Debut Cozy Mystery Box Set 2

by Dianne Harman

  Jake and Balto followed DeeDee to her house. On the way there DeeDee found herself wondering what it would be like to date someone. Not Jake of course, he probably didn’t even think of her in that way, but she realized she didn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life. Maybe it was time to consider dating, even though the mere thought of it terrified her.

  When they got to her house, DeeDee looked on while Jake set up a wire kennel for Balto in her bedroom. She felt herself drawn to his strong masculine body and his calming presence. After he’d set up the dog bed in the family room, Jake looked out the window at the back yard. “Your fence looks okay, but if you have any problems give me a call. I’d hate to see Balto run away.”

  “So would I. Thanks, Jake,” DeeDee said, “I’m really grateful for all your help.” Suddenly, she didn’t want him to leave.

  “No problem,” Jake said. “I, er, DeeDee…” he paused, then continued with an uncertainty she hadn’t seen earlier. “Would you like to go out for dinner with me some time?”

  DeeDee’s eyes lit up, and her face broke into a smile. “Yes, Jake, I’d like that very much,” DeeDee replied.

  “Great, how about Tuesday? If that’s okay, I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Sure, see you Tuesday.”

  With Balto by her side, DeeDee watched Jake drive away while the first heavy drops of rain started pounding on the roof. She could hardly wait to call Roz and tell her. Tuesday wasn’t all that far away.

  CHAPTER 9

  Joan Adams pushed a pile of dirty laundry off the sofa and onto the floor of her grimy apartment and sat down with a mug of black coffee and a copy of the morning’s Seattle Times. She had a little time before her afternoon shift working the counter at Starbucks on Bainbridge Island, and she wanted to use it to look for a better, permanent position in Seattle, one that paid enough to get her out of the depressing apartment she currently occupied.

  When she’d moved in six months ago, the rental agent had described it as an ‘up-and-coming’ area of the island, but that was a stretch of anyone’s imagination by a long shot. The truth was that she was stuck in a run-down part of town, with a loser of a roommate and barely making enough to pay her rent every month. It wasn’t what she was used to, and she didn’t plan for it to continue. If she had to work at Starbucks much longer she was likely to start throwing muffins at people’s heads, and it might be a lot worse than that.

  “How did it come to this?” Joan muttered to herself as she opened the newspaper. She knew she probably wasn’t qualified for any of the positions in the help wanted section, but she had no desire to try and improve her prospects by enrolling in some class at the local community college. She’d hated school, and long ago decided books weren’t her thing. Rather than going to school, she far preferred to spend her time looking for a wealthy man who could take care of her. While she was looking through the paper, she booted up her computer, so she could see if there was anything available online.

  “Come to what?” repeated her roommate, Marcy, who appeared in the doorway of the bedroom they shared. Marcy worked night shifts as a barmaid and usually slept in. “Are you checking the matchmaking sites again? You do remember how that ended last time, don’t you?” Marcy asked with a smirk on her face. “Lover boy left you for someone smarter, huh? Maybe he was just after one thing,” Marcy said as she slid into the chair opposite Joan.

  Joan looked at Marcy with an icy stare. “It was a legitimate dating site,” she replied. She didn’t need to be reminded that her current monetary predicament was a direct result of Shane Conklin kicking her out and ending their relationship. She’d lost more than a meal ticket the night she arrived back at the condominium they shared and found her bags packed and on the porch. Shane was the only man who had ever treated her nice.

  “I don’t freakin’ believe it,” Joan said, forgetting about Marcy as an article in the paper caught her eye. “It says here,” she went on, pointing at the page, “there are some fancy new acquisitions at the Seattle Art Museum. They got a windfall donation from the Arts Council, and there’s going to be a big gala dinner to celebrate the donation at some woman named Marlene’s home here on the island.”

  “So?” Marcy said, picking at the dirt underneath her fingernails, “and why exactly is that interesting?”

  “Shane’s going to be there with that stuck-up Lisa Sanders. She owns some snobby gallery in Pioneer Square in Seattle.”

  “Ahh,” Marcy said, catching on. She grabbed the paper. “Here, let me see.”

  Joan’s body was shaking. She could feel the rage rising within her. “That woman is a predator. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be with Shane,” she said.

  Marcy looked up in surprise. “I thought he broke up with you because you’d lied to him. You know, when you forgot to tell him about your adult movie phase. Maybe I’m missing something, Joan, but remind me, how is that Lisa’s fault?”

  Joan dismissed Marcy’s question with a wave of her hand. Yes, Shane had confronted her when he’d found out about the small matter of her starring role in some porn movies he said his friend had been watching when he was staying at a hotel in Los Angeles. Joan had always been dubious about the real source of his information.

  “She’d been chasing after Shane for months. She was always inviting him to that gallery of hers and showing up at parties we were at. I can’t prove it, but I’m sure Lisa had me checked out and made sure that someone told Shane. They know lots of the same people. With me out of the way, it was easy for her to get her paws on him. She’ll never let him go. He’s too good of a catch.”

  Joan had known Shane was something special right from the beginning, when they’d started chatting in an online matchmaking group. After exchanging emails a number of times, they finally agreed to meet for coffee at a Starbucks on the north side of Pioneer Square. She remembered the butterflies she’d had that day when he walked in, looking very handsome and just like the photo he’d sent her. The irony wasn’t lost on her that their first date was at a Starbucks, and now she was working in one.

  “You really are beautiful,” Shane had said, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. She regretted having sent him a touched-up headshot that had been taken several years earlier. If he noticed, he was too polite to say anything about it. They’d talked for hours that day. Shane had told her about his two failed marriages and his sadness at realizing he was forty-five with no children. “They just never came along,” Shane said, and Joan thought what a great dad he would make. “That’s enough about me, tell me about Joan,” Shane had asked, and Joan knew that’s when her lies started.

  Shane got the edited version of her autobiography. Joan never told him she’d come to Seattle after she’d acted in some porn movies in Los Angeles. No, instead Shane heard all about the Joan who had lived in a small rural town in Eastern Washington. She told him about the Joan who was orphaned at a young age, and when her foster parents died, how she’d decided to move to the Seattle area.

  “Sometimes when I look at you, you take my breath away,” Shane told her a week after they met. Although she was in her mid-thirties, and a little too old for the adult movie industry, Joan was still very beautiful. She turned heads everywhere she went, and she knew Shane liked having her on his arm. Even so, she was surprised that Shane seemed to be falling in love with her.

  “Move in with me,” Shane suggested after seeing her a few more times, and however much she’d tried to play by The Rules that were in all the dating guides, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d been straight with her from the beginning. He’d told her he would never marry her because two marriages were enough for him. What followed were the happiest six months of her life. She traveled with him on business trips, accompanied him to dinners, and tried to be marriage material. Joan thought she’d nailed it, and that he’d eventually want to marry her, but then that tramp Lisa Sanders had come along and ruined it all by stealing Shane away from her.

  “I loved him, Marcy,” J
oan said with tears in her eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to have nothing, and then when you have a taste of happiness, it’s all taken away from you through no fault of your own?”

  Marcy shrugged. “Maybe you need to suck it up and get on with the rest of your life, Joan. Yeah, so he dumped you. Chalk it up to bad karma. If it makes you feel better, slash his tires, but it’s little Miss Arty Pants that he’s going to the dinner with, and I don’t see how that’s gonna change.”

  Joan disagreed, but she knew there was no point in arguing with Marcy. Marcy had a big mouth, and if she suspected anything, she could cause trouble later. A plan was beginning to form in Joan’s mind, and she didn’t want Marcy messing it up.

  If I can’t have him, no one can, Joan vowed to herself, especially not Miss Arty Pants. Joan was convinced Shane still loved her. Maybe if Lisa wasn’t around anymore, Shane would come back to her. It was worth a try.

  Her idea was stupidly simple. She’d recently seen a real-life television show where somebody was murdered. The host of the show had explained what had been done to the victim and how the murderer had gotten away with it. She decided she could disguise herself by wearing one of her wigs, and her makeup skills were good enough she was certain she could make herself unrecognizable. All she needed was Lisa’s telephone number and the address of the museum woman who was having the party. They should both be easy enough to find, for someone who knew how.

  She racked her brain for the name of the geeky guy who came into Starbucks all the time. He’d fixed her computer a couple of months ago. Milo, that was it. He’d told her he could come back any time she needed help.

  Probably meant in exchange for something, Joan thought, smiling, but that wouldn’t be much different from what I’ve done in the past.

  CHAPTER 10

  When DeeDee received a telephone call the following week from someone who wanted to hire Deelish for a catering job, she thought there must be some mistake. She’d met with the contractor at the office park unit the previous day, and the work had started on the kitchen. Her son Mitch had worked out a budget and cash flow for the business, and she was feeling better about her finances.

  Now that she knew exactly how much money the business needed to bring in every month, she felt a lot more comfortable about meeting her financial commitments. Mitch had told her he’d review the figures every quarter, and once the business had gotten established, he’d help her work on forecasts and a five-year plan.

  DeeDee’s mind had glazed over when Mitch started talking about expansion and franchising. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to get involved in any of that. As long as she was involved in a business she enjoyed, one that paid her bills with enough money left over to cover a vacation now and then, and a nice life style outside of work, DeeDee was sure she’d be happy. In any case, living on Bainbridge Island still felt like a vacation to her.

  “Hello, may I speak with DeeDee Wilson please? This is Marlene Palmer.”

  DeeDee had hesitated, wondering why Marlene was calling her. She knew Marlene from when she’d volunteered one day a week as a docent at the Seattle Art Museum, but she’d left the position several weeks before she’d moved to Bainbridge. She didn’t want any distractions from her old life infringing on her new one.

  “Hello Marlene, this is DeeDee, is everything going well at the museum?” DeeDee wondered if Marlene wanted her to come back. If so, she’d just have to politely tell her she was no longer available to help out as a volunteer.

  “Oh yes, my dear, but we do miss you. You must come and see us when you’re in the city. I asked for you only the other day, and I was told that you’d moved to Bainbridge to start a catering company.”

  “That’s right, Marlene,” DeeDee said. She thought how fast news traveled, considering that her business plan was barely a week old.

  “I think it’s marvelous my dear, and rather serendipitous for us both, since I live on the island. I’m having a dinner party in three weeks, actually it will be quite an important event. I’ve heard you’re an amazing cook, and I would love it if you would do me the honor of taking care of the catering for it. Are you available? It’s three weeks from this Friday.”

  “Let me check my appointment calendar, Marlene.” DeeDee did a quick mental calculation. The kitchen unit should be finished the week before, so the timing was perfect. She knew Marlene always courted publicity with everything she did, so if DeeDee could pull this off it had the potential to really launch Deelish. “Yes, I’m available, Marlene. When can we meet to discuss the details?”

  “Wonderful, my darling. Yes, we must meet as soon as possible. You know most of the people who will be there such as Lisa Sanders, Bernard Metz, and a lot of the other big players in the Seattle art world. There will be twelve in total, including myself and my husband, Morgan. When we meet, please let me know what the cost will be. My husband and I will take care of the wine. Morgan loves to show off his collection.”

  “That’s perfect, Marlene,” DeeDee said, grabbing a pen and making notes on the back of a cereal packet. Morgan Palmer, Marlene’s husband, was a well-known wine collector, and if he was taking care of the wine before dinner and with dinner, that would make DeeDee’s life a lot simpler. Marlene went on to explain that DeeDee would be in charge of preparing and serving the appetizers and dinner as well as cleaning up.

  “Oh, and don’t be offended my darling,” Marlene trilled, “but I’ll take care of setting up the appetizer table as well as setting the dining room table. I have a certain theme in mind, and I’ll see to the floral arrangements.”

  “Of course, Marlene. I completely understand.” DeeDee had no doubt that Marlene’s table setting would be a work of art. There was no way DeeDee could compete with that, and she was glad she didn’t have to try, but she would welcome the opportunity to get some ideas for future events.

  “When would it be convenient to get together and discuss the menu, Marlene? I’ll bring my price list along with some suggestions.” The price list for Deelish hadn’t been printed yet, but DeeDee was sure that a visit to see Raff at the print shop could easily fix that problem.

  “Could you come to my house about five tomorrow evening, darling? I’ll leave work early to meet you. This event is very high priority, did I mention that?”

  “Yes, and five tomorrow evening will work for me, Marlene,” DeeDee replied in her best telephone voice. She scribbled Marlene’s address on the scrap of cardboard and hung up. Grinning, she pulled Balto in for a celebratory hug, but Balto shook his head free. Recognizing a good food opportunity when he saw one, Balto walked over to his dog dish and waited while DeeDee obediently got him a treat.

  *****

  DeeDee loved her brisk morning walks with Balto, and Balto seemed to love them too. He teased her by running ahead to the end of his twenty-foot retractable leash and then waiting until she caught up. It had become a game they both enjoyed. DeeDee felt he was settling in well to his new surroundings, and didn’t seem to miss Jake or the rest of his litter. DeeDee, on the other hand, found herself thinking about Jake a lot after their date last Tuesday. He’d asked if he could see her again, and she was already looking forward to it.

  The morning after Marlene’s call, DeeDee and Balto had just returned from their walk when Milo, The Web Guy, arrived at the house for DeeDee’s social media lesson.

  “First things first,” Milo said, pulling out his laptop. “What do you think?”

  DeeDee gasped when she saw the Deelish website for the first time. Her hand flew up to her mouth.

  “You like it?” Milo said, waiting for her response.

  DeeDee shook her head. “No, I don’t like it Milo. I LOVE it!!”

  Milo smiled with a huge look of relief on his face.

  “Look Balto, look,” DeeDee said, pointing to the screen. Balto barely lifted his head from his dog bed. He was becoming accustomed to his new owner’s shrieks, and unless food or walks were involved, he wasn’t particularly interested.


  The website was everything DeeDee had hoped for, but even better. The shocking pink logo Raff had designed contrasted well against the white background. Milo had added dummy food photos that she could use until she had enough of her own. In addition to pages showing her contact details and sample menus, there was a button visitors could press to send an email directly from the website to DeeDee.

  “Okay, let’s take a look at Pinterest,” Milo began. There followed a long tutorial by Milo on the merits of social media sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. DeeDee was familiar enough with Facebook to be able to use it to keep in touch with her children, but she had to really concentrate while Milo was talking about the others.

  “I don’t think I can keep up with it all,” DeeDee said, when he’d gone through each of them in turn. “If I’m on the computer all day, how will I ever get any cooking done?”

  “It’s easy once you get some practice, but maybe you should just stick with one to start with. Pinterest or Instagram are good because they’re image based. All you have to do is add pictures of food, or pin pictures. You’ll get a lot of followers that way.”

  “If you say so,” DeeDee said, wondering how followers would translate into catering bookings for Deelish. Nonetheless she promised to take photos of everything and send them to Milo, so he could at least get her started.

  *****

  Promptly at five that afternoon, DeeDee swung through the motion-activated entrance gates leading to Marlene Palmer’s large two-story Pacific Northwest style home. The house itself was hidden from the road around a bend in the driveway, and when she rounded the bend, she saw an imposing building with stone-facing. There were steps with sculpted pillars on either side leading up to a heavy mahogany front door. It was situated right on the waterfront, and the large yard filled with late spring flowers provided a riot of color in the early evening light.