by Jessica Beck
“When did all of this happen?”
“About a month ago,” he said.
“So then Alex Tyler could have been a subject of the investigation,” I answered heavily.
“It’s entirely possible,” Jake said. “Suzanne, I don’t want you and Grace to go there alone after hearing this, at least not to talk to anyone on the police force. This may be a little beyond the scope of your investigation.”
“Do you think it might be true? I never really cared for Alex, but I never dreamed that he was dirty.”
“He might not have been,” Jake said, scolding me, “and until we have solid evidence otherwise, the man is innocent until proven guilty. Understood?”
I didn’t care for my husband’s tone of voice, but I could certainly understand it. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump to any conclusions.”
My contriteness hit home with him. “Suzanne, I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just that I hate assuming anything bad when it comes to a cop’s honor and integrity.”
“Hey, you were right and I was wrong.”
“Care to repeat that into my microphone?” he asked with a grin as he held a pretend one forward.
“Not a chance. So, what do we do about this new twist? Do we just drop that part of the investigation and let the state police worry about it?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Jake said. “I’d really like to sleep on it before I give you an answer.”
I stifled a yawn. “That’s not a bad idea. Speaking of sleeping, I have to get up pretty early tomorrow morning.”
“Bedtime it is, then,” Jake said as he stretched for a moment.
I put a hand on his chest. “Hang on there, mister. I know that you keep regular business hours. There’s no way that you need to keep my sleep schedule. You can’t. It will wear you out in no time. Just because I’m going to sleep doesn’t mean that you have to. I have a decent library here, and there’s always television if you get tired of reading.”
“I never get tired of reading,” Jake said. “Nonetheless, at least for tonight, I’m going to sleep when you do. Okay?”
“Okay, as long as you don’t make a habit of it,” I said with a grin.
“I’m not making any promises,” he said, smiling back at me.
To my surprise, I had no trouble bouncing out of bed the next morning at an hour that most folks considered the middle of the night. Even though I’d partially adapted my sleeping schedule to what many people considered normal over the past ten days, there had always been something in me that had been dying to get back to my old routine. I kissed Jake’s cheek, half expecting him to wake up as I got up, but he just muttered something and fell right back asleep in our bed.
And to be honest, I wasn’t all that unhappy about it. I liked my morning rituals, all accomplished while most of the world around me slept. There was something about the solitude of it all that gave me peace knowing that while I worked, the folks I’d be feeding soon were home and safely asleep. Driving down the street toward Donut Hearts, I found myself reveling in the darkness. Soon I’d have the lights on inside, coffee brewing in the pot, and donut batter mixing, but for now, for that moment, I had the night all to myself.
Chapter 9
“Hey there,” Emma said later that morning when she finally came for her shift. I’d been there for some time prepping things for the day, and while I’d loved my solitude, it felt good being back with her in the donut shop kitchen again.
“How did it feel to sleep in?” I asked her as I put the finishing touches on the last of my cake dough batters. Working in the donut shop was really two distinct jobs, no matter what most folks believed. The cake donuts were all done with batters, varying the ingredients until we had a nice range of the old-fashioned type of donuts ready to sell. After they were fried and iced, it was time to start on the second stage of our day and make the raised donuts so many of my customers loved. I’d been tempted on more than one occasion to skip making one type or the other over the years, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Such was the lot of the donutmaker, a mantle I’d gladly taken on.
She laughed happily, a sound I’d missed lately. “Only you could think that getting up at three in the morning qualifies as sleeping in. How are the cake donuts doing? Do you need any help with anything?”
“Emma, I could make most of these recipes in my sleep. When I lost my recipe book to that fire, it felt pretty tragic to me at the time, but mostly it was from the sentimental value. That’s not discounting how lucky I felt when I found out that your mother had made a copy for herself surreptitiously.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it and get started setting up the front,” Emma replied as she ducked back out of the kitchen. I continued to drop different rings of batter into the hot oil, flipping them, retrieving them, and then icing them as she set things up for our day out front. When I’d finished the cake donuts, I went out and joined her. “How’s it going out here?”
“We’re all set,” Emma replied as she finished cleaning the glass on the last of the display cases. “Are the cake donuts finished?”
“They’re ready to rack, and you can get started on your first round of dishes.”
“I’m raring to go,” she said with a smile. “I enjoyed running this place while you were gone, but I can’t wait to go back to my own little world. When you’re here, all I care about is seeing the bottom of that sink after the last of the dirty racks and pans are all washed.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
As Emma worked on the massive pile of dirty racks, pans, utensils, and mixing bowls I’d created earlier, I started measuring out the flour, water, and yeast to get my raised donuts going. It was always a race to see if I’d finish before or after she did, but today it was no contest, even with the head start I’d had. That girl flew through those dishes in a flash, and she had a full two minutes to wait for me until the dough was ready to go through its first proofing stage.
“Wow, you were really quick today,” I said as I washed my hands in the big sink she’d so recently finished with. “I thought you might lose a step or two, given that you had a late start.”
“No, ma’am. You know me; I’m always on my game,” she replied. “I know it’s getting really chilly, but I’d still love to go outside for our break.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I’m looking forward to the brisk air. Maybe it will help wake me the rest of the way up,” I said as I stifled a yawn. “It’s always a little tough shifting my hours back after I’ve been off, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier as the months and years go by.”
“Well, you can’t blame old age for it, because I have problems when I do it, too,” Emma said as we walked out front together, bundled up in our own warm jackets.
“Who said anything about old age?” I asked her with a grin.
“Nobody. No one said anything about that at all,” she said, doing her best to keep a straight face.
It lasted three seconds before we both started laughing.
“I’ve missed you, Suzanne,” Emma said as I unlocked the front door.
“Right back at you, kiddo,” I answered.
“Is that snow?” I asked as I held a hand out into the night. “It can’t be. It’s way too early for that.”
“Tell that to the sky,” Emma said as she reached out and caught a flake on her tongue.
“I wonder how much we’ll get?”
“Hang on a second,” Emma said, and then she pulled out her phone and tapped a few buttons. “It’s not supposed to accumulate. As a matter of fact, it will likely all be gone by dawn.”
“That’s pretty amazing,” I said.
“Not really,” Emma answered. “There’s just not that much moisture in the system to get much more than a few flurries.”
“I’m not talking about the snow, I mean the fact that you can access that kind of information with your cellphone.”
“Yes, this century is tr
uly amazing,” Emma said with a grin as she put her phone back into her pocket. “There are all kinds of New Age gizmos folks from your time never had.”
“You know what I mean. Or maybe you don’t. When I was growing up, the only way your folks had to get in touch with you was to yell out the back door. In the summer, we were often gone from breakfast until it was time for dinner that night, and nobody gave it a second thought. Now if someone doesn’t answer a text message within thirty seconds, everyone panics.”
“It has its pluses and minuses,” Emma said. “Listen, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about. I’m really sorry I dragged the donut shop into this murder investigation.”
“Emma, don’t ever apologize for that. You had every right in the world not to go out with Alex Tyler, and you can’t hold yourself responsible for the way he reacted to your rejection.”
“That’s what my mother keeps telling me, too. Honestly, I know in my head that you’re right, but I can’t help wondering how things might have worked out differently if I’d just said yes.”
“You’ll drive yourself crazy thinking like that,” I said. “How could you possibly know that someone would use a cup of our coffee to poison the man after you turned him down for a date?”
“I understand that there’s no way I could have known that,” she agreed. “Still, it doesn’t make it any easier to accept. Have you had any luck so far in your investigation?”
“We’ve just gotten started,” I said. “There are a few factors that are making this case more difficult for us than anything Grace and I have ever tackled before.”
“I still can’t believe that Grace is helping you,” Emma said as the snow continued to fall, though it had eased up considerably since we’d come outside.
“Why shouldn’t she? We almost always work together.”
“Maybe so, but that was before you got married to a hunky ex-state policeman,” Emma reminded me.
“Jake’s working for the mayor as an independent investigator on the case,” I said. “There are some tasks that he can’t do that Grace and I can, though.”
“That’s hard to believe,” Emma said, and then she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean that the way it must have sounded.”
“No worries, Emma. I fully realize that there are a great many things that Jake can do that Grace and I can’t, but there are at least a few jobs that no one else can do as well as we can, either.”
“I’m dying to hear an example or two,” Emma said.
“Well, for starters, Grace and I usually know the people involved, so that gives us an edge from the start. Then there’s the fact that we aren’t intimidating, so a lot of people drop their guards around us. It’s a lot different talking to a couple of nosy women than it is a police officer, in whatever form he might take.”
“I never really thought about it that way before.”
Emma chewed on her thumbnail for a moment, and I knew from experience that there was something else on her mind. “Is there something you want to talk to me about?” I asked her.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Emma, you know that you can discuss anything with me, and I mean anything.”
“Usually you are right, but this is different,” she said. “It’s about Alex’s murder. Dad found out something last night, and he’s holding it back from Jake. Suzanne, I’m torn between loyalty to my dad and the way I feel about you. It’s not fair what he’s doing, but I’m not sure that gives me the right to disclose his secrets.”
“Emma, you shouldn’t tell me anything that you’re not comfortable sharing,” I said after a moment’s thought.
“Do you think Jake would feel the same way about it as you do?”
“Not a chance,” I answered with a smile. “If I’m sure of anything, it’s that Jake would urge your father to share anything he uncovered with the police at the soonest possible instant.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. Do you think Jake will lock my dad up if he finds out he’s holding something back?”
“I don’t know,” I answered.
Emma actually looked a little disappointed at my response. “Emma, do you want your father to go to jail?”
“For protecting a source? Are you kidding me? He’d be in heaven if that happened! Jake would be doing him a huge favor if he locked him up for that.”
It was an interesting way of looking at things, that was for sure. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“You don’t have to,” Emma said as she rubbed her hands together. “Would you have any interest in cutting our break short and making a little hot cocoa?”
I stood and clapped my hands together. I’d neglected to bring my gloves or my heavy coat, so I was chilled pretty thoroughly by then as well. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
As we moved back inside, Emma said, “Thanks, Suzanne.”
“For what, cutting our break short? It sounds good to me, too.”
“No, I’m talking about not pressing me about what Dad is hiding from everyone.”
“That’s on his conscience and yours, not mine,” I said with a grin.
“I’m not exactly thrilled with you putting it that way,” Emma said with a wry smile of her own.
“That’s what it all boils down to in the end, though, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” she said.
As we made our special blend of hot chocolate together, I kept having the feeling that Emma was about to divulge the information she was keeping from me, but I didn’t press her. I knew that she had to make up her own mind, and nudging her would only make her that much more reluctant to share it with me. If I bided my time, though, there was a decent chance that she’d eventually tell me.
At least that was what I hoped would happen.
But until that time came, there were donuts to make, a shop to open, and folks to serve; it was plenty enough to occupy our thoughts and time until Emma decided to share with me, or not.
Chapter 10
“What on earth are you doing here this early in the morning?” I asked Jake with a grin as I opened the front door to welcome him as my first customer of the day.
“I’ve been awake a few hours,” he admitted. “Man, this place smells wonderful first thing in the morning. I’ll have one plain glazed and one plain cake donut, please. Oh, and some coffee would be nice, too. How do I do this? Do I pay you now, or should we set up a tab for me?” he asked as he reached for his wallet.
“Put your money away. You don’t have to pay for anything here,” I said as I filled his order, grabbing one each of our simplest donuts for him. “I told you before that going to bed that early would throw off your sleep schedule.”
“And you were right,” Jake said with a smile. “I tried to get into my temporary office at the police station, but Stephen wasn’t there yet, and he’s the only one with a key.”
“You could have just broken in,” I said with a smile as I handed him his coffee. “Why don’t you sit here by me?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Jake said as he took the spot closest to the register. “This is excellent,” he added after taking a bite of the glazed donut. “It’s still warm.”
“I know. That’s when I like them best. So, how are we going to handle our schedules from now on?” I asked him as I grabbed a cup of coffee for myself. I was tempted to have a donut with him as well, but that would lead to me having to buy the next size up in jeans quickly enough. I had to save my treats for the new donut recipes I tried. Come to think of it, maybe that was why I was constantly offering my customers new tasty things to sample.
“Don’t worry. We’ll work it out. Chances are I’ll be staying up past eight p.m. from here on out, though. Do you mind?”
“Mind? I’m the one who tried to get you to do it last night, remember?” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It was a sweet gesture, though, no matter how impractical it might have been.”
“How does it feel to be back
behind the counter again?” he asked after taking another sip of his coffee.
“It’s where I belong,” I said as I looked around the place. “You know, I never imagined that is how my life would turn out, but I’m sure glad that it all worked out that way.”
“I’m happy for you,” Jake said. He took a hearty bite of the cake donut and then he smiled again. “I don’t know how to decide which one is my favorite.”
“Do like I do,” I said. “My first choice is always the one I’m eating at the time.”
“That system will do fine until I can come up with something else. So, what are your plans after you shut down for the day? Are you and Grace heading back to Granite Meadows?”
“I don’t see that we have much choice,” I replied. “You said you were going to sleep on it to see if you could come up with something. Did you have any luck?”
“I’ve been pondering the situation for the past hour, and I think you should—”
I didn’t get a chance to hear what he thought, though. Stephen Grant, the acting police chief of April Springs, walked into the donut shop with a grin. “I heard you were looking for me. Sorry about that. I was up late last night helping out on a call.”
“Was it anything serious?” Jake asked him eagerly. “You know, if you ever need backup, I’m just a phone call away, and now that I’m living here full time, I’d be happy to lend a hand whenever you need it.”
Wow, he sounded really eager when he offered his help. Was Jake missing his old job already? I couldn’t imagine how he didn’t. After all, he’d had an important position where folks depended on him, and working as a freelance investigator couldn’t be nearly as satisfying to him. That was going to be a discussion we’d have to have in the near future.
Just not now.
“It didn’t turn out to be anything serious at all. We got a prowler call from Mrs. Jacobson,” he said. “She saw a pair of beady eyes in the dark and thought someone was trying to break into her home. Turned out that it was a raccoon eating some dog food she’d spilled feeding her pooches by the back porch.”