A Catered Christmas Killer (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery)

by Lee, Carol

  “How on earth would you embarrass anyone? You are an amazing cook – baker – and everyone loves you here in town,” he corrected himself and it helped to calm my nerves.

  “Thanks, but I just don’t want her to be all ‘Big City’ and make us look like we’re not as good as she is…”

  “No worries. Actually, she’s the one who should be worried.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because she’s going up against Myra Bailey and Dessert First; definitely a force to be reckoned with. Besides, I’ll bet that the cake she makes for the 4th can’t touch yours from last year.”

  “If it had been that good, why did the Council decide that she should bake the one this year?” I asked, knowing I was digging for compliments but I couldn’t help myself asking.

  “They are just as political as any other elected officials, friends or not. That was the splashiest, showiest way to have her be a part of the events. It really has nothing to do with you, even though it seems that way.”

  I nodded. “I guess you’re right, but I was hoping to top last year’s cake.”

  “Show off,” he said playfully.

  The bell jingled signaling another customer and in swooped Lizzie.

  “MB, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That Rachel Whey will be making the cake right here!” Lizzie sort of shivered at the thought.

  “We’ve been talking about this for a week, why is this new news?” I asked a bit amused with Lizzie’s crazy infatuation with the celebrity.

  “I know that. No, she’s going to make the 4th of July carnival cake right here in Dessert First! How could you keep that from me? How exciting!”

  “Wait, what? Here? I haven’t heard anything about that,” I said with surprise and disappointment.

  “Well, Rachel Whey tweeted it this morning so it must be true,” she said definitively.

  “I think your advance meeting just got a bit more interesting, huh?” David said. “As much as I’d love to stay and be a part of this very charged conversation, I think I’m going to go catch some bad guys so that I can actually get out in time for dinner.”

  “Chicken,” I called.

  “Cluck,” he said. He turned, blew a kiss and left.

  “Show me this tweet,” I said to Lizzie, who already had her phone set to show me.

  “So now she is going to invade my space,” I decided to punch down some bread dough to expel some energy. “What next? She isn’t staying at my house is she?”

  “Invade is a bit strong, isn’t it?”

  “No, it’s not. First, she is baking the cake that I should have been baking and now she’s taking over my shop so I can’t even be open to sell other things like my Red, White and Blueberry trifle.”

  “MB, you are missing the bigger picture. Dessert First will be put on the map with Rachel’s show! People will come to your shop just to see the space where she filmed. It’s great PR,” she said with excitement, but all I felt was abandonment.

  “I’m happy with my little business, Lizzie. I don’t need to be put on any map because I am doing just fine the PR from word of mouth right here in Fish Creek Falls.” I gave the dough one last punch as I covered it to rise again.

  “Yeah, I can see how content you are,” she smiled. “I know it’s not your thing, but give it a chance, it’s a holiday party weekend and it will be fun.”

  “You could be right. If the shop is unavailable, then I actually have to take a couple of days off, right?”

  “Now, you’re talking! Maybe Detective Hunky will take you to the fireworks. Oh, so romantic. I SO need a boyfriend,” she said with a faraway look in her eyes.

  While I still felt a bit railroaded, the prospect of a bit of time off to just enjoy being with David and the people of Fish Creek Falls, sounded really nice. I looked around the shop now with an eye for how it looked for filming. I hadn’t given it much thought since we had only been planning on a short segment, but if she was baking the whole cake here, then every nook and cranny had to be ready for filming.

  “Hey, you have some time before work, right?” I asked Lizzie to bring her back to Earth.

  “Yeah, an hour or so, why?”

  I grabbed the spare apron hanging on the hook to the storage room and tossed it to her without further explanation.

  “What’s this for?”

  “We need to get this place ready for filming! Start with washing the display cases.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she saluted, donned the apron and grabbed the glass cleaner.

  We chatted a bit as we started the spit polishing of the shop. Lizzie began to plan her outfits for the weekend. A while later the doorbells jingled again and Rachel Anderson, the owner of the clothes shop in town, came in with her usual flourish. Today, she wore a gray pant suit with spike heels bringing her height to nearly six feet.

  “Myra, Dahling, such excitement in the air, isn’t there? Almost no need for fireworks.”

  “Morning, Rachel, anything with Earl this morning?” I started to get her tea ready.

  She shook her head. “Oh, Lizzie, so good to see you. You simply must come in to the shop. I have the most exquisite accessories in especially for the 4th.”

  “I’ll be in after work this afternoon. I just told MB that I needed to put some pop into my clothes for the celebrations.”

  “I’ll set a few pieces aside for you, and of course, everything is at a discount for the holiday.”

  “I can’t wait,” Lizzie squeaked.

  She, like Rachel, always dressed impeccably for any occasion. I snuck a look at my jeans and running shoes as I steeped the tea. While I felt underdressed with the other two, I liked my jeans. Besides, with my signature apron with the slice of chocolate cake on it, no one saw my full outfits anyway. I brushed the flour off the apron and brought the tea to the counter.

  “I think I will have one of your scrumptious scones this morning. Do you have lemon, Dahling?”

  I nodded and placed one in a bag for her.

  “You must be so excited for the celebrity baker coming to town. I said to Millie and Mark just the other day, that we are so fortunate to have THE lifestyle maven right here and that we should have the mayor give her the key to the Town or something.”

  “Here’s your scone,” I said in an effort to interrupt.

  She nodded and kept right on talking about what the ceremony might be like, including the presentation being held at Mark’s theater and the music being played by the Regional High School band. “TTFN,” she said after she’d finally finished her speculations on the upcoming events and waved as she headed for the door.

  Lizzie and I looked at each other and laughed. Rachel always had grand plans for the town and had the best intentions for everyone, but she talked so much that sometimes you got lost in it all. David had the smile-and-nod technique perfected when he talked to her. That thought made me smile.

  “I guess she doesn’t know the latest about the Lifestyle Maven,” I said quietly.

  Lizzie just smiled and I could tell that she fully planned to fill her in when she checked out the accessories later. “You know, if anyone can get the mayor to have a ceremony, it’s Rachel,” Lizzie said.

  I went to get the muffins and some of the rolls out of the oven. I looked around my little shop. It had been my dream to open a bakery and even though it had been some work to make a go of a business in a small town, I had enjoyed every minute of it. I hoped that Rachel Whey would appreciate the town and shop as much as I did.

  Mark came in next. Since David and I had been officially dating, he had become much quieter, but he came in most every morning for coffee anyway. Mark had turned out to be a good friend even after we broke up. In fact, he had been the one to tell me about the building that is now Dessert First.

  “Morning, Bailey,” he said, always using my last name instead of my first.

  “Morning Mark. Coffee? Anything with it today?”

  “Coff
ee and I need a Death by Chocolate cake for a cast party.”

  “Right,” I poured his coffee and boxed up the cake for him. Lizzie finished the cases and came up to the counter with the nearly empty roll of paper towels and cleaner.

  “Hey, Mark. How’s tricks?” Lizzie asked and elbowed him playfully.

  “I’m doing okay. How about you, Lizard?”

  Lizzie and Mark had a love/hate relationship. When Mark and I were in love, they hated each other. Now, they were cordial and even friendly on occasion.

  “Better than ever, thanks. Hey, MB, I gotta blast to work, so I’ll catch you later.” She looked down at her hands. “I think I need to get my nails done, now.”

  “Send me the bill. I’ll put it under maintenance costs,” I laughed.

  “I’ll remember that you said that. Later.” Lizzie grabbed her purse and left.

  I took Mark’s money. “Do you need any napkins or plates for the party?”

  “Not this time, thanks. This cast party is totally funded by the FCF bank and will be off the hook. George’s son is the lead and so there has been no expense spared. Having a father who is the bank president helps sometimes, I guess.”

  “I’d say so. Hope it goes well.”

  “We’ll see! See you,” he nodded as he pushed the door open with his elbow.

  A while later my cell rang and I didn’t recognize the number. I didn’t plan to pick it up, but at the last second, I did.

  “Hello, may I speak with Ms. Bailey, please,” said the man’s voice.

  “This is she.” I waited.

  “I am Jared Eaton, Ms. Rachel Whey’s personal assistant. I am calling to confirm that we are meeting at ten this morning at the Dessert First bakery.”

  “I am expecting Ms. Whey this morning,” I confirmed.

  “Very good. I shall be there a quarter hour before to make any adjustments before Ms. Whey arrives.”

  “Excuse me? What adjustments do you think you may need?”

  “I’m not at all sure, but I always arrive prior to Ms. Whey to make sure that the space meets her needs. I will speak to you soon, Ms. Bailey,” and with that, he hung up.

  I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. She’d be here only for a weekend. Forty-eight hours. I could handle forty-eight hours, right? I wondered what Jared was like in person. He spoke like he should have a British accent, but he didn’t.

  Jingling bells told me that someone else had arrived. I looked at the clock above the back door and saw that it was only eight fifteen. It wasn’t Jared.

  “Good morning,” I called as I moved to the counter.

  Millie Redmond, the wife of the District Attorney stood silently at the counter, smiling. “Hi Millie, coffee? No Abe this morning?”

  She shook her head and I moved to make her coffee. Millie had known me for about a year and still seemed extremely shy. Usually her husband did all of the talking for her. She rarely came into the shop by herself.

  “Everything okay, Millie?” I asked. She usually would have at least greeted by now.

  “Yes,” came the whisper-like voice. “I just wanted you to know that I think it’s too bad that you aren’t able to bake the carnival cake for the celebration this year. You have been so wonderful to all of us in town and I think the Council is crazy. That’s all.”

  My surprise at her saying so many words at once made me almost miss what she actually said, but when it all sunk in, I really felt touched that she thought so highly of me. “Thanks, Millie. That means so much to me. Really, it means more than you know. At least she’ll only be here for forty-eight hours, right?”

  Millie smiled and padded silently to the door. I stood staring after her thinking about what a huge effort that must’ve been and it made me feel very wanted. The warm and fuzzy feeling disappeared as the door opened and in came Richard Hubbard, the Town Council Vice President.

  “Good morning, Ms. Bailey. Nice day today,” he said, completely unaware that I was disappointed in his cake making decision.

  “Good morning. It is a nice day. What can I get for you, Mr. Hubbard?” I asked, keeping my personal feelings outside of my business attitude.

  “Coffee with cream and sweetener instead of sugar, please.”

  I grabbed the cup and moved to the urns to pour his coffee. I could feel him watching me.

  “I hope you don’t have any hard feelings about your role in the Fourth of July Celebration. We, the Council, never intended to slight you in any way, but the opportunity for the Town needs to outweigh our feelings for your delicious cake.”

  “Well, at least you thought my cake was delicious. That’s a start,” I said as I handed him his coffee.

  “Oh yes! It was amazing,” he said with a smile, looking a bit relieved.

  He didn’t usually come into the bakery, so I didn’t know him well, but he seemed sincere enough with all that he said and I did appreciate the visit to talk with me. Small town.

  “Thank you so much for coming in to speak with me, Mr. Hubbard. It means a great deal to me.”

  “It’s Richard. Call me Richard, please.”

  “Well, Richard. It was nice to chat with you this morning and I hope you’ll come in again soon. Coffee is on the house.”

  “Oh, well. Thank you,” he said with surprise and popped some bills into the tip jar.

  “Thank you for stopping in,” I said again. “Maybe I’ll whip something special up for the Labor Day picnic this year instead.” The thought just popped into my head, but it could be so much fun to decorate a cake for a picnic—complete with candy ants and checkered blanket.

  “That’s a fabulous idea. A new tradition in the making. I’ll pass it along to the Council.”

  I smiled and waved at him as he left.

  I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Way the Cake Crumbles. If you’d like to read more please click here.