Dead Before The Wedding: A Carly Keene Cozy Mystery (Carly Keene Cozy Mysteries Book 1)

by Ruby Blaylock

  Tiffany took the muffin and broke a piece off, sniffing it heartily before popping it in her mouth. “Mmmm...my goodness...you’ve outdone yourself this time, Shell! This is just the best muffin I’ve ever tasted… How long did you say it would be before the next batch is ready?” Tiffany must have been hungry, Carly thought, because the muffin was practically gone.

  Shell reached underneath the counter and pulled out a cardboard muffin box. “I’ll have you a batch over within the hour, but take some of these lemon and poppyseed ones for your boss. I know he loves these, and that way you all can have some left over for afternoon snacking.”

  Tiffany handed Shell her credit card, and Shell processed the payment, then handed over the card and the receipt. “Well, I will get those over to y’all in a jiffy!” Shell was beaming with pride as Tiffany walked out the door. “I am just thrilled that those are proving to be so popular! You’ll never guess what my secret ingredient is…”

  Carly winced. She’d been fooled into eating all kinds of strange things over the years, thanks to Shell’s adventurous nature in the kitchen. Granted, not all of them were bad, but sometimes, when Shell announced her ‘secret ingredient,’ Carly felt a little queasy. She still remembered the strange concoctions she’d tasted over the years as Shell had used her as a ‘guinea pig’ for her culinary creations.

  Shell seemed to be waiting for an actual guess, so Carly tried. “Is it carrot?”

  “Nope. I meant it, you’ll never guess. Oh, I’ll tell you...it’s kale.” Carly crinkled up her eyebrows.

  “Kale? You mean like the green stuff? I didn’t taste it at all.” Carly was genuinely, pleasantly surprised.

  “You’re not supposed to, silly. I’m creating a range of ‘sneaky’ treats, so people can get a few extra vitamins in their treats. I’m thinking of calling them ‘Shell’s Sneaky Treats.’ What do you think?”

  Carly thought it was a great idea, and told her friend, “I think it’s an awesome idea. I know a lot of parents who would love that idea. Kids already love your cakes and muffins, just don’t tell them that they’re healthy.” Carly laughed.

  “Well, I guess I’d better scoot on back in the kitchen and get that batch done for the gals at the bank.” Shell practically bounced off the stool and into the back of the little bakery, happy to be doing what she was so good at, and what she so much loved to do.

  Enjoying the quiet of the empty room, Carly checked her phone to see what time it was. She was surprised to see a text message from a number she didn’t recognize. When she opened it, she couldn’t help but smile. A picture of a cute chocolate lab filled the screen, with a message beneath. “Betty Sue says thank you for offering up a play date.” Carly saved the phone number and created a new contact for Tucker. She was trying to think of something witty to say in response, when the bell above the door jingled again.

  Carly looked up, but before she could even open her mouth, Mona Durham started talking, loudly. “Where is he? Is he in here? Is he in the back there with that blonde bimbo?”

  Carly was shocked, confused and a little bit ticked off. Just who did this woman think she was, barging into the bakery and shattering her peaceful morning to smithereens?

  “Mona, who are you talking about? Where’s who? Who’s who?” Carly stood up, which was a good thing because Mona was now looking over behind the counter, and heading for the kitchen. “I know he’s around here somewhere, because his truck is parked out in front of your store!” Carly intercepted Mona’s approach, and blocked her from getting behind the counter.

  “Mona, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I cannot let you back here. You’re not even wearing a hair net!” Carly was wondering if she’d have to tackle Mona to get her to stop, and she didn’t relish the thought. Mona was a little shorter than Carly, but she was stocky, and she was spitting mad about something.

  Suddenly, Shell appeared in the doorway, wielding a rolling pin and covered in flour. Her hands were bright red and purple, probably from the pomegranates and blueberries, Carly thought, but it looked an awful lot like blood on Shell’s small hands. The effect was pretty scary, and enough to make Mona pause.

  “What the heck is going on out here? Mona Durham, why on earth are you up in here, causing all this chaos?” She tapped the rolling pin against her hand for dramatic effect. “If this is about your wedding cake, you might want to rethink your attitude, missy. With your wedding so close, I’m the only person in town who can get it ready for you in time.”

  Mona stepped back just a half step. Her face was red, her eyes looked a little like she’d been crying, but Carly couldn’t be sure. Chest heaving, Mona began speaking.

  “I’m looking for Larry. He was supposed to meet me today for a suit fitting for his tuxedo, but I can’t get ahold of him. His truck is parked outside of your bakery, so I thought…”

  Shell glared at Mona. “Oh, my lord! You thought he was in here, probably out in the kitchen making eyes at me, is that right?” Mona nodded ever so slightly, but kept her chin up, trying to regain some pride. She had to have been aware that she looked a little crazy right now, but it didn’t seem to phase her.

  “Well he ain’t in here, Mona Durham. You’d better calm yourself down before you do something stupid.” Shell’s look softened a little, and Mona replied.

  “I’m sorry for upsetting you, Shell. But I’m just so mad...he knows he’s supposed to be meeting me for that fitting. He went out last night with some of the guys on his crew. I bet he’s too hung over to show his sorry face.” Mona gave Shell a quick look all-over, trying to confirm whether the flour-covered woman was actually telling the truth. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the display case, Mona seemed to suddenly notice her own disheveled appearance, and smoothed her hair a little.

  Carly tried to look outside the bakery window, but couldn’t see anything behind the blinds. “Mona, we haven’t seen him, but if we do, we can give you a call, if you want.” She walked over to the window and opened the blinds slightly, revealing the black bumper of Larry’s truck. She wondered how long it had been sitting out there. She certainly didn’t recall seeing it on her way into the bakery.

  “Mona, guys do stupid things sometimes.” Shell had dropped the rolling pin to her side, and was trying to change the tone of the conversation. “He probably just doesn’t realize how important this fitting is to you. Planning a wedding is hard work, and with y’all having it up at Moore House, you must be swamped with getting things ready.”

  Carly noticed that Mona had calmed right down. Shell had a way of soothing wild beasts, it seemed.

  “Here, sugar. You sit down here and have a muffin. I’m sure he’ll be along, tail between his legs, in no time.” Carly admired Shell’s patience. If it were her, she was sure she would have used that rolling pin by now, and not on any pastries.

  Mona straightened, her face hardening. “No, thank you, Shell, but I must be going. Fitting or not, I have a great many things to contend with before the wedding, so I need to be going. You just make sure that cake is ready on time, and you call me if you see my fiance.” She aimed this last comment at Carly, who forced a smile and nodded her head. Then, like a whirlwind, Mona spun on her heels and left the bakery.

  “That woman is something else!” Shell waved her rolling pin in the air dramatically, and flour floated gently in the air in front of her. “She’d better watch it, or I might just have to add something extra to her wedding cake.”

  “Maybe you should add some Zanax, because she seriously needs to chill out,” agreed Carly. “What’s with the rolling pin? Last time I checked, muffins didn’t require a rolling pin.”

  Shell laughed. “Oh, I just grabbed this for dramatic effect. The thing is, when I did, I spilled flour all over myself. I must look a mess!”

  “You look like the mad baker of Parker’s Mill,” Carly laughed, and peered out the window at the woman walking away from the bakery. “I guess I feel a bit bad for Mona. I mean, her own fiance doesn’t bo
ther showing up for his tuxedo fitting. That can’t make you feel too appreciated.”

  “Aw, he’s probably sleeping it off somewhere. Sounds like Larry might just have a little problem,” Shell said, and mimicked taking a big drink from an invisible bottle. “Though, if I was marrying Mona, I’d probably be driven to drink, too.”

  Carly noticed the side door of the hairdresser’s across the street swing open, and out popped Larry, checking the street surreptitiously before he stepped outside. A pair of hands reached out and grabbed him, followed quickly by a head of long, red hair. A very pretty redhead planted a lingering kiss right on Larry’s mouth as Carly watched.

  “Oh, he’s been sleeping it off, alright. Looks like he’s been sleeping it off with a redhead from the beauty shop across the road.”

  Shell nearly tripped over her own feet in her hurry to get to the window. “Oh, my god! What a piece of crap that man is! I mean, missing your tuxedo fitting because you’re cheating on your fiance, well, that’s pretty low.”

  She made it just in time to identify the redhead. “I know who that is,” she cried. “That’s Darlene Chambers, she cut my hair once. She stank of cigarettes.” Shell shuddered from the memory.

  Carly stepped back from the window, pulling Shell with her. “I don’t want him to see us,” she explained, though it really didn’t matter if he did or not. He probably had no idea that Mona had been in here looking for him. Carly felt sorry for Mona. She may be an irritating person, but nobody deserved to be cheated on by their fiance.

  “Do you think we should tell Mona what we saw?” Carly didn’t want to be the one to call her, but she didn’t feel right keeping it to herself.

  “Are you kidding? She knows what kind of guy he is. You can call her if you want, Carly, but I wouldn’t want to be within a mile of her when that conversation goes down.”

  Carly thought for a minute, then replied. “I guess you’re right. I just hope Mona knows what she’s getting when she says ‘I do’. He’s obviously not looking to change his ways by getting married.” Carly couldn’t understand how someone could claim to love a person, then cheat on them with anything that moved.

  The thought that Tucker couldn’t be more unlike his brother crossed her mind, and she blushed for even thinking about it. Why on earth should she care what Tucker’s dating habits were? After all, it wasn’t like she was going to be asking him out any time soon.

  Carly resumed her place on the stool behind the counter and picked up her phone, where Tucker’s contact information was still displayed. Then again, she thought, who knows? She was smiling slightly as she closed his contact details, and wondered vaguely what the more respectable Gaston twin was doing later that week.

  Chapter 6

  The following week was pretty uneventful around Parker’s Mill. Shell and Carly dropped off Saturday’s leftover muffins for the church’s weekly coffee morning, where Mona’s wedding was mentioned, but not discussed in detail. Apparently the ladies at the church had a little more tact than the ladies at the bank, because come Monday morning, Tiffany was back, talking about how the bank employees had all seen Mona storming off down Main Street after her visit to Sweets & Eats.

  Tuesday and Wednesday brought a couple of photo shoots at the Senior Center. Carly loved doing these types of photo shoots because they were not only simple and straightforward, they were genuinely rewarding and fun. The Senior Center was the local meeting place for active senior citizens, and occasionally the city sprung for activities and trips for the local elderly residents. This week, Carly was taking fake “vacation” photos with a very unrealistic beach background and lots of silly props from the discount store.

  The photos would be free for the members of the Senior Center, but the Center had paid Carly a tidy sum to take, edit and process the photos. She had a place that she ordered her prints from over in Jackson, Mississippi, that always delivered great results. Carly suspected that the only reason she was asked to take the photos, and had been paid so well, was that her grandfather had been a regular at the center up until his death five years before. He’d been very beloved, and Carly had gone with him on more than one occasion as his ‘date’ for center functions.

  Carly had doted on her grandfather, and had been devastated when he’d passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was a real character, and a woman chaser, up until his last day on Earth. Carly remembered how he used to constantly try out cheesy pickup lines on the ladies who waited tables at Chow Time. Everyone in town had loved her grandfather, and it was sometimes hard to believe that he was gone.

  Thursday had been slow at Sweets & Eats, so Shell had spent most of the day working on that monstrosity of a wedding cake for Mona and Larry. Carly had admired the persistence that Shell had put in, spending hours online and finally tracking down the odd little wedding cake toppers that Mona had requested. Sure enough, she’d found them on eBay.

  The cake itself wasn’t so bad. Shell had managed to get three tiers, plus a tiny fourth tier about the size of three cupcakes, put together after all. Shell had confided that the top tier was, indeed, three cupcakes, but some clever frosting hid that fact and kept it all looking good. The bottom three tiers weren’t frosted yet, because the wedding was still over a week away, but Shell did a trial run with the stacking, and it looked pretty impressive.

  Carly was licking the frosting off one of the top-tier cupcakes (it was just a trial run, after all) when the doorbell jingled. She glanced up, expecting to see one of the employees from one of the businesses on Main Street, but instead she saw a timid-looking redhead with big green eyes.

  “Hey, there,” Carly offered, “what can I get for you?”

  The redhead hesitated, then walked up to the counter. Carly couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was, with all that coppery red hair and pale skin. She was wearing the prettiest shade of burgundy lipstick that would have undoubtedly looked too loud on anybody else, but that seemed to suit this young lady just fine.

  “Excuse me, miss, but I was wondering if you’ve seen a man around here? I mean, I’m looking for someone, and his truck is parked outside of your store.”

  Carly frowned. This was getting to be a little too familiar. She walked over to the window, and peered behind the blinds. Sure enough, Larry Gaston’s pickup truck was parked out front, with Larry nowhere to be seen. Doesn’t he ever go to work? Carly suspected he was working all right, working on the gal over at the beauty salon.

  “Oh, shoot, hon, no...I didn’t see him park that there. He doesn’t usually come in here anyways, he just parks there because it’s...convenient.” Carly tried to keep her face neutral, but she was pretty disgusted by Larry’s behavior. If he was still running around on Mona, this marriage was doomed before it started.

  “Well, miss…”

  “Carly, Carly Keene.” Carly reached out to shake the girl’s hand, and noticed that her eyes were red and a little puffy. She definitely had a case of the ugly cry-eye going on, and Carly only hoped that it wasn’t because of Larry.

  The redhead took Carly’s hand and shook it timidly, and spoke again. “My name’s Tina Nicholls. I’m looking for Larry Gaston, that man that owns the truck. Does he ever come in here?”

  Carly shook her head no, then replied, “Sorry sweetie, he hardly ever comes in here. And, I can’t say I’m too disappointed. He’s not the greatest guy I know.”

  Tina blushed, and looked away. “Yeah, don’t I know it. If you see him, will you tell him to call me? He has my number.”

  Carly thought for a second. It really was none of her business, but she didn’t think Larry ought to be calling any other redheads, especially when his wedding was so close. Tina probably ought to know about the wedding. It might just change her mind about needing to talk to Larry.

  “Tina, hon, he’s getting married soon. Are you sure you can’t wait to talk to him until later on?” Carly tried to give her a look that said ‘and by later on, I mean never’, but she wasn’t sure how effective it was.
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  The redhead spoke again, this time, with a fire in her eyes. “Yeah, I’d heard that. He’s marrying Mona Durham. He was with me before her, but things got...messy. He’s not a great guy, but I need to talk to him.”

  Carly decided to press further. Something about Tina just seemed too sweet and innocent to be saddled with a problem like Larry. “He’s really not worth bothering over, sweetie. I don’t think he’s changed his ways, even with getting married and all.”

  Tina sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to talk to him. I don’t want to try and get back with him or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s just that, well, I need to talk to him about something really important, and he needs to know about it before his wedding.”

  Carly was about to reply when Shell walked out of the kitchen. “What’s this about Larry? What’s he done this time?”