Assaulted Caramel

by Amanda Flower

  “Hello, Bai. Hello. Are you there?” Cass waved a hand in front of my face. “Juliet asked you a question.”

  I blinked and broke eye contact with Aiden, who carried his bin into the kitchen. Laughter poured out of the room as the volunteers joked around while washing dishes. “What is it?” I asked.

  Juliet smiled. “Do you need any help unloading your car?”

  “No, no help is needed.” I grabbed Cass by her sleeve and dragged her back into the hallway.

  “Hey, careful there, you’ve already scuffed my boot. You don’t want to mess with my coat.” Cass wrenched her arm away from me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong,” I said, knowing my voice was higher than normal.

  “Are you afraid of the pig? Is that it?” She peered back into the fellowship hall. “Because he looks pretty harmless to me.”

  “It’s not the pig. I just saw someone in the fellowship hall who I didn’t expect to see. It threw me.”

  She peered back through the door. “Who is it?”

  “Stop that!”

  She came away from the door. “Who did you see that has you spooked?”

  “It was one of the deputies from the sheriff’s department. I didn’t expect to see him. That’s all.”

  She went back to door and openly stared at the church members cleaning up the dinner. “Is he the one who thinks you killed that Tyson guy? Because I’d like to tell him a thing or two.”

  I grabbed her sleeve again. “No, it’s not that deputy, but we should be a little more cautious about what we say until we are alone.”

  She gave me a thumbs-up sign. “Got it.”

  Cass and I carried the final few grocery bags into the church kitchen and set them on the counter by the others. At least half a dozen ladies bustled around the kitchen, wiping counters and washing dishes. Juliet entered the kitchen carrying a tray of salt and pepper shakers. She was followed by Jethro, of course. I was beginning to see him as her permanent shadow.

  Cass openly stared at the pig. She had not reached the acceptance stage in her shock yet.

  I walked over to Juliet. “How can we help?”

  She shook her head. “You’re here to make the wedding desserts. We have everything well in hand.”

  “We want to help,” I protested. “We can’t just stand by and watch you work.”

  Juliet smiled. “That’s so kind of you, if you’re sure.”

  “Of course, I’m sure. Cass is too. Aren’t you, Cass?” I elbowed my best friend in the side.

  “Oww.” She rubbed her side. “You really need to stop doing that. I’m starting to bruise.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Oh, right, we want to help. I’d love to do it!” She said in mock cheer.

  I inwardly groaned. However, Juliet didn’t seem to notice Cass’s sarcastic tone.

  “Well, all right. We could always use the help. And many hands make the work go faster. Perhaps the two of you can wipe down the tables in the fellowship hall. They always seem to be sticky by the end of the meal even if we didn’t serve anything sticky. The diners are sort of like toddlers in that way.”

  Cass wrinkled her nose, but I refrained from elbowing her yet again. I would really feel bad if she was starting to get a bruise.

  “There are extra aprons hanging on those pegs on the wall.” She pointed at the aprons. “And I will get the buckets and rags together for you while you put them on.”

  “An apron?” Cass asked.

  Juliet raised her eyebrows. “I just thought that you wouldn’t want to get your pretty clothes dirty.”

  “An apron would be great,” I said before Cass could answer. I knew Cass was thinking of the hierarchy at JP Chocolates. Back in New York, in Jean Pierre’s place, only the assistants wore aprons. The chocolatiers, like us, wore chef’s jackets. At JP Chocolates it was a big deal to trade in your apron for a chef’s jacket. After earning hers, Cass had sworn she would never wear an apron again.

  I walked over to the wall where the aprons hung and plucked two off the pegs—one for me and one for Cass. I handed her the apron.

  She held it away from her. “I said I would never wear one of these again.”

  “We’re in Ohio. No one from JP Chocolates will ever know that you wore an apron. I promise not to tell. Besides, do you really want to take the chance of ruining your clothes?”

  She slipped the top strap of her apron over her head. “I’m doing it for the outfit. Let’s just be clear about that.” She lowered her voice. “I swear if you take a photo of me while I’m wearing an apron, I will haunt you well into the afterlife. I don’t want anyone at JP Chocolates hearing about this.”

  “I’m glad you have your priorities straight.” I tied my apron around my waist.

  Cass finished tying her apron as Juliet appeared with two small buckets and clean rags. She held them out to us. “Thank you so much, girls.”

  I took the buckets from her. “We’re happy to do it.”

  Cass jumped away from me as if she was afraid that my elbow was coming in her direction. “We’re very happy to do it,” she said.

  I handed a bucket to her with a smile. She scowled in return.

  Back in the fellowship hall, we split up. Cass started on the left side of the room, and I went to the right. On the first table, I dropped my rag into the soapy water and scanned the room for Aiden. He wasn’t there. I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined seeing him when Cass and I first arrived.

  Two women cleared the table next to me. Both appeared to be in their late fifties or early sixties. One wore jeans and a sweater, and the other wore a plain gray dress and a white prayer cap on her head.

  “No, I’m not going to sell now,” the Amish woman said. “I never wanted to in the first place. I wouldn’t have if that terrible man had given me half a choice.”

  “I heard his son might be taking the business over. He might still want to buy.”

  “I don’t care what Tyson’s son wants to do. I’m not going to sell. I know that it’s a terrible thing to say, but everything will go back to normal now that Tyson’s dead. We won’t have to worry about what will become of the town now.”

  The English woman nodded. “That’s a blessing. He never cared about Harvest in the least. He just wanted to make money, and this was a way to do it. Colton’s company would make a bundle if he got his way and bought all the property on Main Street.”

  The pair moved three tables over, and I couldn’t hear their conversation any longer. Even though I hadn’t finished cleaning the first table, I grabbed my bucket and followed them. I was so focused on hearing the rest of the women’s conversation, I wasn’t paying any attention to where I was going, and I ran directly into a solid form. Sudsy water sloshed out of my bucket and all over the man’s back.

  A very wet Deputy Aiden Brody spun around, and I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

  Chapter 28

  “I can’t believe I did that!” I yelped, brushing water off of him as best I could. “Deputy Brody, I’m so sorry.”

  He looked behind himself as water ran all the way down his back, over his behind, and down his legs. I tried not to stare.

  “I’m so clumsy,” I said. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

  He turned around to face me as a puddle gathered on the floor around his feet.

  I set my bucket—with the little bit of water that was left in it—on the closest table. “I’ll go find something to mop up this mess.”

  Cass came toward us and openly stared at his back. “Did you throw the bucket of water on him?” she asked.

  I covered my face with my hands. “Let me go get some towels.” Before either of them could say another word, I ran into the kitchen and ripped the roll of brown paper towels from its holder. The ladies washing and drying dishes stared at me. I didn’t pause to explain and hurried back into the fellowship hall.

  When I got back to Cass and Aiden, the two of them were laughin
g.

  I ripped off several towels from the roll and handed them to him. “I’m so sorry about this.” I squatted on the floor and began to mop up the ever growing puddle. A hand appeared in my line of vision. I glanced up to see Aiden looking down at me with his hand extended. “It’s okay, Bailey. No worries.” His eyes were kind.

  After a moment’s hesitation, I took his hand and stood. The moment I was upright, I dropped his hand like I had received an electrical jolt and pressed my own hand into my side to fight the residual feeling of his skin against mine.

  Aiden seemed undisturbed by our brief touch. “Your friend here was just telling me about the time when you spilled a vat of chocolate syrup onto a Jordanian princess at some sort of fancy gala. That sounds much worse than what has happened here.”

  I frowned at Cass. “It was.”

  She grinned in return.

  “Thanks for the paper towels,” Aiden said. “I can clean up the floor and go. I was heading home from here, so there’s no harm done. Getting splashed with water never killed anyone.”

  “Clearly you have never seen the Wizard of Oz,” Cass said.

  It was a good thing that Cass was out of elbow range, because I would have poked her for that one.

  He grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t melt.”

  “I really am sorry.” I apologized for what felt like the hundredth time.

  He smiled. “I know you are.”

  Cass looked from me to Aiden and back again. Her mouth fell into a tiny little O.

  Juliet peeked her head out of the pass-through. “Bailey, the ladies are all done in here, so you and Cass can start working on the desserts. I’ll be out in a moment. Aiden, don’t leave without saying good-bye to your mother.” She shook her finger at him.

  “Sure, Mom,” he said. His dimple was out to its full effect.

  “That’s your mom?” Cass asked.

  He grinned. The dimple practically twinkled. “She is.”

  I spun around in the direction of the kitchen. “We should get to work.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Bailey King,” he called after me.

  As we walked to the kitchen, Cass slipped her arm through mine. “You have a thing for Deputy Cutie Pie.” She glanced over her shoulder, back in Aiden’s direction. “I can see why. He’s adorable. That dimple. It could stop a girl’s heart.”

  I groaned. “I do not have a thing for the deputy. Besides, I can’t, because I already have—” I stopped myself midthought. I was about to say I couldn’t because I already have a boyfriend, but Cass didn’t know that.

  Cass didn’t seem to notice I’d stopped talking and squeezed my arm. “Please tell me you ran at him and dumped soapy water on his back to get his attention, because that’s totally what I would have done.”

  “It was an accident with no ulterior motive, I promise.”

  She sighed. “Have I taught you nothing? Then why did you run into him?”

  I leaned closer to her and whispered. “I was following two women, who were talking about Tyson’s death.”

  That got her attention. “What did they say?”

  “One of them was Amish, and said that now that Tyson was dead, she had no plans to sell her shop to his son or whoever may inherit Tyson’s development company.”

  “Do you think she would have killed him to keep her property? You think an Amish woman knifed someone?”

  I grimaced. It did sound pretty far-fetched when she said it like that.

  “Who was she? The woman that you overhead saying this?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.” I peered into the kitchen. Only Juliet, Jethro, and two other English women remained. “She must have left.”

  Juliet folded a hand towel and set it on the counter. “Bailey, the kitchen is all yours now. I wish I could stay and help, but I should take Jethro home. It’s been a long day for him. It’s important that he gets his beauty sleep, especially before the wedding.”

  I glanced down at the pig, who was lying at her feet with his eyes half-closed. I couldn’t help but smile. “He does look like he’s done in.”

  “You’re taking the pig to the wedding?” Cass asked in a now-I’ve-heard-everything voice.

  Juliet nodded. “I’m invited, and Jethro goes everywhere that I do, so yes, he will be at the wedding.”

  I wondered if Eileen knew about the hoofed wedding guest.

  Juliet held out a key to me. “Here’s the key to the church. Just lock up when you leave, and I’ll collect the key from you in the morning.” She slapped her thigh. “Come on, Jethro. Let’s go home.”

  The pig struggled to his feet on the tiled floor and dutifully waddled to her side. Juliet scooped him up and tucked him under her arm. After Juliet, her pig, and the last of the church ladies left, Cass and I got to work. I started two double boilers to begin melting the chocolate. We were going to need a lot of chocolate.

  “Let’s just work on the desserts, okay? No more talk of guys or murder.”

  She shrugged. “Fine by me.”

  * * *

  After who knew how many hours later, Cass collapsed onto a stool in the corner of the kitchen. “I think I’m dying,” she said. “I’ve pulled all-nighters before, but this is ridiculous.”

  It was a little after one in the morning. Exactly twenty-four hours earlier, I had discovered Tyson’s body in my grandparents’ kitchen. I shivered at the thought and set a fourth tray of truffles in one of the church’s industrial-sized refrigerators. After putting the tray in place, I closed the door. “I can’t believe that we pulled this off.”

  “We make a good team.” She yawned, and her eyes were half-closed.

  I wiped my hands on a cloth and walked over to the counter where I had left my purse. I pulled out the rental car’s keys and the keys to Swissmen Sweets that my grandmother had given me earlier that evening. We had both known that Cass and I would be returning to the candy shop long after she and Daadi were in bed. I moved across the room, picked up Cass’s limp hand, and placed the keys in it. “Go back to the candy shop and get some rest. You’re going to keel over.”

  “But we still have to clean up the kitchen.” Another yawn.

  “I can do that. Take the car and go back.”

  “How will you get back?”

  “I’ll walk. It’s just on the other side of the square. I don’t want to leave the car in the church parking lot. I think Eileen has big plans for the church, its parking lot, and the square for tomorrow’s wedding. You’ll be doing me a favor by moving the car. I will probably be able to clean up faster without having to worry if you’re going to topple over into a bowl of boiling caramel.”

  She curled her fingers around the keys. “Oh, all right. But how will you get into the shop? You don’t want me to leave it unlocked while I go to bed, do you? After a man was killed in your kitchen?”

  My brow wrinkled. “No, I don’t. Hide the key under the mat in front of the door.”

  “Won’t that be the first place the killer would look?” She yawned. “I mean, even an Amish killer would know to look under the front mat, wouldn’t he?”

  “We don’t know the killer was Amish.” I rolled my eyes. “It will be fine. Now go,” I insisted. “It will take me just an hour more, at most. And I’m so tired, I’ve gotten to the point I can do this cleanup on autopilot. It will go faster if I’m alone.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it. It’s no wonder Jean Pierre hand selected you as his protégé. You’re a machine. I’m convinced.”

  I laughed. “Go.”

  She struggled to her feet. “Are you sure? I can wait.”

  “I’m sure.”

  She nodded and stumbled out of the kitchen. Faintly, I heard her call as she moved through the fellowship hall. “You owe me, King. Big time!”

  Truer words were never spoken.

  After Cass left, I made short work of cleaning up the kitchen. I shut the industrial dishwasher and set it to start. I couldn’t b
elieve Cass and I had pulled it off. Fatigue washed over me and seeped into my bones. This had been the longest day of my life, by far, and the next day promised to be just as exhausting, between the wedding and the need to clear myself of a murder rap. That reminded me of Cass’s brother. I wondered if she’d had any luck getting the name of an attorney from him. I promised myself to ask her in the morning.

  I grabbed my shoulder bag from the counter and turned off the kitchen lights. I walked through the fellowship hall and out of the church, flipping off lights as I went. Outside of the church’s front door, I closed and locked it with the key that Juliet had given me. I yanked on the door a few times to make certain it was secure. The last thing I wanted was for someone to break into the church because I hadn’t locked the door properly. I stuck the key in my jeans pocket. It was interesting that Juliet had a key to the church. Maybe she and the pastor were dating. I wondered what Aiden thought about his mother’s relationship with the reverend.

  I stumbled down the steps into the parking lot and rubbed my eyes. I needed sleep. I couldn’t think of Aiden this late at night, especially after the humiliating water bucket incident in the fellowship hall. My muddled thoughts turned to Eric, which was even worse. It was too late at night to face my doomed relationship.

  As expected, downtown Harvest was completely abandoned at two in the morning. I walked as quickly as I dared across the dark square toward the candy shop. The electric porch light next to the candy shop’s front door called out to me like a beacon. I knew my grandmother had left it on for Cass and me.

  I was just walking by the gazebo when another bright light caught me in the eyes, blinding me. “Where do you think you are going?” a deep voice demanded.

  Chapter 29

  I held my hand up to cover my face and shield my eyes from the bright light. “Who’s there?”

  “I asked you a question.” The man in front of me held his lantern up high. The light glinted off of Abel Esh’s red hair.