TABLE OF CONTENTS
KILLER MAPLE COOKIES
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Killer
Maple
Cookies
Book Three
in
Killer Cookie
Cozy Mysteries
By
Patti Benning
Copyright 2016 Summer Prescott Books
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.
**This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.
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KILLER MAPLE
COOKIES
Book Three in Killer Cookie Cozy Mysteries
CHAPTER ONE
* * *
Are you sure you fixed everything? It’s not going to break down on me halfway home?” Lilah Fallon asked the hunched elderly man standing next to her. They were assessing the little powder-blue, beat-up hunk of metal that was her car.
“It’s as good as new,” he said, patting the hood, which popped open. He quickly shut it, then tested it again. It stayed shut. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that, but it’s in better shape than it was when you dropped it off. It runs now, and that’s the important thing, eh?”
“As long as it will get me around town, I’m happy with it,” Lilah told him. She couldn’t wait to have her own vehicle again. She’d spent the last couple of months walking everywhere, or borrowing her neighbor’s when she needed it. “How much do I owe you?”
He told her the number and she winced. That would be almost all of her savings from her temporary job at a local farm over the Halloween season. Still, she needed her car back. With a sigh, she reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook. The little auto shop didn’t accept credit cards, so she would have to pay for this the old-fashioned way.
A few minutes later and a thousand dollars poorer, she pulled out of the auto shop’s parking lot and turned right, toward home. Having her car back gave her a wonderful feeling of freedom. No more borrowing Margie’s car, and no more walking everywhere under the sun. This would make it so much easier for her to achieve her next goal: finding the perfect place to open her cookie shop.
Lilah turned into her driveway and parked the car in front of her little yellow house. She listened to the sound of the vehicle idling for a moment, hardly able to believe how good it sounded. With a smile, she turned the key and let the old car rattle into silence before she got out and headed up to her front porch.
The yellow house was a rental, but she loved it as if it were her own. It had been her home for over two years, and she could hardly imagine living anywhere else. Her front yard was large and grassy, and the porch had a set of comfortable outdoor chairs and a small table where she liked to drink her morning coffee. The back yard opened up to a tangle of undergrowth, making her feel like she was in the middle of a jungle, especially when it was raining. To her left was an empty plot overgrown with trees and bushes, and to her right lived her friend and mentor, Margie Hatch.
Margie had strongly encouraged Lilah to think about opening her own cookie shop. The older woman was a prolific baker, and had taken Lilah under her wing just a few short months ago. Lilah had discovered a skill and passion for baking that surprised her. She’d never taken much time to cook before, having preferred the premade, easy-to-heat-up meals that she had largely grown up on, but now she was completely hooked. There was something intensely rewarding about taking a pile of ingredients and like magic, creating a plate full of delicious cookies.
A bubble of happiness rose inside her as she unlocked her front door. She was so excited to get started on the next step of her journey. She had told everyone who would listen about her plan to open a cookie shop in town; surprisingly, her friends all seemed to think it was a good idea. Given her track record with new jobs, she had thought that they would have more doubts. It made her glad to think that they had such faith in her.
“Hey, Winnie,” she said as she opened her door to reveal her beagle waiting eagerly on the other side. She wasn’t wagging her tail as much as her entire body. “I was only gone for about half an hour.”
Oscar, her orange tabby cat, gave her a sleepy look from his spot in the sun on the windowsill. He probably hadn’t even noticed that she was gone. She walked over to stroke him before heading into the kitchen with Winnie at her heels to deposit her purse and car keys on the table.
“Here’s a cookie,” she said to the dog. “A dog cookie, not a human one, though I know you like those too.”
The treat vanished from her hand as if the beagle was part vacuum cleaner. Doing her best to ignore Winnie’s hopeful stare for more, Lilah pulled a pitcher of filtered water out of the fridge and poured herself a glass, glancing at the stove’s clock as she took a sip. She had twenty minutes to shower, dry her hair, and get over to Margie’s. She would need to hurry if she didn’t want to keep the woman—her friend, business partner, and neighbor all rolled into one—waiting.
Fifteen minutes later, refreshed from her short shower, Lilah headed out her front door and across the yard to Margie’s house. She was unsurprised to see a car that she recognized next to her friend’s; it looked like Reid Townsend was over at Margie’s house again.
Reid had grown up next door to Margie—in the very house that Lilah now rented, in fact—and the older woman seemed to view him as a sort of son. She often had him come over to help out with tasks around the house such as fixing her screen door, replacing a broken porch step, or just helping out with yard work. Reid didn’t seem to mind, and somehow he always seemed to be over there when Lilah was going to go over.
Today, it looked like he was scrubbing the siding. He was up on a tal
l ladder with a push broom and a hose. As Lilah walked by, he looked down and the ladder wobbled threateningly. Alarmed, she reached out to steady it.
“Hey, Lilah,” he called down, looking unconcerned. “How are you doing? I see you got your car back.” He nodded toward the blue vehicle in her driveway.
“Yeah, it took a while, but she’s in working order again.” Cautiously, she let go of the ladder. “I’ve got to go in and talk to Margie. Are you going to be okay out here on your own? Shouldn’t you have someone… I don’t know, spotting you or something?”
“Are you worried about me?” He flashed her a grin.
“I just know how badly she’d feel if you fell or broke something because of the work you were doing for her.”
“Oh.” He looked slightly disappointed. “Well, I’ll be careful. It’s steadier than it looks.”
She was about to knock on the screen door of her friend’s house when he spoke again.
“Hold on, I almost forgot. Are you still planning on opening that shop and selling cookies?”
“I am,” she said, looking up at him again. “And yes, I’ll have all of the cookies you need done in time for the Thanksgiving event at your work.”
Reid was her very first official customer. Shortly after he heard about her plan to start her own business, he jumped at the chance to place a large order with her. She wasn’t set up for baking on that scale yet, but still, she was hardly complaining. He had paid handsomely, and had even offered to hand out her business cards at the event. The fact that she didn’t have business cards yet hadn’t deterred her from jumping on the opportunity.
“I’m not doubting you. I was just going to say, if you haven’t found a store front yet, I know someone who’s thinking of selling his building. It’s zoned for retail, and I think he’ll agree to a reasonable price. If you’re interested, I could take you to see it this week.”
“Really?” Lilah asked, her interest piqued despite her long-standing resolution not to encourage Reid’s unrequited attraction to her. “I haven’t found anything yet. I’d love to see it.”
“How about Tuesday?” he asked with a smile. This time she returned it.
“Sure.”
Inside, Margie greeted her with a smile. The older woman’s arms were full of bags of flour and sugar. She seemed to be clearing out her rather extensive pantry.
“What’s going on?” Lilah asked, breathing in the familiar, warm vanilla scent of her friend’s kitchen.
“I’m making a basket for you to take home with you,” she said. “You’re going to need a lot of flour for all of those cookies you’re making for Reid.”
“What are you talking about?” Lilah asked. “I thought we were baking them here.”
“Oh, you didn’t get my message? My son and his family are coming a week early. Something about extra vacation time his boss wants him to use up. I won’t be able to help as much as I’d thought. I hope you understand, Lilah, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you like this if I could help it. It’s just that I see them so rarely.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it on my own,” Lilah said as she took a bag of flour from her friend, trying to ignore her alarm at the thought of having to make hundreds of cookies on her own. “You just enjoy seeing your family.”
“Thank you, dear. If you can make it, I’d love for you to come to dinner the night after they arrive. I’ve told them all about you and your dreams, and I’m sure they’re dying to meet you.”
“If you’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding…”
“You’re family too,” Margie said firmly. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re not welcome here, whether my family’s here or not.”
Touched beyond words, Lilah helped her friend load up the large wicker basket of cookie ingredients in silence. Her life might not be perfect, but she certainly had been blessed with some exceptional friends.
CHAPTER TWO
* * *
Despite her friend’s kind words, Lilah couldn’t help but feel like something of an intruder as she walked toward her neighbor’s house a couple of evenings later. She had watched Margie’s family arrive from her living room window the night before. The man and woman, her friend’s son and daughter-in-law, had unloaded a surprising amount of luggage from their minivan, making her think that either they had overpacked, or they were planning on staying a while. Their three children had seemed happy and well behaved, each of them giving their grandmother a hug before hurrying inside.
Lilah, an only child whose business-traveling father had been absent more often than not, never felt exactly comfortable at big family events. Never having had younger siblings, she hadn’t had much practice talking to little kids, and the thought of three of them at once made her anxious. These were Margie’s grandchildren, after all. What if she said the wrong thing, and made everyone at the table hate her?
Telling herself to calm down, she raised her fist to knock on the door. It opened before she made contact, and she found herself looking down at a young boy. He looked up at her questioningly, but didn’t say anything.
“Um, hi,” she said. “I’m Lilah. Mar— your grandmother invited me to dinner.”
He pushed the screen door open, which she took as an invitation to come in, then ran away with a giggle. Already feeling somewhat off balance, Lilah let herself into the house. She was relieved to see Margie come into the kitchen just as she shut the door behind her.
“There you are, Lilah, I was just about to send Alexandria over to get you.”
“I told you, Gran, I want people to call me Lexi now,” said a voice from behind the older woman. A tween girl poked her head around her grandmother to take a good look at Lilah. “Mom wanted me to ask you where the knives are. We need one more to finish setting the table.”
“They’re in that drawer over there, sweetie,” Margie said. “No, the one next to the dishwasher. There you go.” She turned back to Lilah. “That’s my granddaughter, Alexandria. The little boy you met is Jacob, and the other little girl is Annie.”
“They’re cute,” Lilah said, not at all sure if it was the right thing to say. “I’m glad that they’re getting the chance to come and visit you.”
“Me too. I don’t get to see them nearly enough. I think I might take a trip to go see them next year. The little ones are growing so quickly.”
A timer went off, and Margie hurried over to the oven. Cracking it open, she grabbed a meat thermometer from the counter and stuck it into a delicious-looking ham.
“It’s ready,” she said after a moment. “Lilah, dear, will you take the fruit salad out of the fridge? I’m going to go tell everyone that it’s time to eat.”
By the time the four adults and three children had gotten themselves seated around the table, Lilah was convinced that Margie’s family had been snatched right out of a fairy tale. The children were polite, her son and daughter-in-law scrambled to make sure that Margie did as little work as possible, and the food, of course, looked like it belonged on the front cover of a magazine.
The table practically groaned under the weight of ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and fruit salad. If this was what a casual family dinner looked like for Margie’s family, then Lilah couldn’t wait to see what her friend whipped up on Thanksgiving. Her stomach growled embarrassingly loudly as she unfolded her napkin and put it on her lap.
“Now that everyone’s seated at last,” Margie said, “I’d like to take a moment to introduce everyone to my dear friend and neighbor, Lilah. She’s been a wonderful help these last couple of years. Lilah, this is my son Robby, and his wife Eliza.”
There was a round of the obligatory “nice to meet you” and “I’ve heard so much about you” while the children began serving themselves food, and in no time at all the daughter-in-law, Eliza, had drawn Lilah into a conversation about work.
“Margie tells me you work at the diner part time,” Eliza said, pausing to take a roll from the basket that was
being passed around. “Is that all you do?”
“I’ve had other jobs here and there,” Lilah told her. “In fact, I just got done with a seasonal job at a local farm.”
“A bright woman like you, I thought you were bound to be on some sort of career path,” Eliza said. She cut a small piece off of her slice of ham. “Oh well, it just goes to show how valuable a good education is, especially in this economy.”
“I have a bachelor’s degree,” Lilah said icily. “I just haven’t found the right career yet. And I’m perfectly happy working at the diner.”
Margie turned toward them, smiling, as she passed along the green bean casserole. She didn’t seem to notice the frigid atmosphere between the two women. “How is everything?” she asked.
“Wonderful,” Lilah said, quickly arranging a smile on her face for her friend. “The potatoes are just perfect. I can’t wait to try the beans.”
“Lilah was just telling me about all of the jobs that she’s had,” Eliza said.
“Oh, has she mentioned the cookie store?” Margie asked.
“No, she hasn’t. Is that another one of the places she’s worked at?”
“Oh, no, no. She’s planning on opening a cookie shop in town. She’s very gifted at baking. I think it’s a phenomenal idea.”
“That sounds nice,” Eliza said, turning back toward Lilah. “Expensive, though, I’d imagine.”
“I’m her investor,” Margie told her daughter-in-law with an even bigger smile. “I can’t wait to see the cookie store come to life.”
Eliza shot a glance toward her husband, but he was busy trying to convince their youngest child, Annie, that the green beans weren’t going to poison her. Her expression annoyed, she turned back to Margie.
“Do you think that’s really a good idea, Marge? What are you going to do if the business fails? I hope you’ve spoken to an attorney about this. You should draw something up in case she decides to run away with the money.”
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