Sweet Taffy and the Marshmallow Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #2

by Dana Moss

  “Why do you think we put people into boxes?”

  Nana shrugged and smiled in the light of the Bentley console. “A whole person is a complex mystery to unravel, don’t you think? We can only deal with one clue at a time, but eventually it all comes together to make a whole story, a whole person. Not unlike the puzzles you’re always talking about with cases. People are puzzles we put together over time. And even if the final image looks similar to what’s on the cover of the box, it’s also a little bit different, because we’ve handled every little piece.”

  “Since when did you get wise on me?” Taffy said with a smirk as she pulled into the driveway.

  “Since you started listening, darlin’.” Nana patted her on her leg as she put the car in Park.

  Through the windshield, the house looked warm and welcoming. The lights in the living room glowed. Taffy could hear muffled Mozart coming from the stereo. She guessed the kitchen smelled like roasting chicken, or maybe pot roast. Ethan had offered to get the guest room and dinner ready when Taffy had called from the hospital.

  “You’ve got a good man in there from the looks of it.” And sounds and smells, thought Taffy, nodding.

  “He’s a far cry from your father, whom I love dearly, but he’s hardly the domestic type. You may have a better go of it than your poor mother.”

  Taffy reached over and squeezed Nana’s hand. “I’m not sure if we’ve got what it takes to make a go of it or if we’ll end up going our own ways.”

  Nana sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes love is wasted on the young. Stay curious about your differences, sweet Taffy, not judgmental. Judgment pushes things away, but curiosity brings them closer.”

  “Stop with the wisdom, will ya?”

  Nana broke into a wide grin. It froze in place when something thumped loudly on the hood of the car. Nana gasped as a wild yowl tore through their peaceful moment. Midnight’s green eyes flashed as he looked at them through the glass.

  “My God, that cat almost gave me a heart attack.”

  By now Ethan was standing on the front porch with a tea towel over his shoulder.

  Taffy opened her door and said, “We’re coming!”

  Midnight jumped down and tried to trip Taffy as she dragged one of Nana’s suitcases up to the house.

  “I don’t know what you see in that beast.”

  “He grows on you,” Taffy said as she shoved Midnight’s furry body out from underfoot. He stopped once to look up at the porch roof rafters, but all was silent with the robin family. He then trotted ahead to Nana’s room, doing the typical cat thing of being overtly affectionate and welcoming to the one person in the vicinity who wasn’t a fan of felines.

  ~

  After dinner, Ethan and Taffy crawled into the big brass bed in the remodeled turret room. She curled up against his chest.

  “Would you keep secrets from me again?”

  “Again?”

  “Like when you didn’t tell me you used to work for the FBI.”

  “That was only because I was in the midst of helping my old colleagues. I did tell you eventually.”

  “But would you keep a secret like that again?” That or something worse.

  “I wouldn’t keep my own secrets from you anymore, but you couldn’t ask me to betray someone else’s secrets. I wouldn’t expect you to do that either.”

  That made sense. Cara had made her promise not to tell anyone she was pregnant—and she was really dying to tell someone, especially Maria.

  “Would you tell me if you were unhappy with us, with me?”

  He pulled her into an embrace. “I’d much rather tell you how happy I am with you.” He blew into her ear. It tickled. She brushed at the stray hairs he’d blown out of place.

  “You’re sure everything’s fine between us?” Taffy pressed.

  “Yeah.” He pulled back to look at her face. “Aren’t you?”

  She didn’t trust her words to sound convincing. Doubt still swirled in her stomach like curdled custard, but it wasn’t Ethan’s fault she was confused. So she simply nodded, turned her face up to his lightly bearded chin, and closed her eyes for a kiss. She didn’t let her doubt enter her kiss. Nor did she let it affect any of her other body parts that Ethan still had a profound effect upon. The gentle kisses grew more passionate until both their bodies and all their parts were so deliciously entwined as to leave no room for anything except slippery, fiery currents of electricity that they each let flow with abandon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The next morning, Taffy woke up relaxed and refreshed. Ethan spooned her and tried to keep her from getting out of bed.

  Taffy only faintly resisted. “Nana and Rosa leave today, remember? And it’s Tyler’s memorial. You’re coming, right?”

  Ethan moaned his reluctant assent.

  Midnight had managed to pry open the bedroom door in the night, and he was curled up at Taffy’s end of the bed. He stretched and yawned and then started kneading, claws out, the blankets covering Ethan’s feet. “Ouch.” Ethan threw off the blankets, making Midnight scramble for cover. Taffy wasn’t sure what to make of the unusual male rivalry.

  They showered and dressed, dropped Nana off at the hospital to meet with Rosa, and then headed across town.

  ~

  Tyler’s memorial was held in the Unitarian Church at the far end of Main Street. Despite the sad occasion, Taffy was in a good mood and curious to see who would turn out for this particular community event. But when they arrived at the church, her good mood vanished when she saw Melanie standing by the entrance wearing a blazer with a yellow rose in the lapel.

  “Why’s she here? And dressed like that?”

  Ethan smiled in Melanie’s direction. “She volunteered to be an usher. Thought that was mighty gallant of her.”

  Gallant? She didn’t even look pale from giving blood last night. Taffy bit her lip to keep from swearing in church. She was glad now she’d called Annabelle Peach. She’d dig up something to tarnish the spit shine on this Melanie from Mendocino.

  “Don’t you think she’s trying a little too hard to fit in?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s turning up everywhere, being such a Dolly Do-Right.” Taffy scowled.

  “And that’s a bad thing? A small community works best when everyone pulls together and helps out.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Your way of helping out Maria on cases makes you naturally suspicious of others. I get that, but you can’t let that get too out of control.”

  Taffy wondered if Ethan would think that hiring a PI counted as “out of control.”

  He waved in Melanie’s general direction. “Besides, isn’t anybody allowed to attend a memorial? She felt really sad about Tyler’s death. That he’d been so young, never really got to live the life he wanted.”

  “She’s sure imagined a lot about someone she didn’t know.”

  Ethan shrugged. “I like that anyone can come and pay their respects. Memorials and funerals give us pause to reflect on the value of life. So often we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone. I can tell you I’d like as many people to come to my service as want to, even if I don’t know them.”

  “What are you doing thinking about your own death?”

  “Don’t you think about it sometimes?”

  Taffy fingered the service program. “Not really. Not like that. Not about what would happen after.”

  She’d thought about other people’s deaths often—her mother’s, and old Janet Harken’s, who’d previously owned Taffy’s house and had been the victim in the first murder case she’d solved with Maria, and now Rosa’s health decline had her wondering. What if she didn’t make it? Taffy pushed that out of her mind. It was too soon to contemplate that.

  “Sometimes,” said Ethan, “when you imagine what might happen after, it can give you ideas about what to do before. How to spend your time, how to treat people.”

  “Like ‘do unto others’ and all that?”
Was being in a church inspiring some piousness in Ethan?

  “Something like that.” He slipped his arm around Taffy and drew her closer to kiss her temple. The program slipped from her fingers.

  Ethan said, “I’m going to go say hi to Mel. Mind if I invite her to sit with us once she’s done ushering?”

  “Hell yes I mind!” was on the tip of Taffy’s tongue, but she was in church, so she couldn’t swear, and Ethan wouldn’t tolerate her rudeness, so she shrugged as if to convey a neutral indifference, even though that was not at all what she felt. Ethan took her response at face value—he was so darn trusting—and stepped into the aisle. Taffy bent down to retrieve her program. Rising, she examined the leaflet more carefully.

  Shannon and Noel Bradford, and Cara Kearney Bradford, are grateful you have joined them for this celebration of their son’s life…

  Cara’s name was in much smaller print and tucked in there almost as an afterthought. That wouldn’t make her very happy. Taffy looked for her near the front of the church. She was in the second pew behind the grandparents, who’d made the trip down from Eugene. Shannon was sitting in the first row next to Noel. Todd was in the row with Cara.

  Taffy glanced around the filling church.

  Most of the town was here, including Mayor Gifford and Chief Green. They were chatting together at the back. The chief looked a little stressed. When the mayor nodded and went to his seat, the chief glanced around and spotted Taffy. He strode over to her.

  “Have you seen Maria?”

  “She might be late because she was accompanying her mom by ambulance to the airport.”

  “Tell her I want to speak to her.”

  “Of course.” Taffy wondered if it had something to do with whatever Mayor Gifford had said.

  “Oh, and Taffy.” The chief had turned back. “You’re to keep your distance from Rex Gifford, you understand? Don’t stir up any excess trouble. This is police business.”

  “Yes, sir.” Taffy felt like a child being reprimanded.

  He strode off again, this time in the direction of his wife, who was sitting at the back and already dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

  So she’d been wrong about the mayor. He was interfering in a case to protect his grandson.

  Taffy looked for Rex. He was on the other side of the room. He caught her eye and shot her a satisfied grin. Taffy frowned and looked away—just in time to see Monica enter the church. When she saw Taffy, her eyes narrowed coldly. Then she looked away. She joined Rex across the room. She sat beside him, looking up at him and sliding her arm through his, but he barely responded to her touch. Taffy had known there was a connection between them. And they knew something about Tyler, Taffy was sure of it, and it irked her that she couldn’t weasel it out of either of them.

  Rex was still smiling coldly in her direction. She glanced away from her source of frustration and saw Ellie and Pete in one of the back pews. Taffy joined them to get out from under Rex’s gaze.

  On her approach, Ellie said, “Pete told me about Rosa. How is she? Maria must be so worried.”

  “She’s a tough nut. Rosa will be fine.” Taffy just didn’t want to consider otherwise.

  “This is such a sad day. Such a poor boy.” Ellie’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Any excuse for a good cry. “And so many people are here. Look, even Mr. Ainsley.”

  He walked down the center aisle with a tall woman his age, who Taffy assumed was his sister. He waved to Taffy as he passed, a hopeful and bemused smile on his face.

  As the minister approached the dais, the gathering grew quiet and took their seats. The minister welcomed everyone present and said a short prayer in honor of the living who’d come to honor the dead. And then he spoke about Tyler, his arrival in Abandon, success at school, and how his young life had been cut short. Near the end of his speech, he said, “None of us knows when the bell will toll, asking us to surrender our life back unto the source from which it came. But when it comes in an untimely fashion and is shrouded in suspicious circumstances, we, the living, feel an even greater loss and vulnerability.

  “We may have questions about Tyler’s passing. Why was he taken so soon? What really happened out there on the lake? There may be those who sit here among us and know something more than what they’ve told the police. Ask yourself what purpose your ongoing silence serves. We have a family here that craves peace. They already have the heavy burden of death to contend with, and the death of a young life taken so early is so much harder to bear. There are friends here who have unanswered questions and possible fears. We, as a community, need to lay our brethren to rest, but we also need to shore up the living and help them bear the grief that none of us is immune to.”

  Everyone in the church looked uncomfortable. Everyone looked guilty in some small way. Especially the teens scattered throughout the back rows.

  Up near the front, Cara was crying buckets now, and so far, only Taffy knew her hormones might be the source of her raging emotions. She hadn’t been terribly close to Tyler. But grief is a strange guest and never acts predictably, so maybe she was feeling true sadness or remorse for not having had a better connection with Tyler.

  Noel seemed a ghost of himself, dealing day in and day out with the unthinkable. Shannon, too, looked worn out and older than normal, even though she and Noel had been supporting each other lovingly through all this, and Cara had been managing to tolerate their closeness graciously. Maybe she was right, and a new baby on the way would be a healing balm for the family.

  Both parents spoke about their son, Noel in a quiet monotone, with sagging shoulders, and Shannon with tremors in her voice and hands as she read from a page on which she’d written. There was not a dry eye in the pews after Noel and Shannon sat down. Then Todd stood up, and the responsibility of finding a glimmer of hope, of carving a rocky path to peace and acceptance, seemed to fall on his shoulders. And he bore it well. Everyone seemed to feel a bit lighter and more hopeful after he spoke so eloquently and lovingly about his best friend.

  When the speeches, photos, and prayers were done, people slowly moved from the pews and chatted in small clusters.

  ~

  Maria had come in late and stayed near the doors. She waved Taffy over to join her. She looked so serious, even worried, that Taffy was sure Maria had new information about the case, but when she leaned in close to whisper, Taffy was in for a surprise.

  “Finn proposed.”

  Taffy broke into a broad grin. Her heart raced with excitement for her friend. “Really?? And?! What did you say?”

  Still whispering, she replied, “I said yes.” But she wasn’t even smiling. In fact, she looked like she’d eaten a bug.

  “What’s wrong?” Taffy whispered back. “Don’t you want to marry Finn?”

  Maria seemed to realize her expression didn’t match her announcement. She forced a smile. “Of course I do. I love Finn.” She tucked a curl behind her ear, managed to keep the smile pasted in place, and continued, “When Mama gets back from the Mayo, we’re going to have the wedding here. I want you to be my maid of honor, Taffy.”

  The way she said it sounded as if she’d just asked Taffy to dig her a grave.

  Taffy cleared her throat. “Is Finn at least happy about this?”

  Maria nodded absentmindedly. “Like I said, it was his idea…” She glanced around at the memorial guests. “Seems wrong to talk about it today, but I had to tell you. I was going to keep it a secret for a few days, but I realized I couldn’t keep a secret from you.”

  Taffy thought about the secret she was keeping about Cara. She felt guilty. Maria was a better friend than Taffy.

  But this was good news, and Taffy was excited to think they would soon have a wedding to plan for.

  “I’m happy for you.”

  “Uh huh.” Maria stuck her hands in her pockets. Her gaze roved over the pews.

  “Rosa will be so happy for you.”

  “Huh?” As if she’d forgotten what they were talking about.
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  “Have you told your mom?”

  “Not yet. I’ll call her tonight once she’s settled.”

  “She’ll be ecstatic.”

  She rolled back on her heels and let out a sigh. “I know that for a fact.”

  Taffy watched her friend. She was the least excited bride-to-be she’d ever seen.

  “Is that what this is about, Maria? Making your mom happy?”

  Before Maria could answer, the chief had made his way over to them.

  “Oh, I forgot,” Taffy said. “Chief Green wants to talk to you.”

  He frowned and said, “Detective Salinas. A word.” He looked at Taffy. “Alone.”

  Taffy stepped away to let them talk. She headed to the foyer. The cloudy sky had given way to patches of blue. Slants of sunlight fingered through the upper stained glass windows.

  Cara found her staring up at an image of the Madonna and child.

  “These things are so awful. Everyone poking their fingers into your personal tragedy. All that fear in their eyes that it could happen to them, and the sweet relief that it hasn’t, and then the ‘poor you’ pity parade.”

  Taffy was surprised at Cara’s cynicism. Shannon and Noel were still up front receiving hugs and handshakes from a line of “pity paraders,” as Cara considered them. She had stepped out of the three-parent-plus-grandparents line. “I just want to get on with my own life now.” She absently let her fingers drift across her still-taut belly.

  “You’ll tell Noel soon, right?”

  Neither of them had noticed Todd approaching. “Tell Noel what?” he said, smiling and trying to join their conversation.