Meringue and Mischief

by Ramona Ransom

  Clint took the paper. “We can do all of that, but maybe not today. I got another job,” he said proudly.

  “You did!? That’s such great news,” Nessa said, meaning it. She knew how badly the guy needed work, and while she’d have kept him to herself if she was able, she was happy that he’d found something else.

  “Yup, and it’s a real good one, too. I’ll be working on some things at that big house on Cadence Street. I guess the guy who usually does the work isn’t available, and the person renting the house showed up early, so the owner is looking for someone immediately.”

  Nessa put two and two together pretty quickly. The house he was referring to belonged to Renata, and the tenant who had arrived early was Laverne.

  “That’s awesome! I admit that I’ll be sad to have to share you, but I think you’ll get great exposure if you do the work on that house. I know she rents it out to a lot of people.”

  Clint nodded. “That’s how I got the job. I was going door to door in my neighborhood, looking to see if anyone needed work done, and someone suggested that I ask Renata. I guess they had family who rented from her before and somehow knew she was in the market.” Clint read the list over again. “I promised that I’d go over to meet the tenant later today, so she’d be aware of the guy who’s working around her, but I should be able to get a couple of these smaller things done this week. Is that okay?”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She shrugged. “You tell me when you’re available, and I’ll make sure I’m around to let you in. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great. Thanks for thinking of me. You’re keeping me in business,” Clint told her.

  “And you’re making my dream home a reality.”

  Nessa left Clint to his own devices, reminding him to call her if he needed anything, and headed into work early. Chloe would just be getting off shift, and they’d be able to enjoy a cupcake while working on accounting homework and the bakery’s website.

  When Nessa got to work, she didn’t have a single second to focus on anything but the job. They’d been so busy that Chloe had even had to go into the kitchen to bake a few extra things to keep the case full and the customers happy. It seemed that their idea to stay open past dark had been a raging success.

  Chapter Four

  Already back at the bakery, Nessa was thankful for a good night’s rest. She’d dropped into bed, exhausted, the night before and was raring to go when she got to work.

  No matter how bright-eyed and bushy tailed she’d felt, she still didn’t love having to deal with Ranger Shine. She’d always thought he was a nice enough guy until recently when he’d decided that he had a problem with her being in town.

  Ranger owned a cleaning company, Ranger Shine’s Residential and Commercial Cleaners, and they cleaned almost every home and business in the entire town of Lake Wilawalo. Sometimes, Nessa wondered if people felt bad for him, and that’s why they used his services because she’d never seen so many people in one area pay someone else to clean their homes and offices. It wasn’t a bad thing. He already cleaned the bakery every week, and if Ranger didn’t have such a problem with her, she’d probably have him clean her home, too.

  When she saw him enter the bakery, Nessa wanted to hide in the back and avoid him, but her grandfather and Faye had already left for the day, and Chloe had stepped out to pick up a late lunch for the two of them so she was on her own.

  “Hello. What can I get for you?” she asked, trying to keep things professional. She knew Ranger didn’t like her much and that he, for some reason, believed that she had something to do with all of the bad things happening in town lately. Because she couldn’t help playing devil’s advocate, she understood why it would seem that way. After all, it wasn’t until after she showed up in town that bad things had started happening. But he should have known better than to think that any of it was her doing. Ranger had watched her grow up and knew her family well, and it bothered her to no end that he’d think so badly of her to believe that.

  “Is Lex here?” Ranger asked.

  “He’s not. It’s just me. Hopefully, that won’t stop you from getting what you came here for.” Nessa had immediately started to feel guilty. She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, but if Ranger believed that she had, and it lost business for the bakery, she hated what that might mean for the future. Crumbs and Confections was a popular place in town, and everyone loved her grandfather. She didn’t want to be the reason why people stopped going there. If any of them chose to stand behind Ranger and support him in his feelings about her, that might just happen.

  “We’re both adults. I think I can place an order if you think you can take one,” Ranger said, looking at the display case. “I’d have sent Mavery, but she’s with that boyfriend of hers.”

  Nessa looked at the clock hanging on the wall, trying not to react. She’d let Clint in her house before she went to the bakery, so he should still be at her house working, but she supposed he might have finished early.

  “I can absolutely take an order. That’s what I’m here for.” Nessa forced a smile and waited while Ranger browsed.

  “I’d like to get three chocolate croissants, three cinnamon sticks, two raspberry danish, and what do you have for whole cakes or pies?”

  Nessa took out a box and packaged up what Ranger had asked for before going in the back to see what she had for whole cakes. She knew there were no pies left because her grandfather had told her that baking more was his top priority for the next morning.

  “I have a Dulce de Leche cake, a toffee crumb cake, and a molten lava cake with mixed berries. I believe I saw a peanut butter cheesecake back there as well. Do any of those sound good?” Nessa asked, returning from the kitchen.

  “They all sound good. Listen, I know you aren’t inclined to help me, but maybe you can give me your opinion on something.”

  She sighed and looked at Ranger. “You realize that I have no problem with you, right? Everything was fine until you got it stuck in your head that I was some terrible monster. Of course, I can take your order. And if the help you need relates to that, I can do that, too. Heck, even if it doesn’t, I’ll still help.”

  Ignoring the part Nessa wanted to know more about, Ranger gave a single nod. “I need to buy a cake or something for a client. She scares me, and I want to make a good impression. I thought that food would be a nice gesture, but Mavery told me that people always bring food and that I should be more creative. Truth be told, I’m not a creative man.” He frowned.

  Ranger was scared of his client, and that wasn’t even the strangest thing he’d said. He cleaned for a living, which meant that the client he’d referred to was someone that he’d be cleaning for. Nessa had never heard of a housecleaner bringing gifts for a client and couldn’t imagine why Ranger thought that was a good idea.

  “Can I get a little more information, maybe? Do you know what kind of cake they like or if they have any allergies?” Nessa asked.

  Ranger lifted a shoulder. “I could call Mavery. She’s there now.” He took out his phone and walked away from the register to make the call.

  He’d just finished telling her that Mavery and Clint were together, and if Mavery was with a client, everything that was going on made no sense. Nessa wondered if she had cause to be paranoid. Ranger could have come in to trick her for some reason. The first thing he did was ask if her grandfather was there, and if he had been, Ranger wouldn’t have said anything to her at all, knowing Lex would be there to back her up.

  “Find anything out?” Nessa asked when Ranger came back.

  “She’s got no allergies but didn’t seem very interested in anything from here. I guess someone already thought of it. I’ll take the box you already packed up, though.” He looked disappointed and moped the rest of the time he was in the building.

  After she took the payment and Ranger left, Nessa gave more thought to the exchange. Everything kept coming back to that Laverne woman. It had to be her who Ranger was talking about. Clint was suppos
ed to have met with her the day before, but maybe he hadn’t gotten the chance to, and that’s why he left early. If Laverne was a client of Ranger’s, it made sense that Mavery would be there since she was his employee. However, what didn’t make sense was why everyone was so interested in bringing this woman baked goods or why they were all there at the same time.

  Chapter Five

  “What do you know about a woman named Laverne?” Nessa asked, seeing that Faye finally had a moment to breathe. They’d been running around the bakery all morning, tending to customers, while Chloe and Lex worked in the kitchen. Nessa was supposed to have had the morning off, but they’d called her in because it was so busy.

  Weekend mornings were always the busiest at the bakery, and now that they were fully staffed, they’d decided to put everyone on the schedule to make the workload feel a little less daunting.

  “I assume you mean Laverne Donahue.” Faye gave a knowing look. “You’ve met her before, but you were young. She comes here every summer and rents the house Renata owns on Cadence Street.”

  “I know all of that already. Can you tell me something, umm… more important?” Nessa asked slowly.

  “Like what?” Faye stopped cleaning fingerprints off of the display case to look at Nessa. “What happened?”

  “Nothing that I know of. I only know that Renata brought her a cherry pie and then Ranger came in looking for something to bring to her as well.”

  “Renata does that every year, but I can’t speak on Ranger. I guess it’s a nice thing to do, though.” She shrugged and continued cleaning.

  “Okay, but why? I mean, I like to be kind, too, and I think welcoming people to the neighborhood is a great idea. I can even understand why Renata would do it since she’s renting the house to her, but I can’t help but feel like everyone is treating this woman oddly.”

  “Are you getting paranoid in your old age?” Faye laughed. “Laverne comes from money. People know that, and I think it makes them act differently. I don’t think you should worry much, though. She never comes into the bakery, and unless you’re looking to be hired as her personal assistant, I don’t think you’ll have many run-ins with her. She likes to stay at the house and enjoy the lake.”

  “Personal assistant. Please tell me you’re kidding.” Nessa scrunched her nose.

  “I am. I think…” Faye added. “Laverne doesn’t like to do things for herself, and I have no issues with that. She can do whatever she wants with her money, and if that means sitting back and relaxing while she pays others to do things for her, then so be it. It’s a lifestyle that I’m not familiar with, but I can’t fault her for it. Though, I will say that I’ve never understood why people would want to work for her or around her. She pays well, so that’s probably the reason, but she’s not the nicest person when it comes to service workers.”

  “Money talks,” Nessa admitted. “But I don’t like hearing that she’s not nice to workers. You mean like waitresses and electricians?”

  “Or house cleaners and contractors,” Faye said, finishing up the display case and moving to the windows.

  “Oh, no. Do they know that about her?” Nessa asked.

  “Why do you think Ranger came in here trying to buy the lady a cake? He was trying to soften her up. He’ll be the first to tell you that Laverne is trouble. She’s condescending and downright mean most of the time, but she pays him triple the amount everyone else does.”

  “Do you think people take advantage of that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Nessa hated how what she was about to say would come out, but she had to ask. “Is it possible that Ranger, or anyone else for that matter, knows that she pays well, so they overcharge her?”

  “I don’t think anyone ups their prices for her. She may pay more because she knows how difficult she is, or maybe she just likes to spend money.”

  “Or maybe,” Nessa said, thinking about how she’d also overpaid for Clint’s services. “Is it possible that she’s just a nice person?”

  “Anything is possible, dear. But I’ve personally witnessed her say horrific things to people at the post office and the movie theater. I even heard a story from Rose over at Wash and Curl about how Laverne promised that one of the shampoo girls would never work in the industry again after she refused to come to Laverne’s home to wash her hair for her every morning.”

  “Wait. Laverne threatened a woman’s job because she wouldn’t come to her house to wash her hair for her?” Nessa repeated, making sure she’d heard right.

  “The poor girl thought Rose was going to fire her. But what Laverne didn’t know was that no one messes with Rose from the Wash and Curl. The whole ordeal is why Laverne started hiring people to do things for her in the first place. After she threatened the shampoo girl, she’d go into the shop to see if Rose had fired her yet. Rose asked her to leave every time she came in, and Laverne would refuse. Eventually, Rose had enough and insisted that a police officer either grant her a no trespassing order for Laverne, or sit in the shop all day to keep Laverne out.”

  “What the heck is wrong with this woman? Is it weird that I want to meet her?” Nessa asked.

  “I can’t imagine why you’d want to,” Faye said, seeing Lex come out of the kitchen with his hands full. She dashed over to help him.

  “Want to what?” Lex asked.

  “Meet Laverne,” Nessa answered, knowing Faye would tell him, anyway.

  “You want to meet Laverne? Why?” Lex put down the trays of bear claws and coffee cake muffins that he’d been carrying and turned his attention to Nessa.

  “She seems interesting.”

  Nessa helped get the trays into the case and when the door to the bakery opened, Faye and Lex went back into the kitchen to work while she tended to the customer.

  “Hey, Nessa!” Chief Rafferty greeted her. “Good to see your smiling face.”

  She was glad to see the police chief, who had been a friend of her family’s for many years. Everyone called him Raff when she was growing up and the name had stuck.

  “Hi, Raff. What can I get for you today?” she asked.

  He ordered two coffees, one for him and one for his deputy, and told Nessa to pack up a box full of whatever looked good to her. As she did, she heard chatter on Raff’s radio. He stepped away from the register and went to the other side of the bakery, turning down the volume.

  Nessa heard enough of what was said to know that something was wrong. She heard Cadence Street, and the word death, before Raff had adjusted the volume.

  “Guess I’m going to have to put that order on hold for now,” Raff said. “Sorry, Nessa.”

  She waved him off, not worried about it. Someone had died, and that was way more important than a few bakery items. As soon as Raff left, she ran into the kitchen to tell everyone what she’d just heard.

  Chapter Six

  “Something came in the mail for you,” Chloe said, handing Nessa an envelope.

  Nessa looked up from where she sat, cuddled in her favorite chair, seeing Chloe for the first time that morning. The young girl sure liked her sleep.

  “There’s no postmark or return address,” she said, inspecting the envelope. “Where was it?”

  “In the mailbox.” She looked over Nessa’s shoulder. “Who’s it from?”

  Nessa opened the envelope and took out a single piece of paper. She looked at both sides before starting to read.

  Dear Nessa,

  I think I know something that might be helpful to you. I understand why you might not want to listen, but if you hear me out, I think you’ll find that the information is useful.

  Meet me at The Shack after dark. I’ll be there at 8 and will wait for 10 minutes.

  “I don’t know. There’s no signature. The writing is sort of blocky and weird, so I don’t think it’s someone’s actual handwriting.”

  “What information do you need?” Chloe asked.

  “I have no clue. I can’t think of anything that…” Nessa hesitated. />
  “That what? What’s going on in your brain right now?” Chloe was young and eager, and the mystery of the note was sending her over the edge.

  “What if it has something to do with what I heard on Raff’s radio yesterday?” Nessa asked.

  “Are you into that sort of thing? Why wouldn’t whoever wrote it call the police if they had information?”

  Not long after Raff left the bakery, Faye got a call from Rose alerting her to what had happened. If anyone knew anything about anything, it was Rose. She told Faye that Laverne had been found by a cable technician who was there for a service call. She didn’t know much else, but that was enough.

  “I guess I am, but I don’t know who would write me a note instead of calling or stopping by to see me. Maybe Ranger because it says they understand why I might not want to hear from them, but I highly doubt he’d want to help me with something like this.”

  “Anyone else you might not want to hear from?” Chloe asked, a grin on her face as she pointed toward where Bizzie, their neighbor, lived.

  “You think Bizzie wrote this?” Nessa asked, rereading it.

  “Sure, why not? She knows you’re upset with her.”

  Nessa pondered the idea for a minute. Chloe was right.

  “Do you think I should meet her?” Nessa asked.

  Chloe furrowed her brows. “I guess that depends on how much you believe that it was her who wrote it. What if it’s some random person you’ve never met asking you to meet them after dark? Or what if it’s the killer trying to lure you to them?”

  “Jeez. Glass half-full much?” Nessa laughed. “I don’t know if it was Bizzie or not, but I highly doubt that whoever killed Laverne wants to help me prove that it was them.”

  “True. Good thing I’m not in charge of this.” Chloe giggled. “I can come with you if you want.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Nessa’s mind started to wander. The note had to be about the murder, and whoever wrote it had to have known that she’d helped solve a murder in the past. That led her to believe that it was Bizzie, but Nessa couldn’t figure out why she’d been so cryptic.