Melt Down Murder

by Gretchen Allen

  9

  Yvette spotted Millie through the window of her office and decided to stop in to see her before she went to talk to Mark. The conversation with the tenderhearted older woman was definitely going to be much easier. On her way over, Yvette had called Sundae Afternoon to check in and see how inventory was looking and learned that her shop had been fairly busy all week and they were ready to place another order.

  “Long time no see.” Millie gave a quick wave. “I’ll be right with ya.”

  “Take your time,” Yvette said pulling out her phone to look over the list she’d made of flavors to try.

  She’d been feeling a little less than creative lately, so she was excited to get some new flavors in the shop. She had a great idea on her drive to the farm. A banana frozen yogurt, with an extra thick fudge ripple and little bits of homemade peanut butter fudge would be the perfect start to her first day back to work after her weekend off went horribly wrong.

  “Sorry about that,” Millie pulled the hairnet from atop her jet-black hair. “What can I do for ya?”

  “No problem,” Yvette smiled. “I was hoping to place an order for a couple days from now.”

  Millie gestured for her to take a seat. “Sure thing. Whatcha need this week?” she asked as she pulled out an order form.

  “I think I’m going to switch everything up, actually. We still have enough of our regular stock to get us through the remainder of the week, but I’d like to end the summer with a bang and do some fruit flavors. Let’s do blackberry and banana frozen yogurts, then for ice cream we’ll do Peach Melba, Blueberry Lemonade, Caramelized Pear, some Cherry Vanilla, and the Malibu Mango,” she said, thinking fondly of her new neighbor.

  “I don’t think you’ve seen our latest order form yet, have you? We’ve added quite a few potential options for fall that I think you are going to love. I spent hours video chatting with Emma the other day, getting everything finalized.” Millie handed over a few sheets of stapled paper.

  “Not yet. I have to admit, though, no matter how ready I am for the seasons to change, I’m not quite sure everyone else is ready for it yet. I’d say we have a couple more weeks of our summer flavors before we switch over. Most people start craving pumpkin and maple and other flavors mid-September. The cozy feel of Autumn tends to start a little later at our store since we stay open all year.”

  “What, you don’t want to be like some of those stores that start setting up for Christmas in August?” Millie’s mouth twitched.

  Laughing, Yvette shook her head. “I love the holidays and I’m always excited for them to roll around every year but when all the other Sundae Afternoon’s close that means we get even busier. That’s great for business but means super long days for all of us.”

  “No kidding. Who’d have thought that I’d be making ice cream in thirty-degree weather? Speaking of, I really need to get back to work. The Wildwood shop has a pretty hefty catering gig coming up and tripled their normal order size.”

  “Whoa. Good for them. Thanks for carving out some time, I should have just called the order in.” Yvette felt bad for interrupting Millie.

  “Not at all. It’s always lovely to see you, dear. You may even be seeing my whole family soon. Got my grandkids coming to visit and I’m positive they’d love to stop by for an ice cream cone.”

  “That sounds lovely. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  Thinking about how much she’d enjoyed working with Millie over the years, Yvette stood up from her chair and left the office to find Mark.

  10

  Mark! Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Yvette yelled, hoping he’d heard her. She saw Mark walking toward his truck and ran to catch up with him.

  Turning around, Mark looked mildly surprised to see her headed his way. “What’s going on?” he asked when she finally reached him.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about everything that happened at the lake house and I wanted to talk a little, that’s all,” she said once she caught her breath.

  “Talk to me? Why? I mean, yeah, we can talk, I just don’t understand why you’d choose me? We aren’t exactly pals that do a lot of chit chatting.” He raised a brow.

  Yvette needed to make sure that she didn’t do anything to draw attention to herself that might make Mark realize that she was trying to get information from him.

  “I dunno, my parents don’t get it, they want me to try to pretend like it didn’t happen. I think they are just worried about me. I don’t really want to bring it to work and bother any of my employees. Plus, you’re pretty even keeled in stressful situations, so I figured you’d be good to talk to.”

  “Well, if you’re looking for even keeled, that makes sense why you didn’t go to Amelia.” Mark leaned against his truck with a slight grin on his face.

  “Hey, someone was killed in her house. Give her a break,” Yvette scolded.

  “It was my house too,” Mark pointed out.

  “I know, you’re right and I’m sorry. Have you heard anything about it?”

  “Yvette. I really shouldn’t talk to you about this.”

  Now we’re getting somewhere, she thought. If he knew something, Heath would have definitely told him not to discuss it with anyone.

  Yvette tried to play it cool and leaned back on the truck next to Mark. “What do you mean? Did they release the man’s identity or something?”

  “If they did, you’d have heard it on the news, no?”

  Giving him her best puppy dog eyes, Yvette sighed. “I’m nervous is all. This is the second time I’ve been around a murder in the last few weeks. I always thought Heritage was a safe place.”

  “I know it’s hard to feel this way right now, but it is a safe place. This is your home. And the fact that this is the second time you’ve been around a murder is exactly why we shouldn’t be having this conversation.” Mark gave her a stern look.

  “There’s nothing you can say to ease my mind a little? Please?” she begged.

  “You’re worse than my sister,” Mark shook his head, but Yvette knew she was getting to him.

  “Pretty please? I know you know something.”

  “Fine, but you need to keep this to yourself. I promised Heath I wouldn’t share anything.”

  Yvette breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, I promise,” she said, crossing her fingers behind her back just in case that sort of thing would help.

  Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, Mark began, “I rented out the house to a couple that came by the farm. I overheard the man on the phone saying that they were looking for a place to stay while they were in town and I thought about the lake house. No one has been using it, so I didn’t think it would cause any harm. It was right before Amelia left for her grandparent’s house, so I knew it wouldn’t affect her.”

  Yvette was taken aback, her mind swirling with questions. “You knew him then? Was it the guy you rented to? Where was his wife? Wait, was she the one that killed him?”

  “Don’t do that. Don’t get yourself all riled up.” Mark pinched the bridge of his nose.

  Seeing that he was getting frustrated, Yvette tried to dial it down a notch. She needed more information but had to go about it differently.

  “Okay, so what do you know then? Was it the guy you rented the house to?” Yvette asked.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t even really get a good look at him. He spent the majority of the time on the phone while the woman and I set up the rental. She claimed she wanted to surprise him. I told Heath about the couple, but I didn’t have anything aside from the woman’s name. She paid in cash. I gave her a receipt but then I found it on the ground by where they parked their car when they were here. I didn’t think much of it at the time, just that she’d dropped it.”

  “Why would you have been so careless? You didn’t even get both of their names and you let them in your house?” Yvette admonished.

  “It’s not like we had any valuables there or anything. No one has even been at the house in months. The
woman seemed nice enough and they were just passing through, so I figured, why the heck not do something nice for someone? You’ve been telling me I should be nicer to people, haven’t you?”

  “I can appreciate that, but it didn’t really turn out how you expected, did it?”

  “I guess not, but was I actually supposed to think that one of them would end up dead?” Mark threw up his hands. “All I know is that the woman’s name is Marissa Ashford, they both looked to be in their late twenties and they were visiting from Vermont.”

  “Wow. Well, obviously you haven’t told Amelia anything about this yet.”

  “Definitely not. She’d have my head if she knew I rented out the house and didn’t tell her. I’d really love it if you didn’t tell her either.” Mark’s eyes narrowed.

  Yvette couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What would have made Mark think that opening up his home to strangers was a good idea? She wondered if Heath had found them yet or if the man was the one that Mark had seen. Yvette was unsure of anything at this point. The only thing she could think of doing was searching for Marissa Ashford online. A woman in her twenties probably had some sort of social media and could be found that way.

  Sighing, she agreed. “I won’t tell her, but you can’t keep it from her for long. Everything’s going to come out sooner or later.”

  Yvette thanked Mark for talking with her and promised again that she wouldn’t share any information with Amelia until he told her himself.

  11

  I think I’m going to set up a staff meeting for right before I leave,” Yvette told Tonya as she flipped the shop’s sign to CLOSED.

  Tonya nodded. “I still can’t believe you’re going over there. It’s about time Henry gets his act together though. I don’t mean to be rude but how many times have we covered for him now?”

  “Hopefully I can get a few ideas as to why things seem so messy over there lately. We just need to find a way for him to get organized. One thing I do know is that at least one of his staff members is awesome. When Max was here, I was so proud of him. Maybe he’ll consider coming over here for a few shifts once the Townsend location closes for the winter. I think we’d be lucky to have him.”

  Yvette knew how frustrated her staff was with Henry but could see the bigger picture and knew how important it was for Sundae Afternoon as a whole to help him out no matter how they felt. Planning a staff meeting would ensure that everyone at her shop knew what was going on and was prepared to be without her for a week. She always wanted them to know how proud she was of each of them and all of their hard work.

  “Ohmigosh, have you two tried the banana yogurt yet? It’s out of this world,” Vanessa gushed as she came from the kitchen.

  “I’m not big on frozen yogurt,” Tonya pulled her apron off of her tiny frame.

  “You have to at least try it, you don’t know what you’re missing.” Vanessa pulled two sample spoons from the mason jar on the counter.

  “I have a much better idea. Why don’t you let me go in the back and whip up something really quickly? Give me about ten minutes and I’ll meet you back out here.” Yvette gestured for her employees to take a seat in the dining area.

  Running an ice cream shop had its perks. Yvette ordered all of the ice cream bases from the farm, but she loved being able to use them to create something new. Removing the banana frozen yogurt from the freezer, she spotted something she thought would be a perfect addition to the sundae. She sprinkled a bed of milk chocolate shavings on the bottom of an oblong glass dish and set three scoops of yogurt on top, one for each of them. Slicing the peanut butter fudge as thinly as she could, she layered the slices between each scoop and then added some on top for good measure. Finally, she took her secret ingredient and drizzled it over the top of the sundae. Not wanting to take away from the flavors she’d mixed, Yvette decided to skip the whipped cream this time. Carefully lifting the dish from the counter, afraid to wreck her creation, she made her way back out front.

  “Put away those silly sample spoons, girls. I’ve got a treat for you!” Yvette grinned when she saw the looks on her employees’ faces.

  “What is that delicious looking thing?” Vanessa eyed the sundae as Yvette set it down on the table in front of her.

  “Well when I ordered the banana yogurt, I was going to have Millie add a fudge ripple to it, but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to create this instead. Dig in, I can’t wait to see what you think!”

  “Spoons. We need spoons!” Tonya exclaimed, jumping up to retrieve some from behind the counter.

  “Here, you take the first bite,” Vanessa said, handing Yvette a spoon. “You are the mastermind behind it all.”

  Accepting the spoon, Yvette filled it high with a little bit of everything from the dish. “It’s pretty delicious if I do say so myself.” She stifled a giggle.

  “Is that honey I’m tasting?” Tonya asked as she swallowed a mouthful.

  “I don’t even care what it is,” Vanessa said, wiping her chin with a napkin. “This is so good. I’m kinda glad you didn’t order the fudge ripple because this is about as close to perfect as you can get.”

  Yvette took another spoonful before telling the girls the ingredients of her sundae and letting them know it would be on special for the rest of the week.

  “I was telling Tonya that I think we need to have a staff meeting before I leave. Do either of you have a suggestion on when we should have it?” Yvette looked to her employees.

  “Doesn’t matter to me and as long as we’re doing it before you leave I don’t think it will matter to Sage either,” Vanessa answered for herself and her daughter.

  Tonya took the last bite of her share of the sundae before beginning. “The only plans I had are canceled, I guess. I had friends that were supposed to be in town, but they never showed up.”

  “Well I like to be as accommodating as possible so let me know if you hear anything in the next few days and then we can set a date,” Yvette told Tonya.

  “I can give them a call right now, actually. I have a few things left to do around here to close up but if you don’t mind me using my phone, I can do it at the same time.” Tonya looked to her boss for approval.

  “I can help you do some of your work too, so we can get out of here faster,” Vanessa offered.

  “Yeah, go ahead and give them a call and just let me know.” Yvette rose from the table taking their dish and spoons with her.

  Yvette dropped off the dishes in the kitchen and was heading to her office to count the register and run a sales report when she remembered she’d left the work phone sitting on the table.

  “I don’t even know why you have a phone if you aren’t going to bother answering, Marissa. Call me back, I need to know if you’re still coming or not.”

  It sounded as if Tonya was leaving a voicemail and Yvette stopped dead in her tracks when she’d heard the name she’d used. What are the chances that it’s the same Marissa? She didn’t want to worry Tonya or involve her in something so tragic for no reason but when Yvette wasn’t able to find any information online about Marissa Ashford, she wasn’t sure what her next step would be. Now, she may have walked right into a clue about who was in the lake house that day. She needed to decide the best way to ask Tonya a few questions without giving anything away.

  12

  Yvette was not only avoiding her best friend but also her parents. She felt terrible, but she knew it was better if they didn’t know she was digging around. Today was her day off from work and she’d hoped to sit down and construct a plan on how to confront Tonya about what she’d heard the day before. A coffee in one hand and a homemade breakfast burrito in the other, Yvette lounged on her cream-colored porch swing, planning to enjoy a few moments to herself.

  “Yes, I understand Mr. Gardner. Uh huh, yes, I’m sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can to take care of that for you.” Gavin Dillinger spoke into his cell phone as he came out his front door, trying hard not to roll his eyes.


  “What was that all about?” Yvette sat up and turned her head in his direction.

  “Oh, that was Mr. Gardner. He needs me to come over right away because he has squirrels trying to get in his bird feeders. He’s in a panic ‘cause they’re taking away the food from his birds.” Gavin forced a smile.

  “What are you supposed to do about that? I saw something online where you can put oil along the poles where the feeders are, so the squirrels slide down or something,” Yvette recalled.

  “Well that’s a great idea except the problem is that he has a remote-control truck that he uses to startle the squirrels, so they run away, but he crashed it,” Gavin explained. “It ran right into his well pump and it broke a tiny plastic piece off so there’s water squirting out all over the place and he can’t figure out how to turn off the water.”

  Yvette raised her brows in surprise. “Mr. Gardner always has been an odd little duck, hasn’t he?”

  “He’s certainly something. I’ll be back,” Gavin said trotting down the stairs.

  Yvette was glad that she only had a few people to worry about. Granted she had customers in and out of the shop all day and employees to tend to but Gavin owned several apartment buildings and homes and was responsible for everything, every time something went wrong. And as Mr. Gardner had proven, some of his tenants were more difficult than others.

  Forcing herself out of the daze she was in, Yvette knew she had to come up with a plan. She was going to have to ask Tonya about her phone call. She promised Mark she wouldn’t tell Amelia what was going on, but she just might have to tell Tonya. Her quiet time had already been interrupted, so she decided to go inside and get ready for the day.

  She threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, slid her feet in sandals and grabbed her purse before heading out the door. Yvette drove to Sundae Afternoon hoping to chat with Tonya before the shop got too busy.