Vanilla Beaned

by Jenn McKinlay

  They exchanged a look of understanding and Mel smiled. She remembered looking for the location of her first bakery. She had been such a mix of nerves and excitement. She knew that Holly was probably feeling all of that and more at the moment.

  She turned away to take in the shop. It was small but cute with black-and-white flooring like Mel’s own bakery back in Arizona. The walls were a butter yellow color that she didn’t love but paint was cheap.

  There was no furniture in the shop and she tried to imagine what it would look like with a few tables or booths. They’d have to keep it to a minimum so that people could move around. She glanced through the windows. The sidewalk in front was big enough for a few small café tables. Overall, space-wise it had promise.

  Quentin had begun his spiel on the features of the property and Mel turned back to the group to listen to him espouse the pluses of the site as a bakery. There was adequate display space with the big wide counter and a built-in glass case. Behind the counter the work area was tight, but beyond that was a very well laid-out kitchen.

  Holly and Sydney ran from each appliance, squealing and chattering. The oven would have to be replaced with a larger professional convection oven, but the steel workspace and the walk-in cooler were practically new.

  “What happened to the previous owners?” Mel asked.

  “They went belly-up, which was a surprise to no one,” Quentin said. He gave them a look of disgust.

  “Why?” Angie asked. “What did they do wrong?”

  “It pretty much started and ended with their menu,” Quentin said. “They were trying to be food innovators and catch a foodie movement like the cronut, you know the croissant donut thing that was a super hit for fifteen minutes on the East Coast.”

  “I’m afraid to ask, and yet, I find I must know,” Tate said. “What was their product?”

  “The jelly dough-burger,” Quentin said. He grimaced a bit and Mel suspected he was having a bad taste bud flashback.

  “I don’t get it,” Holly said. “What was it made of?”

  “A cheeseburger served on a jelly doughnut which was cut in half like a bun,” Quentin said.

  “That is . . .” Tate seemed stumped for words.

  “Disgusting,” Mel offered.

  “Revolting,” Angie said.

  “Gross,” Sydney chimed in. Her little nose wrinkled as if she smelled something bad.

  “I would vomit,” Peter said. He looked green at the thought of eating such a concoction and Mel had to agree.

  “I don’t know,” Holly said. “Maybe it wouldn’t be totally terrible.”

  They all turned to look at her and she shrugged. “I just think you shouldn’t knock it until you try it.”

  “Mom, jelly on a burger is nasty,” Sydney said.

  “Oh, really?” Holly asked. “Is that your professional chef opinion, missy?”

  “No, that’s my mouth talking,” Sydney said. “And it knows what it likes and a burger wrapped in a jelly donut isn’t it.”

  “I admit it’s a little out there,” Holly said. “But remember there are some weird flavor combinations that don’t seem like they could go together but they do.”

  Sydney looked dubious.

  “How about those ginger milk chocolate cupcakes?” Holly asked. “Those were delicious.”

  “They’re cupcakes,” Sydney said. She held out her hands for dramatic effect, as if to say anything in a cupcake would be good, although Mel knew from experimenting that this was not necessarily so.

  “Okay, how about the bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with pistachios that we made for the holidays? You ate your body weight in those,” Holly said.

  Sydney rolled her eyes to the ceiling and declared, “I can never talk food with you.”

  “I know exactly how you feel, kiddo,” Angie said. She pointed at Mel and said, “She’s the exact same way.”

  Mel turned to Holly. “Recipe, please?”

  “For which?”

  “All of the above,” Mel said. She paused and then said, “If you have cupcake recipes of your own that you want to sell, we can talk about that, too.”

  Holly beamed at her.

  “So, can I assume you approve of this space?” Quentin asked. He looked eagerly at Holly and then Tate, as if he knew Tate was the driving force behind franchising.

  Mel took a moment to picture a Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery here in this spot in Las Vegas. Instead of the usual crippling doubt and panic, she found cautious excitement in the idea.

  She glanced at Tate and Holly, who were both looking at her, and said, “Works for me.”

  Holly jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Sydney did the same. Tate smiled, looking proud of her, which made Mel feel as if she’d grown exponentially as a person.

  “All right,” Peter said. “If we’re all agreed, we can go back to the office and initiate the paperwork.”

  Holly took a minute just to look over the place one more time. She glanced out the front window at the view she would have when she opened her shop.

  “I really think this will work,” she said. “I think we’re going to be very successful here.”

  Mel stood beside her. “I think so, too.”

  Peter led the way out of the bakery. Tate and Angie followed and then Holly and Sydney. Holly took some pictures of the inside and then took her camera outside to get some more shots of the storefront. Mel and Quentin were the last to leave.

  Quentin set the alarm and locked the door while Mel went to stand beside the others. She had almost reached them when the sound of a car engine revving caught her attention. She turned back just in time to see a large four-door sedan hop the sidewalk, roar across the parking lot, heading straight for the bakery.

  “Quentin, look out!” she yelled.

  Quentin glanced over his shoulder. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. He was stunned into immobility and instead of jumping out of the way, he raised up his arms as if he could ward off an entire car.

  Before Mel could register the movement, Tate shoved her and Angie aside and dove forward, grabbing Quentin by the sleeve and yanking him out of the way just before the car launched itself right through the windows of the shop in an explosion of glass.

  Tate almost made it, but Quentin’s right leg was clipped by the car, knocking them both into the side of the building before they crumpled to the ground.

  “Tate!” Angie screamed. She ran toward him and Mel was right behind her.

  The two men lay on the ground. Holly had her arms shielding Sydney while Peter was already on the phone calling 911.

  “My leg, my leg,” Quentin moaned.

  “I’m okay, I’m fine,” Tate said as he rolled over onto his back.

  Mel checked him over anyway. He had minor cuts and scrapes and he was wheezing, but that could have been because Angie had him in a hug that was probably compressing his lungs as she was holding on so tightly.

  Mel could see the unnatural angle of Quentin’s leg. She grabbed his hand and told him that an ambulance was on its way. He nodded and then he fainted, which Mel figured was probably a blessing.

  “What about the driver?” Peter asked. The car had stopped with its nose planted in the glass display case.

  Mel looked in through the smashed window. As she watched, the driver’s side door was pushed open and a man wearing a motorcycle helmet climbed out of the car. He was limping slightly but managed to haul himself through the broken window and out onto the curb.

  “Hey! Are you all right?” Mel cried.

  The driver started and glanced up at her. Then he began to back away, moving slowly at first but rapidly picking up speed even though he was still limping.

  “Hey! You! Hey!” Peter yelled.

  The man, dressed all in black leather, turned and began to limp run across the parking lot. Holly ha
d her cell phone up and was taking pictures of him. Mel thought about giving chase but running really wasn’t her gift. She’d be winded by the time they reached the corner and even at his slower pace the driver would outrun her.

  “Don’t just stand there,” she said to Peter. “Go after him.”

  “What? Are you crazy?” he asked. “He might have a gun or something.”

  “Where?” Mel asked. “In his helmet?”

  The man had disappeared down the street and around the corner. It was a moot point now.

  “I do not get paid to chase down crazy drivers,” Peter said. He looked defensive about it.

  Mel gave him a scrutinizing glance. Under the impeccably cut suit, she noted there was a bit of a paunch and his eyes had tiny lines in the corners. Upon closer inspection, his hair also appeared to be thinning in the front. So, Peter Kelly was not nearly as young as she’d first guessed and she suspected he was in about as good a shape as she was. Fine. She supposed she’d have to give him a pass, but still, it was very disappointing.

  Mel saw a flash of red and blue at the same time that she heard the sirens. An ambulance arrived first followed by a police car. They parked right in front of the storefront and the emergency medical technicians went right to Quentin and began checking his vitals.

  The police officer approached and Peter stepped up to tell him what had happened. Angie had loosened her grip on Tate and helped him to his feet. He looked steady enough but Mel kept one eye on him just in case as they joined Peter with the police.

  Mel saw Holly standing off to the side. Her bright blue eyes were filled with tears and Sydney was sobbing softly into her mother’s belly.

  Mel didn’t think about it. She just reached out and pulled the two women into her arms. They were both shaking and Mel tried to absorb some of their fear while she braced them with her arms.

  “It’s going to be all right,” she said.

  “But that man,” Holly said. “That’s not normal to wear a crash helmet while driving. He must have done it on purpose. But why, why would someone drive through a storefront window? And why when we were looking at it? Does someone want to stop us from opening a bakery? I just don’t understand.”

  Mel had been pushing that thought aside ever since the man had popped out of the car. She didn’t want to think that this incident was intentional, because if she did, then she had to assume that yesterday’s exploding bakery had been on purpose as well and that was bad, very very bad.

  She glanced at Tate and Angie. Angie was staring at her and Mel knew exactly what her lifelong friend was thinking. This was their fault. Somehow, someway, the explosion yesterday and the crash today were because of them. But how? And why?

  Ten

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” Mel said. “But we’ll figure it out. One way or another, we’ll find out why these horrible things are happening.”

  “Sydney!” A man was running across the parking lot toward them.

  He was good looking in a rugged sort of way with broad shoulders and stubble on his chin. His honey-colored hair was cut short and he was wearing a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, khaki pants, and loafers.

  “Daddy!” Sydney cried. “Over here, Daddy!”

  The look of thankfulness that passed over the man’s face hit Mel right in the gut. He looked like he might faint with relief.

  He barreled toward them with his arms wide and Sydney launched herself into his embrace. He swung her up into his arms and held her close, pressing his cheek on the top of her head.

  “What happened?” he asked Holly.

  “We were looking at the location for the bakery and then this crazy driver showed up out of nowhere and drove right through the front windows,” Holly said. “It was terrifying.”

  “Is everyone all right?” he asked.

  “Sydney, sweetheart!” A dark-haired woman joined them. She took Sydney out of her father’s arms and hugged her close. “Are you okay, darling? I thought you were getting picked up by your father this morning. What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to see the bakery, Lisa,” Sydney said. She patted the woman’s back as if to reassure her. “I’m okay. I promise.”

  The woman let out a little sob but then closed her eyes and seemed to get it together. Mel noted that she and the man stood hovering over the little girl. She looked at the three adults and realized that this was obviously Holly’s ex-husband and his new wife. She glanced at the woman’s left ring finger to confirm it. Yes, a very nice diamond ring and wedding band sat flush against her knuckle.

  “Melanie Cooper, this is Sydney’s father, Billy Eastman, and his wife, Lisa,” Holly said.

  “Nice to meet you,” Billy said. He nodded at Mel but she could tell by the vee in between his eyebrows that he was clearly still upset.

  Lisa glanced at her and nodded in greeting, but like Billy, she still looked rattled. Her face was deathly pale and she was trembling, although to her credit, she was forcing her lips to curve up in a facsimilie of a smile. Given what could have happened to Sydney, Mel couldn’t blame either of them for being upset.

  “I’m going to let you all talk,” Mel said. “I’ll just go check on Quentin.”

  “Who’s Quentin?” Billy asked.

  “The Realtor,” Holly said. “He got clipped by the car as it went by. I think his leg is broken.”

  “Damn it, Holly, I don’t like this,” Billy said. He was clearly winding up and Mel wondered if she should stay but Holly didn’t look overly alarmed and Mel would be just a few feet away if Holly needed her.

  When she joined the others, they were loading Quentin into the ambulance. Peter was still talking to the police while Angie argued with Tate about whether he needed to be checked over or not.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “Besides, I’m going to follow Quentin to the hospital, and if I get woozy, I’ll be in the right place.” He kissed Angie and squeezed Mel’s hand. “I want to make sure he’s well taken care of until his family arrives.”

  Angie stood on tiptoe to kiss Tate’s cheek.

  “You’re a good guy,” she said. “That’s one of the many reasons I love you. Now, be careful, and if you so much as feel a twinge of a headache, I want you to have them check you over, clear?”

  “Aw, and here I thought you only loved me for my sweet DVD movie collection,” he said.

  “That, too,” she said. She took out her phone and began swiping the display.

  “Call us and let us know what’s happening,” Mel said. “Since he’s Ray’s friend, you may want to call him and let him know what happened. You know Ray will freak out if he hears this from Angie.”

  “I will and I’ll check on Scott and Stuart as well,” Tate said. “Listen, I want you two to go back to our room and stay there. I’m not sure why all of this is happening, and until we do, I think we all need to be on high alert.”

  “Agreed,” Mel said.

  “I have a theory. Want to hear it?” Angie asked as she glanced between them. Then she held up a finger for them to give her a minute.

  Tate gave Mel a bewildered look, and she shrugged.

  “Listen, I need to know if you’ve seen your girlfriend or had any contact with her over the past twenty-four hours.”

  This time Mel gave Tate the bewildered look, and he shrugged. What was Angie up to?

  “Yes, it is, too, my business,” Angie argued. “Someone has tried to kill us twice in the past twenty-four hours and my money is on your girlfriend.”

  “Marty,” Tate and Mel said together.

  “You don’t really think it’s Olivia, do you?” Mel asked Angie, who held the phone away from her ear while Marty was yelling.

  “I always think it’s Olivia,” Angie said.

  Although Mel could hear Marty squawking on the other end of the phone, she was glad she couldn’t make out the w
ords. She suspected they were not flattering.

  “Quit howling and answer the question,” Angie said. Then she blew out an outraged breath. “You kiss your mama with that mouth?”

  Mel snatched the phone out of Angie’s hands.

  “Hi, Marty, it’s Mel,” she said.

  “Mel, do you have any idea what Angie just said?” he asked. “She actually thinks Olivia is up in Vegas, trying to kill you guys. That’s crazy, right? I mean I know you and Olivia had your differences but she’s changed since we hooked up. I swear.”

  Mel hadn’t seen much difference over the past few months, but she didn’t want to burst Marty’s bubble, especially since he was in the middle of having to make a major life decision with Olivia. She didn’t think the bakery crew should influence his decision in any way.

  “Yes, I know you believe she’s changed,” Mel said. “But you know how Angie gets, and in her defense, we were almost killed twice.”

  At this, Angie raised her hands in exasperation. As if she couldn’t believe that Mel wasn’t going after Marty’s girlfriend as strongly as she thought she should.

  “When you say you were almost killed, what do you mean exactly?” Marty asked.

  Mel told him the events of the past two days. Marty grunted a couple of times but didn’t say anything until she finished.

  “Well, I think it’s obvious who is trying to keep you from opening that bakery,” he said. “It’s got to be tied to the mob case your ex-boyfriend is prosecuting, especially since they have gone after you before.”

  “But everyone who went after us has been locked up,” Mel said. “There is no way they could be after us here.”

  “You really think these guys don’t have a reach beyond their prison cells?” he asked. “Please, these guys have rubber for arms and they never stop and they never forget. You need to call Joe and tell him what’s happening.”

  A shiver rippled through Mel. “I have to go, Marty. Be careful at the shop just in case this is connected to Joe’s case against Frank Tucci. And by careful, I mean super freaky ultra paranoid careful. Got it?”