by C A Phipps
The twins gave each other a high five, smacking flour across their faces and clothes as they took the warm cookies and stuffed them into their mouths.
She frowned, taking a step back. “Perhaps you could mix at the table which is a bit lower? And next time you should both wear aprons.”
Luke was wearing one of the bakery aprons Maddie had purchased for them all with the Maple Lane Bakery logo emblazoned in pink across it. There happened to be a whole shelf of them in the alcove, because she liked to have a clean one every day and spares in case they had an accident, which often happened with frosting or mixing.
She also wanted all her staff to look clean when serving in the shop, so Gran took the dirty one’s home and brought them back in pristine condition, something Maddie was grateful for.
“Oops. That’s my fault. I should have thought about the aprons. I hope Mrs. Dixon won’t be mad?” Luke was shamefaced.
Maddie laughed and, using a cloth, wiped small faces attached to resistant bodies, but she wouldn’t be deterred. At least now they could see what they were doing. A little flour still clung to lashes and hair which they didn’t give a hoot about it, or the crumbs that dropped from their cookies and tumbled down their t-shirts. She tried to ignore the fact that some, (quite a bit), made it to the floor along with flour and cookie dough.
“Will there be many people at the community center today?” Jesse asked around his mouthful.
“The group has more than thirty members, I believe. Since it’s not their usual day for afternoon tea, I don’t think we can expect all of them to turn up today. Still, they can tell their friends for next week and since we put up a few flyers and Angel and Isaac have them up in their stores there might be other people dropping by.”
“Are your bowls ready for the next batch?” Luke called them back to the counter.
“I sure hope heaps of people buy these,” James said, as he mixed his dry ingredients, and added the eggs that Luke had cracked, from a separate dish beside him. His tongue poked out and caught between his teeth.
They were ridiculously cute and she hoped they would have success. Luke had everything under control, so she left them to it.
She had begun to devise a plan for the new cooking class for ten paying attendees. It would mean sacrificing the Girlz Saturday night group, but one class a week was more than enough when she put in such long days. Plus, she wanted to make time for Ethan. If they were to take their relationship any further, then she had to do her share.
With so many enquiries about the class, she was excited by the prospect and not worried about getting the numbers. Passing it by the Girlz might be a little trickier, since they had loved their private lessons.
Ethan arrived as she was putting fancy plates on the back seat of Honey. He gave her a quick kiss.
“I hear you’ve branched out into the cookie selling business on Saturdays now?” he teased.
“Not me exactly. But there are two new bakers using my premises, and they’ll be cooking up a storm for the next couple of months.”
“Be careful what you wish for. A storm might be a very appropriate analogy if I know my nephews.”
Maddie laughed. “They’ll be under Luke’s tutelage, so I feel like they’re in good hands.”
“I have no doubt, but you should be prepared for the worst ⏤then you might be pleasantly surprised.”
“It’s not like you to be so pessimistic.”
He grimaced. “Oh, it’s not pessimism. When it comes to my nephews I feel a compunction to speak the truth. It seems only fair to share my knowledge with the uninitiated, especially when your kitchen is usually so pristine, the polar opposite of any space they inhabit.”
He winked at her and despite the small lurch in her stomach, she laughed again.
“Your warning is duly noted.”
Angel and Laura waved from across the road where the yoga class Noah Jackson taught had just finished. Maddie had worked hard in her apartment this morning, yet she couldn’t help feeling lazy around her friends. They came over to the low stone wall which separated her property from the street. Both women gave a grin, and Angel nudged Laura. Maddie figured that it was all about Ethan being there and decided to ignore them.
“Lovely day,” Angel noted. She always wore a sunny smile, which today, more than any other, perfectly matched her yellow top and multi colored leggings.
“You should put your jacket on,” Laura said to Angel as she shrugged into her own. “You don’t want to get a chill.”
Laura was a good friend, if a little anxious about too many things. Her clothing was more somber—black leggings and a black top—but, with her red hair adding a riot of color, she was just as attractive. Especially when she smiled.
Helping Laura become more confident and smile more often was a mission Maddie had every confidence would succeed. After all, Laura lived with Gran and was Angel’s friend, so how could it not?
Not one for being told what to do, even if it was with good intentions, Angel wrapped her jacket around a trim waist “I’ll be fine. I’m still too warm. How’s the kitchen surviving, Maddie?”
“Oh, yes, it’s cookie day with the twins.” Laura looked towards the window.
Maddie pretended horror. “Don’t remind me. I saw the kitchen earlier and let’s just say that the place isn’t how I left it last night.”
Ethan raised his hands. “I tried to warn you.”
“You should have tried harder,” she grinned at him.
Just then Beth Roberts, Angels intern from the salon, came around the corner. She stopped mid-stride, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights. Beth had hardly been seen outside of work since she went to court several weeks back. Having to explain her involvement in the petnapping had taken its toll and she was naturally wary about being around people and having them judge her.
“Morning, Beth. I thought you were taking the day off? Did you want me for something?” Angel asked.
“No. I . . .” The girl snapped out of her shock, but was clearly upset by the encounter.
“Everything okay?” Ethan pressed.
Beth looked down at her feet. “Yes.”
“Have you come to see Luke?” Maddie took a wild guess. The girl was here for a reason and if it wasn’t to see Angel then that narrowed it down considerably.
She looked up, warily, giving Maddie the impression that she’d like to run away. Then Beth squared her shoulders.
“Yes. He said he was having a baking lesson with the twins and I thought I could join in. Maybe help. If that’s okay with you?”
“Divide and conquer type of thing?” Ethan teased.
She frowned. “Pardon?”
“Never mind the Sheriff’s sense of humor.” Maddie waved her up the path. “Go ahead. I’m sure Luke could use all the help he can get.”
Beth gave her a grateful look as she skirted them all and went inside.
“I guess it’s going to take some time before she gets over the embarrassment of being involved with Luke’s brother in the pet stealing.” Angel noted.
“It’s only been a few weeks.” Ethan reminded them.
“No-one blames her, do they? Or Luke, for that matter?” Angel didn’t appreciate animosity.
Ethan frowned. “There will always be the few who aren’t accepting of someone who’s associated with a felon.”
“I imagine Luke is the one hardest hit by the reaction of those kind of people.”
Laura was Luke’s biggest champion which may have been due to her own trouble with fitting in.
Maddie sighed. “He is affected, but he’s put a brave face on things and tried to be loyal to all parties. Now everyone knows about his brother, I guess as much as it is an embarrassment, it’s also a relief.”
Angel shivered, despite the sun, and slipped on her jacket, to Laura’s approval.
“I hope things have settled down in our little town for a while.”
“Me too.” Laura agreed.
Maddi
e and Ethan looked at each other. It was a split second. Nothing more.
“What was that about?” Angel demanded.
“Sorry?” Maddie could feel her cheeks warm.
“That look I just saw. Don’t play innocent with me, my friend.”
Ethan coughed. “You haven’t seen anything odd around town have you?”
“I knew it! Like what?” Angel was instantly intrigued.
“Like a van, parked for a long time in one place?”
She tapped a long pink nail on her bottom lip. “A white one?”
Ethan took a large step towards her, but the wall hampered him getting any closer. “Let me get this straight. You have seen a van, and it’s white?”
Maddie slapped a hand to her forehead. “Wait a minute. Mavis was saying that a white van has been parked at the retirement community for a whole day. . . “
He spun back towards her. “You just remembered that?”
Maddie nodded, as surprised as Ethan at having forgotten it. “And I think it might be Owen Kirk’s.”
“Should I know that name?”
“He’s the regular delivery man from my main supplier. He even has a scar over his right eyebrow.” She grimaced at her inability to put the two together until now.
“Okay, you two. Now you have to tell us what exactly is going on?” Angel demanded.
Laura had lost the thread of the conversation, but she swung her legs over the wall, eager to get as close as she could and hear more. Angel quickly followed.
They couldn’t go inside because of the boys, so Ethan nodded towards Maddie’s garage and headed inside followed by the Girlz who formed a semi-circle around him.
“First, at this moment there is no crime and we’re not looking for one.” He glanced at Maddie. “We found some unusual activity and I am looking into it.”
“You and Maddie found it?” Laura asked.
Angel tutted. “That’s the ‘we’ he’s talking about.”
Ethan had a pained expression. “That’s true, but from here on I’ll be dealing with it.”
“You haven’t said what ‘it’ is.” Laura pressed.
He wasn’t in uniform, but Maddie wasn’t surprised to see him take off his cap and give it a few hard twists. At least it saved his Sheriff’s hat, which was usually the recipient of this harsh treatment when he was vexed.
“There isn’t much to say. At this stage it looks like we have a delivery man hanging around a couple of shops and driving over grass areas where he shouldn’t.”
“That’s it?”
He looked affronted. “Angel, all investigations aren’t necessarily filled with excitement. Often there’s a simple explanation for odd things that happen.”
“Then why the secrecy?”
“Because, if the person of interest knows he’s being watched or that people are aware of his activities, then they may get more cunning and deceptive.” Maddie explained.
Ethan nodded. “You’ve hit the nail on the head. This is not an official investigation, but we can still take precautions for those very reasons.”
Angel hardly had time to digest that before she offered, “Do you want our help?”
Ethan gave her a wary look. “In what way?”
“We could ask our customers if they’ve seen a white van. Maybe someone knows the driver and it’s not Owen, after all.”
Maddie smiled. “That’s an excellent suggestion.”
“He doesn’t strike me as a criminal.” Laura interjected. “The orders are always correct.”
“Criminals come in all kinds of packages. Which doesn’t mean we should be suspicious of everyone.” Ethan hastened to add.
Angel gave him a measured look, then shrugged. “Alright. If there’s no actual crime I’m heading home for a shower before my first client arrives.”
“Me too. I promised Gran I’d help her and Maddie at the community center this afternoon.” Laura followed her out of the garage.
“What was that about?” Ethan asked.
“How do you mean?”
His hat suffered another twisting session. “Their capitulation. It was a little quick, especially for Angel.”
Maddie laughed. “You probably don’t need to worry, but they are going to bug me.”
“About the investigation?”
“Possibly, but I think it’ll be more about you and I.”
His eyes twinkled. “Ahhh. Well, you heard Cora yesterday. What are we waiting for?”
He took a step to close the gap between them and took her face in his hands. Their eyes locked for several moments, then her eyelids fluttered as his lips dipped down to touch hers.
It was a wonderful kiss. Not a peck, as all the others had been. Not the kiss of the teenagers they were so many years ago. This was the kiss of a man and a woman who were at the beginning of something. It felt so right that she leaned against him, not wanting it to end.
When he released her she was disappointed for a moment. Until he rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip, sending a shiver all the way to her toes.
“Let’s go somewhere? Tonight. Just us.”
As much as it sounded like the best idea ever, she had other plans.
“I’ve got the baking class. What about tomorrow night.”
He frowned. “Sunday?”
“What’s wrong with Sunday?”
“Nothing. It just seems so far away.”
He couldn’t have said anything sweeter and she loved that he wasn’t afraid to tell her he was just as eager to be with her as she was to be with him.
“I’m not doing anything now. We could have brunch at the diner?”
His head tilted. “We could.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in there. Ethan, if you have other plans, that’s fine.”
“Nothing concrete, but I was thinking of heading over to the Sunny Days Retirement Community.”
“Is that all? I could come for the drive, then we could have brunch after?”
“Don’t you have to go to the community center?”
She shook her head. “I’m not expected until the afternoon and not urgently if Laura’s going to be there too.”
“Still, it’s not quite what I pictured as a first date.”
She smiled and took his hand. “Me either, but I don’t mind.”
“Then, strangely enough, neither do I.” He kissed her knuckles. “I’ll wait for you in the car. Seeing me might work the boys up into a frenzy.”
“Good point.”
She ran inside to tell the bakers, trying not to notice the mess, but acutely aware that Beth and Luke looked very comfortable with each other.
“Luke, would you mind driving Honey with the cookies over to the center, when they’re done? Or you could take them in your car if you prefer?”
“Are you serious? I’d love to drive Honey. She’s a classic.” His face reddened as his enthusiasm ran wild. “Aren’t you coming to the center?”
She was delighted that Luke thought Honey so awesome. The jeep was incredibly special to Maddie. She did not hand out her keys lightly or very often.
“I’m going out for a few hours but I’ll meet you at the center for afternoon tea if you think everything will be okay here?”
She had promised Layla she would be around, but with Beth here they had a one on one experience that should be safe enough.
“We’ve got the last batches in the oven now. We’ll package them up, then I thought I’d make sandwiches for lunch. I baked a loaf of bread already.” Luke cast a side-long glance at Beth.
“Well done. That sounds like a great idea. Help yourself to anything out of the walk-in and Beth, please stay as long as you like.”
Beth smiled and Luke looked pleased. The twins were crouched in front of the oven, the aprons Luke had put on them after her suggestion earlier flowed around them and were filthy. The happiness on their faces made the dirty aprons not such an issue. Although, she hadn’t run that by Gran at any stage.
With everything organi
zed, she ran out to Ethan’s dark blue sedan.
Chapter Seven
The van was parked exactly where Mavis had said. Ethan parked in a visitors space and they went over to it. The windows were fogged up, which was odd since it wasn’t particularly cold. The engine was running.
Maddie and Ethan walked around the vehicle to the driver’s side. A shadow was slumped against the wheel. Ethan opened the door to reveal Owen Kirk, who didn’t move.
“Stand back,” he yelled as he held on to Owen with one hand, to prevent him from sliding out the door, and turned off the ignition with the other.
Maddie backed away as Ethan lowered Owen to the ground. He felt for a pulse, then glanced up shaking his head.
Maddie’s heart raced. She knew the answer, but still had to ask while calling for the paramedics. “He’s dead?”
Ethan nodded. “Has been for a while, I think.”
She turned away, not wanting to see Owen like this. He had always been an amiable, reliable man. Although she’d only known him for a few months, she had seen him every week.
With the call made, she snuck a look at Ethan who was crouching beside Owens feet. He took a small tool from his pocket and placed a sample of something off the shoes into a vial.
“What’s that?”
He sealed the bag. “Remember at the gallery how I said that the person there would have tobacco on their boot?”
“Owen? He does smoke, but I wouldn’t know the brand.”
Ethan held up the bag before placing it in his pocket. “This will tell us.” Then he put gloves on and went to check the front inside of the vehicle.
Maddie followed. There were cigarettes and a packet of matches on the dashboard.
“I guess that confirms that Owen is our loitering man?”
“Not at all. We can’t be sure that the ash at the gallery matches these cigarettes. Or that Owen smoked there.”
He was perhaps saying this for his own benefit, but she was completely baffled and her hands were tapping on her leg.
“Did he have a heart attack?”
“I don’t think so. Suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning? Maybe. There’s no hose inside the vehicle, so perhaps not. It’s too early to say but there’s definitely fumes involved somehow.”