by Lena Gregory
Skyla dropped the money on the counter, as she always did after Gia refused to take it, then turned to Willow. “Do you want to sit here all day arguing politics, or do you want to eat lunch and go shopping?”
Nice dodge. Maybe Skyla should have been the politician.
“Definitely shopping.” Willow took the last bite of her muffin, hopped off the stool, and rounded the counter to grab her purse. “I’ll come in a little early tomorrow to help prep since it’s Saturday. Thanks for giving me the afternoon off, Gia.”
“No problem.”
“And thanks for covering for me, Savannah.”
“Anytime, kiddo. Have fun.”
“Thanks.” Willow smiled, waved, and held the door for her mother before bouncing through after her.
Savannah looked after them for a moment, then turned to Gia. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but there was no mistaking the sadness in her eyes.
Gia had no doubt Savannah’s thoughts were running along the same line hers had earlier. Both of them had lost their mothers when they were young. Only difference was, Savannah grew up surrounded by family who adored her. Gia grew up alone, unless you counted the father who threw her out the day she graduated high school.
Gia waited until they were gone, then leaned close to Savannah. “Skyla seemed a little off today, don’t you think?”
“Definitely, but I didn’t want to push it in the middle of the café,” Savannah said.
“No, me neither, but if I get a chance, I’ll try to talk to her.” And if the opportunity didn’t present itself, Gia would make time to talk to her. Whatever may be wrong, she certainly wasn’t acting like herself.
Chapter 2
Friday morning started off pretty much the same way Thursday morning had ended, with Savannah and Earl bickering over politics. When Gia couldn’t listen to it any longer, she strode through the dining room, shut the TV off, and stuck the remote beneath the counter. “Enough already. I could hear you two arguing from the kitchen.”
Savannah pouted.
Earl opened his mouth to protest, but Gia cut him off. “Isn’t there anything else going on in this town beside the election?”
“There’s a craft fair in two weeks.” Savannah’s perkiness returned at the mention of a fair. “It’s running from Sunday to Wednesday. Want to go?”
“Sure.” Gia had been wanting to attend a fair for a while, but they usually fell on weekends, her busiest time in the café. Since she was closed on Mondays, it would work out perfectly. “Can I bring Thor?”
“Of course. I bring my dogs all the time.”
“All of them?” Savannah had like four or five dogs at Gia’s last count.
“Not all at once, silly.”
Two young women approached the counter, backpacks slung over their shoulders. They studied the chalkboard she’d written the cold brew selections on.
Yes!
Gia’s resisted the urge to pump her fist. She’d been playing with different recipes, and she was dying to try some out. But, so far, the people of Boggy Creek didn’t seem all that interested. She grabbed an order pad. “Hi there. What can I get for you?”
The first girl tore her gaze from the menu. “They all look so good it’s hard to decide. I think I’ll try the peppermint mocha.”
“And I’ll take one with vanilla and low-fat milk,” her friend chimed in.
“Coming right up. Would you like it to stay or to go?” She crossed her fingers beneath the pad, hoping they’d stay so she could see their reactions.
“Do you mind if we take a table in the corner and study for a while?”
“Not at all. I’ll bring your coffees when they’re ready.”
“Great, thanks. Could we get a couple of muffins as well, please? One chocolate and one banana?”
“You’ve got it.”
While the two went to sit, Gia set to work. She poured two cups of coffee and added vanilla syrup and low-fat milk to the first.
“You know,” Earl said, watching her like a hawk. “I’ll never understand all these newfangled contraptions. I don’t get what you needed the big machine for. Why can’t you just pour regular coffee over ice or stick it in the fridge or something?”
Gia added chocolate syrup, a bit of cocoa, and peppermint extract to the second cup, topped it with whipped cream, then added a couple of mint leaves. “Regular coffee gets brewed with hot water. This doesn’t. Instead, you soak the grounds in cold water overnight to make the coffee.”
“What’s the difference?”
She put the coffees on a tray along with the muffins. “It tastes better. Want to try one?”
Earl laughed. “I’ll stick with the old-fashioned kind, if it’s all the same to you. That thing looks more like dessert than coffee.”
“You should see the s’mores one I’m playing with for Trevor.”
Earl shook his head.
Gia set the drinks in front of the girls, who already had books spread open on the table.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Enjoy.”
“And thank you for letting us study here.”
“Anytime.” Gia left them to their work. Hovering over them until they took a drink was probably unprofessional, though she had to admit, she wanted to.
Another customer approached the counter to pay his bill. Gia returned to the register and rang him up, then started an inventory of what she’d need to restock before lunch, keeping a close eye on the girls. Only one slice of meat lover’s pie remained beneath the glass cover of the cake dish she kept on the counter. She’d have to get out a new one and refill a few of the muffin dishes.
Finally, the girl who was facing Gia sipped her peppermint mocha. A huge smile lit her face, and she lifted her cup toward Gia. “Mmm…delicious.”
Gia nodded once in acknowledgment. Maybe they’d tell their friends and she could start bringing in a younger crowd. If the college kids came in during the slow time between breakfast and lunch, that would be perfect.
“So, about next week…” Savannah grinned as she dug through her oversized, yellow leather purse, pulled out a stack of brochures, and laid them on the counter. “Three days of uninterrupted girl time.”
Gia groaned.
Savannah rolled her eyes. “I’m not taking no for an answer this time, Gia.”
Savannah was not going to let up on her. She’d been insisting for months that Gia take a little down time. The fact that she was right, and Gia really could use a break, didn’t matter. She didn’t have time to go traipsing off to the Keys. Or the money. “I really can’t afford—”
“It’s my treat. Think of it as a belated welcome to Florida present.” Savannah sipped her coffee, then tapped the stack of brochures. “The one on top is an adorable little bed-and-breakfast, right near the water.”
“Savannah—”
“And look at that pool.” Ignoring Gia’s protests, she spread the brochure open on the counter and pointed out a beautiful, huge, kidney-shaped pool surrounded by palm trees. Several people lounged on rafts in the water with drinks in cup holders by their hands, seemingly without a care in the world. The sky was bluer than any Gia had ever seen, not a cloud anywhere.
Gia could almost feel the heat of the sun pouring down on them, cocooning them in warmth. “How can I leave now, when I’m just introducing the new cold brew menu?”
“Nice try, but you’ve already trained Willow on how to make the specials.”
A row of drinks in coconut and pineapple shells, with fancy little umbrellas sticking out of them, were lined up across a tiki bar in the far corner, along with several trays piled high with appetizers.
Gia couldn’t deny the small surge of desire. After everything she’d been through over the past several years, losing herself for a few days with nothing to do but lounge around the pool or o
n the beach with her best friend did appeal. Three days of nothing but rest, relaxation, warm sun, good food and drinks… “Okay.”
“Besides, Cole already said he’d work the grill for you,” Savannah nudged.
“Okay.”
“And you know you can trust him and Willow to…hey…wait.” Savannah’s already big blue eyes widened. “Did you just say yes?”
Gia grinned. “Yup.”
“Yes!” Savannah squealed and started shuffling through the rest of the brochures.
Earl laughed and shook his head. “You really don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you?”
Gia looked over at him and frowned. “What do you mean?”
He gestured toward Savannah. “You’ll see.”
Savannah was sorting the brochures into three piles at a frantic pace. When she was done, she glanced up at Gia with a huge smile and laid her hand on one of the piles. “Okay. This stack is the stuff we definitely have to get to. This pile in the middle is the stuff I’d like to do, and this is the stuff we’ll probably have to do next time.”
“Uh, Savannah?”
“Unless you want to make it a week. I’m pretty sure we could get to do everything if we stayed for a week, instead of only three days.” Her eyes filled with hope Gia hated to dash.
“There’s no way I can leave Cole and Willow alone—”
“And me.” Earl held up his fork. “I offered to pitch in and lend a hand too.”
“Right.” Gia scowled at him. He wasn’t helping matters.
Earl grinned as he returned his attention to his plate and shoved in a forkful of home fries. Where in the world he put all of that food was beyond Gia.
“And Earl,” she conceded. “There’s no way I can leave the three of them alone through the weekend rush.”
“You’re right.” Savannah tapped a nail against her cheek. “Okay, we’ll do four days. You’re closed Mondays anyway, so you’ll only actually be taking three days off if we come back Thursday night. Or maybe even Friday morning…”
“You’re pushing it now, Savannah.”
She laughed. “I know. I just figured I’d see what I could get away with. Four days it is, then. I’ll call and make the reservations.”
Gia spun the brochure from the top of the must-do pile toward her. A creepy looking lighthouse stood in the distance surrounded by dark clouds. A far cry from the gorgeous blue sky that had half convinced her to go in the first place. “What is this?”
“Oh, that’s the haunted lighthouse tour.” Savannah took out her phone and looked at the front of the bed-and-breakfast brochure where a phone number was printed in big, bold letters. She shoved the rest of the stack toward Gia. “And there’s scuba diving, exploring shipwrecks, paddleboarding through mangroves, seeing the manatees. There’s even an old fort you can only get to by seaplane.”
“Seaplane? Uh…”
“Told you so.” Earl winked at her.
“Savannah, I don’t know—”
She held up a finger toward Gia and shifted the phone closer to her mouth. “Yes, hi. I’d like to make a reservation.”
“Ah, jeez.”
The front door opened, and Gia plastered on a smile, ready to greet whatever customer had interrupted her talking herself out of going.
Trevor Barnes, owner of Storm Scoopers, the ice cream parlor down the road, stumbled through the doorway, his usually tan face deathly pale, his eyes wide and unfocused.
“Trevor?” Gia started around the counter. “Are you okay?”
Earl looked over his shoulder, then spun his stool toward Trevor.
Trevor stopped and stared at them. “I think he’s dead.”
“Who?” Gia asked.
“I’ll call back,” Savannah said into the phone, then hung up. “Who’s dead, Trevor?”
“He’s in the freezer.” Trevor’s eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled straight down.
Gia and Savannah lunged toward him, but they were too far away.
Earl lurched to his feet and caught one shoulder just in time to keep Trevor’s head from smacking against the floor.
Chapter 3
“Help me lay him down.” Earl guided Trevor’s head gently to the floor and rolled him onto his back.
Gia straightened his arms and legs. “Trevor?”
Earl tapped his cheek. “Trevor.”
“Should I call an ambulance?” Savannah stood over them, wringing her phone between her hands.
“Does anyone know what he was talking about?” Gia thought he was saying something about a body in the freezer, but that couldn’t possibly be right.
“I think he said someone was dead in the freezer.” Savannah chewed on her lower lip.
“Trevor, come on, man. Wake up now.” Earl tapped Trevor’s cheek a little harder.
“I think we’d better call an ambulance and probably the police.” Savannah still made no move to place the call, simply twirled the phone around and around.
“Go get a cold rag.” Gia pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll call.”
Savannah nodded and ran toward the back room as the front door opened.
Gia jumped to her feet and held out a hand to keep whomever it was from tripping over Trevor.
Cole Barrister, her good friend and sometimes cook, stopped just short of plowing into her. “Gia, what’s—”
“Watch your step.” She gestured toward Trevor and Earl on the floor just inside the doorway.
“What happened?” Cole stepped over Trevor, then squatted at his side. “Trevor?”
Trevor groaned.
“I need an ambulance,” Gia said into the phone and rattled off the address. “A man just fainted in my café.”
The 911 operator gathered the necessary information, then Gia hung up, despite the woman’s efforts to keep her on the line.
Cole and Earl were still bent over Trevor. At least now he was sitting up, though his head still lolled a little as if he wasn’t quite together yet. Regardless, he was in no condition to answer questions. He’d obviously seen something traumatic in his freezer, but who’s to say it was a dead body. Maybe someone was alive in there, just unconscious, and needed help.
“Stay with him.” Gia bolted out the door and ran down the sidewalk, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds for oncoming cars, then crossed Main Street as soon as there was a break in traffic.
Storm Scoopers’ front door was shut, the Closed sign visible through the glass.
Gia pressed her face against the door, cupping her hands around her eyes to reduce the glare. It didn’t help. The inside of the shop remained dark. She pulled the door handle, and the door swung easily open. Obviously, in the state he was in, Trevor hadn’t bothered to stop and lock it. She poked her head inside. “Hello?”
Silence greeted her.
“Hello?” she tried again as she entered the shop and looked around for something to prop the door open with. Holding the door open, she grabbed a stool from the counter along the front window and wedged it between the door and the frame.
Then she started across the shop toward the big walk-in freezer in the back room.
A soft click startled her and she jumped and whirled back toward the entrance. The keys hung from the lock, swinging gently back and forth, clicking softly against the door. She blew out a breath and continued across the shop. She shoved the door to the back room open and poked her head through. “Hello? Is anyone here?”
The still silence hanging over the shop gave her pause, fear creeping in to intrude on the sense of urgency that had overcome her in the café. She stared at the closed freezer door for a moment before wiping her sweaty hand on her jeans, then grabbed the handle. Holding her breath, she yanked the door open.
The empty freezer stared back at her.
A nervous laugh b
urst out. Had she really expected to find a body in Trevor’s freezer? Obviously, whoever Trevor had seen was gone now. A prank, maybe? Or maybe someone had gotten trapped in the freezer somehow, then bolted when Trevor had opened the door? As terrified as Trevor was when he ran into the café, it wasn’t a far stretch to imagine him seeing someone and being so frightened he turned and fled before realizing the someone in question was still alive.
A large hand landed on Gia’s shoulder.
She screamed and lurched into the freezer as she whirled toward her assailant.
“Sorry!” Cole held his hands up and took a step back. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Jeez, Cole.” Gia pressed a hand against her chest, her heart dancing wildly beneath her palm. “You scared me half to death. What are you doing here?”
“You took off before anyone realized what you were doing. I wasn’t about to let you walk in here alone. What if an attacker was still hanging around?”
“I didn’t think of that.” She probably should have. She’d been so worried someone might need help, she hadn’t stopped to think about anything else. She laid a hand on Cole’s arm and squeezed. “Well, thank you for coming to my rescue, but it seems Trevor was mistaken.”
“No body?”
“Nah, nothing at all.” She stepped aside so Cole could see into the freezer. Commercial-sized tubs of ice cream and Italian ice lined the shelves. Boxes of frozen waffles were stacked on a shelf to her left.
Hmm…maybe she could talk Trevor into using her homemade waffles for his ice cream sandwiches. They’d taste much better, and it might even help her get a few new customers. She’d have to remember to ask him about it.
She picked up one of the boxes and turned it over, looking for a price. Waffles weren’t that expensive to make. She was pretty sure she could probably match, if not beat, what he was paying for the frozen ones. When she didn’t find a price sticker, she shoved the box back into place. The cold finally registered, and she shivered and turned back to Cole. “Is Trevor doing any better?”
He nodded. “Yeah, though he swears there was a body here.”