“Maura told me you also confiscated his tablet computer and found e-mails,” Caprice said.
Brett shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe what that guy was doing.”
“You mean dating women other than his wife, having relationships with them, even promising them engagements so they’d lend him money?”
Sara had confided in Caprice and her dad that Reed had always been the one who’d handled finances for himself and Maura. After he’d been taken into custody, Maura had accessed charge account receipts and found out so much she didn’t want to know. She’d even found a few phone numbers and called those numbers. The women he’d dated were shocked that Reed had been married. Maura had admitted she’d been blind to all of it because she didn’t want to believe Reed was lying when he said he had to work late or go out of town for business.
“Reed spilled everything to us when Maura was there,” Brett responded. “I couldn’t believe it. It was almost as if he enjoyed hurting her. She asked us if she could sit in on the interview, and we let her, hoping we’d get more out of Reed because of it. We did. Sometimes human beings are despicable.”
“She told me that Reed explained how her dad found out about his duplicity,” Caprice said. “Apparently one evening Maura and Reed had invited her parents to dinner at their house. Reed had left the room. His phone on a side table signaled a notification coming in. Chris had seen Reed tap in his passcode more than once and something made him do it then. He saw a notification about an e-mail from a woman, and it was signed Love. After examining Reed’s apps, he saw the app icon for the LetsGetTogether site. He recognized it because Deanne had used it.”
“I was amazed at Maura’s spunk at our interview,” Brett said. “She had it in her to really goad her husband. So, he filled us in on exactly what had happened.”
Caprice nodded, remembering what Maura had said. Chris had signed himself up on the LetsGetTogether site, investigated, and found Reed’s profile. Then her dad had pretended to be a woman interested in dating him. Through the messages, he realized exactly what Reed intended to do. It didn’t take a genius. The women he attracted were blinded by his charm and good looks and didn’t realize what a scoundrel he was until it was too late.
Brett gave Caprice a steady look. “I guess you know Reed didn’t expect you to be smart enough to bring along backup that night at Santa Lane. He thought you’d be as naïve as Maura and all those women he’d dated.”
Nikki, who had been listening to it all, nudged Brett’s arm. “You do know, don’t you, that none of the De Luca women are naïve?”
With a broad smile, Brett hung his arm around Nikki’s shoulders which was his first public display of affection with her. “That’s a good thing,” he assured her. “I like my women smart and savvy.”
Nikki asked, “Women, as in plural?”
Brett looked a little sheepish. Then he amended his statement. “I like my woman smart and savvy, and you are both.”
Grant took Caprice’s hand and squeezed it. Then he leaned in close. “I think I might have to ask Brett to be a groomsman at our wedding.” Gazing into her eyes, he added, “This is going to be my best Christmas ever.”
“Only the first of many,” Bella’s husband, Joe, interjected from across the table. “Caprice, can you pass the rigatoni?”
Bella gave Caprice a wink.
Her family definitely kept her grounded, safe, and secure.
As Grant reached for the large rigatoni casserole at the same time as she did to help her pass it, she knew he was her best Christmas present of all.
Original Recipes
Fran’s Lemon-Pepper Cod
1 cup Panko
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Pinch of garlic powder
1½ pounds fresh cod, cut into 6 pieces
1 egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together Panko, lemon pepper, salt, and garlic powder in a medium-sized bowl. Beat egg in a small bowl with a fork. Dip cod pieces in the egg then dip into the dry mixture to coat both sides. Bake on a flat pan for 30-35 minutes.
Serves 4-6
Nana’s Lemon Pasta
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (taken from lemon before juicing)
½ pound pasta of your choice (I like Campanelle) cooked according to package directions
1 tablespoon fresh chives
While pasta is boiling, sauté onion in butter in a saucepan, then add grated garlic and lemon pepper. Cook until onion is tender. Stir in lemon juice. Cook on low about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and pour over ½ pound cooked pasta. Sprinkle with fresh chives.
Serves 4-6
Nikki’s Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar (plus an additional ½ cup to roll cookies in)
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup cocoa
2½ cups flour
36-40 Hershey’s specialty holiday candy, unwrapped (I use Candy Cane Peppermint Kisses)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa. Mix until all ingredients are blended well and batter is smooth and velvety. Add flour ½ cup at a time.
When mixed, form one-inch balls and roll them in granulated sugar. Handle as little as possible. Put balls on lightly greased cookie sheets, leaving room to grow.
Bake 11-13 minutes until set. Let cool one minute, then lightly press on candy. The candy will melt a bit.
Remove cookies to a cooling rack. Let cool until candy has hardened again, then store.
Makes about 36 cookies.
In an old Victorian in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson and her Aunt Iris serve soups, scones, and soothing teas to tourists and locals—but a murder in their garden has them in hot water . . .
Daisy, a widowed mom of two teenagers, is used to feeling protective, so when Iris started dating the wealthy and not-quite-divorced Harvey Fitz, she worried . . . especially after his bitter ex stormed in and caused a scene at the party Daisy’s Tea Garden was catering. Then there was the gossip she overheard about Harvey’s grown children being cut out of his will. Daisy didn’t want her aunt to wind up with a broken heart—but she never expected Iris to wind up a suspect in Harvey’s murder.
Now the apple bread and orange pekoe is on the back burner while the cops treat the tea garden like a crime scene—and Daisy hopes that Jonas Groft, a former detective from Philadelphia, can help her clear her aunt’s name and bag the real killer before things boil over.
Please turn the page for an exciting sneak peek
at the first book in a new mystery series from
Karen Rose Smith!
Look for
Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes
coming soon, wherever print and e-books are sold!
Chapter One
“Harvey, that’s so kind of you to say.” An almost-giggle escaped from Daisy Swanson’s Aunt Iris.
Daisy watched her aunt as she set a hand-painted porcelain teapot that was steeping blackberry black tea before a man Iris had dated merely a month. Yes, her aunt was acting like a teenager, and Daisy definitely knew teenagers. Her own daughters giggled like that around guys they deemed crush-worthy. Her aunt practically twitted like an adolescent when she was around Harvey Fitz, owner of Men’s Trends in the small town of Willow Creek, Pennsylvania.
Business at Daisy’s Tea Garden was slowing down for the day. Willow Creek was a semi-busy tourist town set in the midst of Amish country, near Lancaster. It was a town where neighbors knew neighbors, talked about neighbor
s, and proved there might be less than six degrees of separation between everyone.
Her aunt’s ash-blond short curls bounced as she slid a bone china sugar bowl painted with a rose design near Harvey’s cup.
“Half a teaspoon should be just right,” he said, looking at the blushing older woman as if she was more important than any tea brew.
Harvey was tall and thin with a shock of silver hair still thick and long enough to give him a distinguished look. It even turned up at his neck in the back.
Daisy had to wonder if he’d had hair plugs transplanted on the top of his head. That hair looked too good for a man of his age. He had to be seventy, about ten years older than her aunt.
She needed to break into their conversation to find out how far into dating they’d gotten. She didn’t want her aunt to get hurt. They hadn’t known Harvey very long, and they didn’t know him nearly well enough. As far as Daisy was concerned, Iris should stay far away from him because he was still married! Separated, but married.
That was trouble, no matter how you looked at it.
Keeping her ear tilted toward the couple’s conversation, Daisy glanced around the business she and Iris had grown from scratch. Well, not exactly from scratch. It had been a bakery on the first floor of an old Victorian before they’d bought it. Now they rented the upstairs to a high school friend of Daisy’s, Tessa Miller, chef and kitchen manager of the tea garden. They’d developed the downstairs into a tea, baked goods, and soup business.
The interior wasn’t froufrou like many tea rooms, though it did have a subtle flower theme. They’d considered the fact that they wanted men to feel comfortable here as well as women. Besides merely drawing from Willow Creek’s tourist trade—Lancaster County Amish country was a popular get-away destination—they wanted to draw from the professional offices in Willow Creek and Lancaster too.
In keeping with that plan, they’d decorated the walk-in “be served or buy-it-and-go” room with oak, glass-topped tables, and mismatched, antique oak, hand-carved chairs. A yellow bud vase adorned each table. The walls had been painted the palest green in the walk-in tea serving area because Daisy believed the color green promoted calming qualities just as tea did.
In contrast, the more private room was a spillover area. On specified days, it was also the room where they scheduled reservations for afternoon tea which included mutiple courses. The space reflected the best qualities of a Victorian, with a bay window, window seats, crown molding, and diamond-cut glass. In that room, the walls were the palest yellow. White tables and chairs wore seat cushions in blue, green, and yellow pinstripes.
Tessa emerged from the kitchen with a bright smile and a serving dish in hand.
Tessa was Daisy’s age, thirty-seven, with rich caramel-colored hair that she wore in a braid. She always dressed like the artiste she was, with colorful and flowy tops and skirts. She wore smocks to work in lieu of the usual chef’s coat. Today, in tribute to the fall weather, her smock was bright swirls of orange and rust. She set a cut-glass plate filled with cookies in front of Harvey. On the top of the other cookies perched a lemon tea cake fresh from the oven.
“My favorite,” Harvey announced, picking it up and taking a large bite. “I don’t know how you do it, but every one of your cookies is delicious, not to mention your scones. You are going to have the lemon tea cakes at my celebration this weekend, aren’t you?”
One of the reasons Harvey had stopped in today was to consult with her and Iris about his store’s twenty-fifth anniversary celebration. That would be a big to-do, with engraved invitations that the manager of Men’s Trends had sent out. It was a large party for Daisy and her staff to cater. Besides the main event here at the tea garden on Sunday, tomorrow—on the store’s actual anniversary date—Men’s Trends would be serving tea and accompanying snacks to any of their customers who wandered in during the afternoon.
“We’ll have lemon tea cakes at your store tomorrow too,” Daisy assured him.
Harvey finished his cookie, wiped his fingers on his napkin, then gazed once more at Iris. “Will you be at Men’s Trends tomorrow or do you have to stay here to hold down the fort for Daisy?”
“I’ll be holding down the fort here,” Iris responded.
“But you will be here to celebrate with me on Sunday, won’t you?” Harvey asked. “A celebration is only a celebration if you have the people around you who matter.”
Iris’s cheeks reddened. She said in a low voice, “I’ll be here. You matter to me too.”
Warning bells went off in Daisy’s head. Harvey had not signed his final divorce papers. Trying to be realistic, she knew her Aunt Iris didn’t run in Harvey’s social set by any means. His friends played golf at Willow Creek Country Club. The women in his soon-to-be ex-wife’s circle shopped in New York, Baltimore, and D.C. They might live in Willow Creek, but they were world travelers, food connoisseurs, and wine aficionados.
Her aunt was a tea aficionado.
Yet when Harvey and Iris gazed at each other, Daisy saw something genuine there. Maybe when one reached a certain age all the rest didn’t matter. Maybe when one reached a certain age, one could learn to live with loss and move on.
Daisy knew she hadn’t moved on from her husband’s death three years ago. Thank goodness, she had her girls and Aunt Iris, her mom and dad, and her sister. Thank goodness, she’d moved back to Willow Creek and started this new venture with her aunt. Come to think of it, in some ways she had moved on. In others—
One step at a time.
“I’ll go over the list with Harvey for tomorrow and the weekend if you want to work in the kitchen with Tessa and Eva,” Iris said to Daisy.
Eva Conner, who was nearing her forty-fifth birthday, was their dishwasher and Girl Friday.
Studying her aunt, Daisy noticed Iris might be trying to get rid of her. Did this meeting of hers with Harvey really include business?
“Have a wonderful celebration tomorrow,” Tessa said as she excused herself and crossed to the kitchen. Daisy was about to do the same when the front door of the Tea Garden opened, and her daughter Jazzi blew in with the end of a September breeze. A few dried leaves did too.
Unlike herself and Daisy’s oldest daughter Violet who both had honey-blond hair, Jazzi’s hair was black, thick, glossy, and straight. Jazzi glanced at Harvey and her aunt and the few other customers in the tea room. Then she shifted her backpack from her shoulders and swung it into one hand. She was frowning and that wasn’t unusual these days. Daisy wasn’t exactly sure what was going on with her fifteen-year-old.
There was a tradition in Daisy’s family that all the women had been given flower names. Her mother’s name was Rose, her aunt’s name was Iris, Daisy’s sister’s name was Camellia. Daisy had named her daughters Violet and Jasmine. But Jazzi never used her full name. She preferred her nickname.
Now Daisy went toward her to greet her with a hug. Her daughter slipped out of her hold. Daisy studied the sullen expression on her daughter’s face and said, “Just in time to help Tessa with a batch of scones to refrigerate for tomorrow.”
“Maybe I don’t feel like making scones,” Jazzi returned as she ducked her pretty face and didn’t look at her mother.
“Do you have lots of homework?”
“The usual.”
Daisy wrapped her arm around her daughter and guided her over to a quiet corner of the tea room. Jazzi had been unreliable and rebellious lately. There could be any number of reasons for that, but Daisy suspected the main one: Violet had gone off to college at the end of August, and Jazzi didn’t seem to know how to deal with her sister’s absence.
“I know you miss Vi.”
Jazzi shrugged. “I don’t. She’s not around lording it over me.”
“She’s not around for you to talk to or borrow clothes from or ask for advice on makeup. When your Aunt Camellia moved to New York, I felt lost without her. Our lifestyles became very different, and I didn’t know if we’d ever have common interests again. Your relationshi
p with Vi will change, but you can still be close.”
“Easy for you to say,” Jazzi muttered.
Daisy gave her a long look. “If you don’t want to help Tessa with the dough for scones, you can work on the cookbook.”
Daisy’s office was located beside the kitchen, and Jazzi was familiar with her computer. This was a family business, and Jazzi was supposed to be taking over collating recipes for this year’s Daisy’s Tea Garden cookbook. But she hadn’t gotten very far.
“That’s like doing schoolwork. I’ll help Tessa with the scones.”
With that announcement, Jazzi spun on her espadrilles and headed for the kitchen. With her slim-legged jeans, her long tunic-style sweater, and her black hair flowing down her back, Jazzi looked older than fifteen. Daisy wished she could keep her from growing up altogether, but she couldn’t. Just as she couldn’t keep Violet tied to Willow Creek after college.
Daisy was about to ask Harvey if he’d like her to brew him a second type of tea. Okay, she was nosy and wanted to know what his conversation with Iris was about. But the glass door to the tea garden was suddenly pulled open. As the bell rang, Cade Bankert strode in.
Daisy stopped midstep to gaze at him a couple of seconds longer than she should. He, too, had been a high school classmate. When she’d moved back to Willow Creek and she and her aunt had decided to look for a place to buy for the tea garden, as well as a second property for her and her girls, she’d consulted Cade who was a real estate agent. She’d always liked him. He’d taken her to their high school prom. But then she’d left for college, and they’d gone their separate ways. Whenever she saw him, sparks of male and female interest seemed to cross over between them. But neither of them had let a spark ignite, maybe because Cade had realized she hadn’t been ready for that.
Slay Bells Ring Page 25