Caked in Murder

by Gretchen Allen

  Yvette couldn’t help but find herself getting more upset with Janet. Not only did she accept money from Della, but she wasn’t allowing her to participate in the community table the Downtown Association had set up. Meanwhile, Della was going to donate everything she made to the Food Pantry… How could one woman be so selfish? Yvette thought to herself.

  “Sundae Afternoon will be happy to have you,” Yvette said, handing Della a business card. “Just call me whenever you think you’ll be bringing your things by. If you need to do it tomorrow, let me know. I’m sure we can move some things around in my office or the employee break room, so it can be stored inside. That way you won’t be rushing around at five a.m. trying to get it all here on the day of the sale.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for this, Yvette. I hope I won’t cause any trouble between you and Janet.” Della winced.

  “No trouble at all. I’m doing this for the community, not for Janet.” Yvette gave Della a quick hug before letting her know she had to get back to work.

  3

  This place is a madhouse!” Yvette exclaimed when she saw all of the people milling about the Town Hall. The majority of the locals and several tourists were there picking up the maps that let everyone know where individual tag sales were being held the next day. Families paid twenty-five dollars to have their name on the map, hoping that it would help draw attention to their sale. The money earned from these advertisements was donated directly to the Food Pantry.

  “No kidding. I haven’t stopped for a second since I got here this morning. You’re just in time though, I think I have a few minutes before I need to do anything else. Want to go grab something to drink and meet Tom?” Amelia pointed across the room where the refreshments were.

  “I sure do. Plus, he’s over there with Janet and Eddie. I’d rescue anyone from that situation,” Yvette agreed.

  “I’m sure he’s handling himself well but yes, they are hard to deal with sometimes,” Amelia giggled as the women made their way over to see Tom.

  “Are you understanding what I’m asking you, Eddie?” Janet spoke slowly to her husband.

  “Yes, dear. It’s the same as it is every other year. When the sale is over, you stay at home and I go out the next day and collect everything people weren’t able to sell. Once I’m done running around to people’s homes for hours on end, I go to the donation site at the Town Hall and make sure everything is going smoothly. Am I getting that right?”

  “I don’t just stay at home!” Janet shrieked, looking at everyone around her. “I’ll have you all know that I work from sun up until sun down for weeks before this sale and the moment it’s over I take a small break before I move on to the Autumn events that I sponsor…I mean, that the Association sponsors.”

  “I completely understand. Working long hours is something I know a lot about,” Tom said, offering Amelia a quick hug when he saw her.

  “Well, aren’t you two friendly?” Janet balked at the sight.

  “Yes, we went out last week,” Amelia replied.

  “Isn’t that nice? I’m rather close to him as well.” Janet nodded her head.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. You are not close with him. He came to our house for a half hour and fixed a problem we were having with our cable and Internet. I’m not sure that qualifies as close,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

  “You weren’t even there. You spent the whole time in the garage. Rude, if you ask me. Tom here is a lovely young man, and he even sat with me for a bit over milk and cookies. Isn’t that right, Tom?” Janet asked, making sure everyone heard just how close she thought she and her cable man were.

  “Well, yes. I suppose that’s true. You do make a mean oatmeal raisin cookie,” he admitted. “I’m just glad I could get everything figured out. Especially while you’re at home enjoying your break after the sale is over. You wouldn’t want to miss out on any of your favorite shows, now would you?”

  Yvette and Amelia exchanged a glance that only best friends could. Tom had to be bluffing and just humoring Janet. There was no way that he could have enjoyed her company. Maybe he just liked the attention, Yvette thought to herself.

  “It was nice seeing you, Eddie,” Amelia patted the older man on the arm. “If there’s anything I can do to make the donation process any easier for you, just let me know.”

  “What a sweet woman you are, Amelia. I appreciate that,” he said, glaring at his wife.

  “Tom, I’d like you to meet my best friend, Yvette,” Amelia said, after Eddie had gone back to being scolded by Janet.

  “It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many good things.”

  “Nice to meet you too,” she agreed.

  “I’m surprised you got a few minutes to yourself today,” Tom said to Amelia.

  “Yeah, well, after all the weird stuff that has been happening to me lately, I’ve immersed myself in nothing but work. I swear I have events planned all the way through to the end of next year.” Amelia forced a smile.

  “That’s still happening? I thought it had stopped since the last time we spoke you didn’t mention it.” Tom leaned in closer to Amelia.

  “I told her she could come stay with me, but as always, her stubborn personality leads the way.” Yvette shook her head.

  “I wish she’d listen.”

  “Okay, you two. I’m glad you’re finding something in common by ganging up on me, but I’m fine. Like I told you before, Tom, I kinda think it’s Janet’s doing, anyway. She’s mad I denied all of her latest ideas, but I just can’t let her be in control anymore. I had to fudge the truth a little and I think she got herself upset and this is her way of repaying me as passively as she can.”

  “That does sound like something she would do,” Yvette agreed, feeling hopeful that her friend was right.

  “I’ve got to get back to work, but don’t worry, I’m being cautious and making certain that I don’t get caught up with her. I don’t see how anything could even happen with all these people around, anyway. I’m sure I’ll be fine. And like I’ve told you both a million times… nothing that’s happening is particularly scary or anything. I have no need to be in fear for my life and I have too much work to do to worry about that even if I was.”

  Yvette wished that her friend wasn’t such a workaholic. There were many times over the years that Amelia had pushed herself so hard that Yvette was certain she’d make herself sick. If strange things were happening, it was important for her to pay attention and maybe even alert the police. If Amelia wasn’t going to worry about it, that wasn’t going to stop Yvette. There was no way she’d let anything truly awful happen to her friend.

  “It was nice to meet you,” Tom said again, looking toward Yvette. “Maybe we can talk Amelia here into having dinner or something after the sale is over. I think she’ll need a break just as bad as Janet will,” Tom chuckled.

  “That woman needs something, alright.” Amelia scoffed before rushing off to make sure the maps were being passed out properly.

  4

  Yvette stood with her hands on her hips in the stockroom of Sundae Afternoon. “Sometimes I have no idea why I agree to things.”

  “There’s a lot of stuff, but the sale is tomorrow, so it will be gone soon,” Vanessa said, trying to ease her boss’s mind.

  “I know but it’s such a mess in here, and there’s even more coming.”

  “More?! You have more stuff? How on earth do you even have anything left in your house after everything you’re already getting rid of?”

  “It’s not mine. I told Della Plunket she could have a spot here, so she’ll be bringing her things over shortly. Hopefully she doesn’t have too much, or we’ll have to overflow some of the stuff into my office.”

  Vanessa stifled a laugh. “You can barely handle having these things in here, never mind in your office. You wouldn’t last an hour in there before going crazy.”

  “I know but like you said, it’s just for a day. If I keep telling myself that, I’ll be fine,” Yv
ette said.

  A light knock came on the door that led outside. “Who could that be? The only one that isn’t working today is Tonya, and she’s out of town, so it can’t be her,” Vanessa wondered aloud, rushing to see who was at the door.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I figured you didn’t want me tracking all this stuff through the front of your shop.”

  Yvette recognized the voice. “Tom? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m dropping off boxes for the tag sale tomorrow. Della told me it was okay. I can call her if you want…” Tom trailed off, looking confused.

  “No. That’s okay. I was expecting her things to be here soon, actually. It’s you that I’m surprised to see.”

  Laughing, Tom explained. “Della is an old friend. I was shocked to see her, actually. I’ve always worked at CableCom but was looking for a change of scenery. When I saw the job opening here, I made the decision to transfer. You can imagine my surprise when I ran into her at the Country Store.

  “I had no idea you two even knew each other,” Yvette said, stepping out the door.

  “Wow, that’s a lot of boxes!” Vanessa pointed out when she saw the bed of Tom’s truck, nearly filled to the brim.

  “You’re telling me. She’s at work today so I took all of this from her garage and loaded it up by myself. None of it is very heavy or anything, but there’s definitely a lot,” Tom said, walking toward his truck. “Should I bring it in here or..?”

  Yvette hesitated a moment. “Uhhh, sure. We can help. Let me just move a few things around, and we can get started.”

  “How about I make you something to drink? A milkshake, maybe, while Yvette gets everything organized,” Vanessa offered.

  Yvette was thankful that her employee could sense how shocked she was. When she’d offered Della a spot at Sundae Afternoon, she hadn’t been counting on quite so many boxes. Yvette figured she’d have to try even harder to work through the mess, but if she moved the items she and her employees had for sale into her office, there’d be some space in the break room for Della’s.

  After spending fifteen minutes rushing back and forth to get some items into her office, Yvette was finally ready to get the boxes from Tom’s truck. She made her way out front to find Tom, hoping that he’d enjoyed whatever Vanessa had made for him.

  “Everyone ready? I finally have things a little more organized, so we’ve got plenty of room for Della’s things.”

  “This is by far the best milkshake I’ve ever had. I told Vanessa to surprise me and make whatever she wanted. I’m still not even sure what was in it. I drank it down faster than my eyes could see,” Tom said, rising from his seat.

  “Salted Hazelnut Pretzel ice cream, with mocha sauce drizzled throughout!” Vanessa said from behind the counter as Yvette and Tom passed her on their way to his truck.

  “Whatever it was, it was delicious. I tried paying for it, but she refused. I thought I’d let you know in case you wanted to charge me,” Tom said.

  “Not at all. She was exactly right. You’re helping out, and as far as I’m concerned that relates to free ice cream.” Yvette smiled.

  “Yeah, but I’m not doing anything for you. This is to help Della, so unless she has a tab here, I’d prefer to pay for it.”

  “Not gonna happen. You’re doing a good deed, and those are important in my book. I won’t accept your money, but I will make you lift all of the heaviest boxes.” Yvette winked at her new friend as they carried the boxes back and forth.

  “So, do you own this place?” Tom asked.

  “No, I’m the manager. I’ve worked for the owner’s family since I was a teenager though, so I’m pretty close with them.”

  “That’s cool. Do you ever think of making a change? Or even wish you did own your own place?” Tom asked, heaving one of the boxes on his shoulder.

  “Sure. I’ve thought about it, but my boss, Emma, and everyone in the Kline family have been nothing but wonderful to me over the years. I see no reason to stop doing what I’m doing even if I did have a desire to try something else,” Yvette said honestly.

  “Makes sense to me. Loyalty is important, so I get it. I’ve worked for the same company for most of my adult life. I like to move around and live in new places, so I transfer when it becomes an option. But, other than that, I’m pretty much a man set in his ways.”

  “Last box,” Yvette sighed when they were finally finished.

  “Whew. Glad that’s over. I hate to run, but I have to get home to let my dog out. I was going to bring him along, but I didn’t want him getting in the way,” Tom said, brushing his jet-black hair back under his baseball hat.

  “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow. This sale always helps people find something they didn’t know they needed,” Yvette said.

  “Shopping isn’t my idea of a good time, but I’ll give it some thought. Thanks again for the milkshake. I appreciate it,” Tom said, waving from his window before he drove off.

  5

  I think I just handed out the last token,” Sage, Vanessa’s daughter, said.

  “Those went over so well. I’m so thankful that we used a page out of Jerry’s book. That boy was something else. Just eight years old and already a businessman in his own right. I hope his lemonade stand did well today.” Yvette smiled, thinking of the young man that had come to her shop a few weeks back and reminded her what life was like from the eyes of a child. The tokens were for a free sundae and every time someone purchased something and agreed to round up their total to the next dollar they received a token. The extra change would be donated to the Food Pantry.

  “Did someone say lemonade stand? I used to have a lemonade stand with a childhood friend of mine. Yvette Lockhart, anyone know her?” came a voice from the crowd of people standing by one of the tables set up in the Sundae Afternoon parking lot.

  “Oh, my gosh! Is that Nathaniel Briggs I hear?” Vanessa exclaimed, nudging Yvette a little too eagerly.

  Yvette stopped for a moment, trying to figure out why Nate would be there, quickly remembering that his father’s birthday party was just a couple of days away. Of course he would be in town for that. It had been a long time since Yvette had seen him, and she wasn’t quite sure she was prepared.

  “Well, well, well. Look who it is,” Nate said, pushing through the crowd to get closer to the table where Yvette and Vanessa stood.

  “Hi, Nate. It’s been a long time. How are you?!” Vanessa ran around the table to give her old friend a hug.

  “Hello, ladies,” Nate said, smiling.

  “It’s good to see you. I’m happy you were able to come. Is Bridget here too?” Yvette asked, scanning the crowd.

  “She wasn’t able to come this time around. With her new job, she’s been so swamped, and she just couldn’t get away,” Nate explained.

  Yvette was surprised to hear that Nate’s wife had a job at all. While she’d never admit it to him, she was fairly sure that Bridget had just been using Nate for as long as they’d been married and probably even before that. Nate was an outstanding chef and had always worked at some of the most upscale restaurants that Heritage and its surrounding towns had to offer.

  “Good for her. I mean, it’s a shame she wasn’t able to come, but being busy with your career is always a good thing,” Yvette said, hoping her forced smile wasn’t too obvious.

  From what Yvette knew there wasn’t a single person in Heritage that liked Bridget. She’d always been unkind and rude to everyone in town. With her own husband’s family being no exception.

  “She’s doing really well. We’re happy and enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.”

  “I’d love to go check out some of the sales nearby. You don’t mind, do you?” Vanessa asked her boss.

  “Go for it. You’ve been working hard all day,” Yvette replied, shooing her employee away.

  “So, how are things with you?” Nate asked once they were alone.

  “Everything is great. Work has been great; my parents are great. Everything is ju
st… great,” Yvette rambled.

  “Oh, wow. Well, that’s… great,” Nate chuckled. “I can’t believe my dad’s party is coming up so quickly. How on earth have you had the time to worry about that with everything going on here?” he asked, looking around the parking lot.

  “Ehh. It’s actually pretty quiet right now. We were really busy this morning though. The sale is only for one day then life goes back to normal, so I’m sure I can handle it. Plus, your mom said you wouldn’t mind helping out a bit with the food.”

  “Not at all. I’d love to help. It’s great to be back, even if it is for just a short time,” Nate admitted.

  “Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

  “Sure does. Seems like just yesterday when you and your family had weekly tag sales. Every Sunday, me and Dad would come by and he’d head straight for your table.”

  “I almost forgot about that,” Yvette smiled, fondly remembering. “He’d pick out one of the stuffed animals I had for sale. He always told me it wasn’t true, but I knew he bought them for your dog to chew on.” Yvette put her hands on her hips.

  “He did.” Nate laughed. “Every week he’d make me promise not to tell you.”

  “I guess I can’t complain. That little table I set up each week paid for my first car,” Yvette said.

  Nate let out a belly laugh.

  “Don’t start. That car brought us everywhere.”

  “You’re right but, only one of the doors opened, the radio didn’t work, and the trunk always sort of smelled like…”

  “It had a dead body in it?” Mark Kline said, finishing Nate’s sentence.

  “Oh my gosh. Stop!” Yvette cackled.

  “Hey, man. I heard you were in town,” Mark said, shaking Nate’s hand.

  “How ya been, buddy?” Nate asked.

  “Hi, Mark,” Yvette chimed in.

  Mark gave her a look. “Yvette. Just the person I wanted to see.”

  “Uh oh. I know that tone. I’m gonna head out. Yvette, I’ll stop by soon, so we can do some last-minute planning for my dad’s party.”