Wedding Bell Blunders: A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery

by Kathleen Suzette

“I’m having a hard time believing his cousin is a drug dealer. He just doesn’t look like one.”

  “But Alec said that he was. He said he was dangerous. And if Alec said it, then it’s got to be true.”

  “I don’t doubt it one bit,” I said. Alec wouldn’t make a mistake about something like that, so it had to be true. But looking at Jared and taking him at face value, it was hard to imagine him being a drug dealer. But then, I had a hard time believing Richard had been a drug dealer, too.

  I looked up ahead and saw a runner coming toward us. I grinned. “Look who’s coming our way.”

  She looked up ahead, breathing hard. “I think I recognize that lone runner.”

  “Me too,” I said, and we kicked up our pace a notch.

  When we got closer, Alec grinned at us. “Well, it’s good to see the two of you getting out and getting some exercise.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him and came to a stop in front of him as he came to a stop. “You say that like we never do that kind of thing.”

  He shrugged. “It just seems like it’s been a while since I saw either of you out here.”

  “That was only because you two were planning your wedding,” Lucy said. “Maybe if she had a little more help from you, she would have been able to get out and get some exercise.”

  Alec chuckled. “Maybe so. Maybe so. What are you two up to today? Besides getting your exercise in?”

  I shook my head. “Alec, who do you think killed Richard Thomas? Honestly? Who have you got in your sights?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not really sure. I’d like to pin it on his cousin because everybody knows that he’s supplying drugs around town, but he’s a slick one.”

  “I don’t know, Alec. He seems like your typical boy-next-door.” We had discussed my trip to the grocery store, and he hadn’t been happy about it, but I told him I just happened to run into him while picking up ice cream. I didn’t go into too much detail about our exchange.

  “That’s why he’s gotten away with so much for so long.” He shook his head. “Honestly, it’s kind of amazing what he’s gotten away with.”

  “The police can’t put him away?” Lucy asked.

  “Oh, they’ve tried. Believe me, they’ve tried. And one of these days he’s going to get what he’s got coming to him. You wait and see.”

  “He’s that bad?” I asked.

  He nodded. “He’s been supplying high school kids with drugs. There just might be somebody keeping an eye on him as we speak.”

  I nodded appreciatively. “Good. If he’s selling drugs to kids, he needs to be put away for a long time.”

  “What a shame,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “Honestly, I don’t understand how people get involved in drugs and then do something like selling it to kids.”

  “It takes all kinds,” Alec said. “Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I’m going to finish my run.”

  He leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll see you later,” I said, and we headed on down the running path.

  “That Jared sounds like a bad guy,” Lucy said.

  She wasn’t kidding. As innocent and nice as he seemed, it would make him easily approached by people who might not ordinarily have gotten into drugs. Especially high school kids.

  ***

  When Lucy and I finished our run, we decided that a trip to the Cup and Bean was in order. I didn’t want to undo the good I’d done on my run, but I needed a coffee. And maybe even a scone. Okay, maybe I was going to undo the good I’d done on my run. We got in line and looked up at the chalkboard menu on the wall while we waited our turn.

  “That orange mocha sounds good,” Lucy said as we stood in line. “I like orange and chocolate together.”

  I nodded. “It does. So does the blueberry coffeecake latte.” I glanced at the display case that held the baked goods. I needed to back off the baked goods, but we had exercised, hadn’t we? Certainly we had burned enough calories to be able to indulge a little. We scooted forward as the line moved ahead, and when we got to the front counter, we gave our orders. I settled on an apple cinnamon scone and a blueberry coffeecake latte. Then we headed back to a corner table.

  Mr. Winters sat at the other end of the room, and he caught my eye and gave me a nod, then turned back to his newspaper.

  “Look who’s here,” I said.

  Lucy nodded. “I see. I wonder if he knows anything new?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll stop by his table before we leave.”

  I took a bite of the apple cinnamon scone and nodded appreciatively. “This is really tasty. I don’t think I’ve seen this in the display case before.”

  Lucy picked up her chocolate scone, took a bite, and nodded. “This is good too. They had new items in the display case today.”

  I glanced over to the opposite corner of the room, and I was stunned to see Della and Jared sitting at a corner table.

  “Don’t look now, but there’s an odd couple in the corner over there,” I said, looking at Lucy.

  Her eyes got wide, and she very slowly turned to look. When she turned back to me, her eyes were even bigger. “Wow. I never expected to see the two of them here together. What do you think is going on?”

  I shook my head and let my eyes travel over to where they were. Della was leaning forward over the table, and they looked like they were having an intense conversation. “I wonder what that’s about.”

  “Maybe Jared wants Richard’s job?” Lucy asked me, one eyebrow raised.

  I nodded. “Maybe. But don’t you think Della would know what Jared has been up to? I mean, if she knew that Richard was out back selling drugs, she had to have seen his cousin coming around from time to time. And if not, she would have heard the rumors.”

  Lucy shook her head and took another bite of her scone. “Drugs make strange bedfellows.”

  “You can say that again. I’m just shocked.”

  I took a sip of my coffee. Could Della really be ignorant of what Jared had been up to? He had to have appeared at her back door now and then while Richard was there. Or maybe Della didn’t care. Maybe she had her own drug issues, and she wanted to hire someone that could be her supplier.

  “You need to let Alec know about that. There’s something not right about it.”

  I nodded. “You can say that again.” I didn’t know what was going on between the two of them, but I certainly was going to find out if I could. I glanced over at Mr. Winters just as he stood up, folded over his newspaper, and tucked it beneath his arm. He picked up his cup of coffee and headed for the door. I frowned. “I guess Mr. Winters didn’t have anything new then.”

  Lucy shook her head. “I would have expected that man to find out something new for us. He’s slipping up on his work.”

  I didn’t know if Mr. Winters was slipping up on his work, but I wasn’t going to slip up on mine. I was going to find out what was going on between Della and Jared.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Happy anniversary, husband,” I said to Alec as he pulled me close.

  He kissed me and then pulled back. “Happy anniversary, wife.” He grinned. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Why did you drag your feet about getting married?”

  One eyebrow shot up. “Drag my feet? As I recall, it was you who was dragging your feet.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not true. It was you. It was all you. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” I grinned. But I wasn’t sure why we had waited. I was the happiest I had been in years.

  He chuckled and kissed me again. “Whoever’s fault it was, I’m glad that they got over it. We’re married now, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it.”

  I nodded and kissed him again. We had been married for two weeks, and the days had flown by. We had yet to go on our honeymoon, but that didn’t mean that we weren’t enjoying married life.

  “I’m ready for a nice, romantic evening in,” I told him.

  He still had his arms wrapped
around me. “Really? What does this romantic evening consist of?”

  I grinned at him. “Well, we’re starting right here and now with a little together time. After that, dinner will be served. I put together a romantic dinner for us.”

  “I like where this is going,” he said and kissed me again. “What’s for dinner?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t tell me dinner is more important to you than the together time?”

  He shook his head. “No, it certainly isn’t more important, but I am starving.”

  I chuckled. “I roasted two Cornish game hens and stuffed them with sage and chestnut dressing. On the side, we will be having rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes, and brown sugar glazed carrots. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds wonderful. And I really am starving, especially now that you’ve brought up all that food. The house smells pretty good, too.”

  “I know how to get to a man’s heart. Or at the very least, his stomach,” I said. The entire house smelled like roasted game hens, sage, and garlic, and it smelled delicious. “Guess what we’re having for dessert?”

  One eyebrow shot up. “Let me guess. Apple pie? You’ve made it a couple of times in the last week. Or how about carrot cake?”

  I shook my head. “No, while those are both tasty desserts, I made creampuffs. I was in the mood for something different.”

  Both eyebrows shot up again. “Oh, don’t torture me. Can we have dessert first?”

  I shook my head. “No. We’re not having dessert first. But dinner should be ready in just a few minutes.” I stood up on tiptoes and kissed him again.

  “I guess this will have to work for hors d’oeuvres,” he said and kissed me again, long and slow.

  The doorbell rang, and we jerked apart.

  “Who’s that?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe if we just ignore them, they’ll go away.”

  He nodded. “That’s a great idea.”

  It might have been a great idea, but the doorbell sounded again, and I sighed. “Seriously? Right now?”

  “Don’t mind the doorbell. Just ignore it.”

  I kissed him, but the doorbell rang again, and I groaned. “Let me go see who it is. I’ll send them away as quickly as I can.”

  He nodded. “Tell them whatever they’re selling, we’re not interested.”

  I hurried to the door, and when I opened it, Lucy and Ed were standing on the doorstep. I gasped. I had forgotten about them. “What are you two doing here?”

  Lucy frowned. “What do you mean, what are we doing here? We’re here for dinner.”

  I shook my head slowly. “No, you’re not. Why would you be here for dinner?”

  “I told you. Our kitchen is being remodeled, and we can’t cook.”

  How could I have forgotten? “Lucy, you hardly ever cook anyway. Just go get some takeout.”

  Ed chuckled. “Lucy, she’s got a point.”

  “Oh hush, Ed,” she said, her eyes never leaving me. “We’re starving.” She sniffed the air. “What is that I smell? It smells delicious.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said. “I heard the pizza place has a special going on right now.”

  Lucy squirmed in between me and the doorway and walked into the foyer. “Everything smells so good in here. Hey, Alec,” she said when he came to the ballroom doorway. “How are you doing?”

  Alec frowned. “I’m doing all right, Lucy. What are you two doing here?”

  “Is that how you greet all of your guests?” she asked, shaking her head and removing her coat. “I’m just going to put my coat in the closet.” She went to the hall closet and hung it up, then turned to me. “We can go if you really want us to.”

  I shook my head. “It’s all right,” I said as Ed pushed past me and into the foyer. “Come on in.”

  “It does smell good in here. Alec, you picked a good wife. She is a wonderful cook.” Ed removed his coat.

  “I know I did,” Alec said. “We were just getting ready to spend a romantic evening together.”

  “With a romantic dinner,” I added.

  “Really? Aren’t you over the romantic stuff yet?” Ed asked, handing his coat to Lucy. She turned and hung it up in the closet and closed the door.

  “What can I help you with, Allie? Do you need any help in the kitchen?” Lucy asked.

  I gave Alec a look and shook my head. “No thanks, Lucy, I don’t need any help.”

  I headed into the kitchen to take a look at the Cornish game hens. They were on the plump side, so I supposed that we could cut them in half, and each of us would eat a half. We wouldn’t starve.

  “What have you got in there,” Lucy said, coming to the oven and opening the door. She gasped. “Cornish game hens? Are you kidding? I love Cornish game hens. Not that I ever cook them, of course. They’re a lot of work. I’m starving.” She closed the oven door and turned to me.

  I nodded. “Me too.” I got to work and removed the Cornish game hens from the oven along with the roasted potatoes. The carrots were already done, so I put them into a serving dish, and Lucy helped me carry everything to the table in the dining room.

  Lucy stopped and looked at the dining room table. “Oh my, you were going to have a romantic evening. Candles and fresh flowers and everything. You did a lovely job.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad you approve.”

  “Oh, I do. I wish I had the energy to do something like that, but Ed wouldn’t care one way or another. There’s no point in me going to the trouble.”

  “Hey, candles,” Ed said, coming to sit down at the table.

  “I’m glad you like them,” I said. We had the food on the table within a few minutes, and we sat down. Alec lit the candles, glanced at Ed and Lucy, and then shrugged.

  “So Alec, how is the investigation going?” Ed asked as he helped himself to the roasted potatoes.

  Alec served himself one half of a roasted game hen and then looked at it as it sat by itself on his plate. “I guess it’s going all right.”

  I had already filled Alec in on seeing Della and Jared at the coffee shop. I helped myself to some glazed carrots. “I think that Jared had to have done it. If he’s as bad as you say he is, and as other people say he is, then he has to be the killer. I just don’t understand what he has to do with Della at the coffee shop yesterday.”

  “That looked pretty suspicious to me,” Lucy agreed, taking the bowl of glazed carrots from me and putting some on her plate. “It’s just weird. Della knew that Richard was dealing drugs from her back door, so she had to know that Jared was Richard’s supplier.”

  “Maybe he just wanted a job?” Ed suggested.

  “He might have,” I said. “But why on earth would she hire him? It’s suspicious.”

  “I don’t like it either,” Alec said as Ed handed him the bowl of roasted potatoes, and he put some on his plate.

  “Maybe the two of them were in on it together,” I said. “Maybe they had something on Richard, or Richard had something on them, and so they got together, and they killed him.”

  Alec looked at me for a moment. Then he nodded. “That’s a possibility. Once drugs enter the equation, anything could be possible.”

  “Yeah, people on drugs don’t think straight, and there’s no telling what they might end up doing,” Ed said.

  Ed had a point. Unfortunately, it could have been anything at this point. “And don’t forget that both Della and Jodi are diabetic. They could have had access to that medication.”

  “We just have to figure out why Richard would have taken it,” Lucy said.

  There were still plenty of questions about this case. But I could feel in my bones that we were closing in on the killer. My money, for now, was on Jared because he was the most obvious.

  Chapter Nineteen

  There were too many things that didn’t add up in this case for me to be satisfied to sit around the house and do nothing. I decided to go back to the hardware store to see if they had gotten any of their gardening i
tems in yet. It had only been a few days since I’d been there last, and I knew chances were that they hadn’t gotten much in, but I wanted to talk to Skip again.

  I walked down the aisles of the hardware store and then out onto the patio where I had last seen Skip working. I was surprised to see there were two more fountains next to the one I had looked at previously, and I headed over to take a look. One was a very simple white, round fountain. It was only about three inches deep, and it wasn’t anything like what I had imagined putting in my yard. The other one was a blue art deco style that was cute, but still not what I wanted. The original foundation was closer to what I had imagined, but I wanted a larger one. And I wondered if the hardware store would even carry one as large as I wanted. I probably needed to go to a specialty patio shop to find a larger one, but it was worth checking here first to see if they had gotten anything new in.

  “Hey, Allie,” Skip said, heading over to me. “We got a couple of new things in, but not much yet. The owner said she placed several large orders for garden supplies, so you keep checking back. I’m sure we’ll have what you need.”

  I turned to him and smiled. “I certainly will keep looking. These two new fountains are nice, but still not quite what I’m looking for.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, there wasn’t much on the truck for the outdoor department when it got here. I think there’ll be more next time.”

  I nodded. “Skip, how have you been?”

  He took a deep breath and then breathed out. “I guess I’m all right. Yesterday was Richard’s funeral. It was tough.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “How are you doing? And how is your mom doing?”

  He shook his head and glanced away. “I guess we’re doing as well as we can. Mom sure is struggling, but you know how she is. It doesn’t matter what happens to her, she always finds a way to push through.”

  I nodded. “Your mother is a strong woman. When your dad died, she had a tough go of it, but she took care of you boys just the same.”

  He looked at me and smiled sadly. There were tears in his eyes as he nodded. “She sure did. I guess me and Richard gave her a run for her money though.” He chuckled. “Richard certainly did.”