with Bob and Darren, Preston drove Mary back to her shop. “I’m not sure if the men were lying about where they were at or if they switched their story up to protect one of their wives,” Mary said. “I mean, maybe they were by the pool, but when they heard us say that their wives told a different story, then they tried to lie to cover for them. Or maybe they were lying to begin with. What do you think?”