by K. P. Hilton
REAL WOMEN EAT CAKE
(A Yellow Rose Cozy Mystery – Book 1)
K. P. Hilton
About REAL WOMEN EAT CAKE
Betty Hitchens is preparing for the grand opening of her bakery, Betty's Cakes.
However, as the exciting day draws near, she's told that the storefront she occupies in downtown Yellow Rose, TX has problems which will delay the start of her new enterprise. To make matters worse, her daughter is giving her fits and a dead body is discovered in the alley behind her new shop. This generates plenty of publicity, only not the kind that she was hoping for.
Though the police are hard at work on the case, Betty and former newspaper reporter Martin Lane decide to help out with a little investigating of their own. Betty's persistent questions draw unwanted attention, however, and soon the killer's attention shifts to her and Martin.
Table of Contents
Title Page
About Real Women Eat Cake
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Betty's Banana Cupcakes
About the Author
Copyright © 2015.
All rights reserved by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to any persons, living, or dead, are completely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Betty Hitchens pulled the cake layer from her new commercial oven. Even though the fifty-year-old widow had been cooking for years, she never tired of the sticky sweet aromas. She'd taken an order for a giant wedding cake from her neighbor, Stella Watson, complete with blue and white fondant and wanted it to be the first cake she made in her new shop, Betty's Cakes. She'd been operating out of her home for the past few years and business had grown enough that she could afford the costs of a small storefront in the middle of downtown Yellow Rose, TX. She cut the test cake into thin wedges and carefully nibbled one. Pleased with the results, she had another.
Her husband had passed on half a decade previously. His government pension continued to arrive each month and, even though the amount wasn't much, it was enough for her and her then sixteen-year-old Brianna to live on. Her oldest, Bobbi, lived nearby but was married and didn't rely on her for support. After awhile, Betty grew bored of her daily routine of cooking, cleaning, and finding new hobbies to fill the hours of her days and had turned to baking. Enough of her friends thought Betty's cakes were better than most of the store-bought cakes and eventually she'd turned her avocation into a business, which she ran from her home.
Betty heard someone calling from out front. She brushed some errant crumbs from her face, wiped her hands on her apron, and went out to see who it was.
“Oh. Hello, Camden,” Betty said, smiling, still wiping her hands.
“Morning, Ms. Hitchens. Thought you might be back there,” the burly man said. He was dressed in work overalls and a faded denim shirt. "Kind of early for you to be tinkering around, isn't it?” Camden Jenkins, along with his son, were the men Betty had hired to install the cooking equipment and fixtures inside the storefront.
Betty shrugged. “I'm an early riser. After taking care of a few chores around the house, there was nothing else for me to do. So here I am.”
Camden nodded, indicating that he was still listening, even as he began inspecting his work from the day before. Now that the oven and sinks had been installed, he concentrated on a display case and shelving out in front. Besides cakes, Betty planned on making a small assortment of pastries. She and her husband had once vacationed in Montreal and she wanted to replicate some of the treats she'd fallen in love with years ago. Also, if the shop did well enough, she wanted to eventually make bread as well. But first things first.
“Morning, Ms. Hitchens,” David said, walking in. Camden's son was dressed similarly as his father and looked as eager to get to work. Betty returned his greeting and asked if either would like some of the coffee she'd brewed. Each politely declined.
“Got the furniture and other equipment for the front of the shop out in the truck,” Camden said. “Now that David's here, we'll start bringing it in.”
“That's great. I'm right on schedule to open the store first part of next week.”
Camden and David began unloading the tables and chairs. They were of a simple design and fit in with the décor of the shop, which included stained wood trim and a hardwood floor. Betty took charge of the smaller items like the mixers and cake pans as the men brought them in.
A moment later, a lanky individual with thinning hair and three days' beard growth poked his head through the front entrance.
“Hi, Shaun,” Betty said. “We're unloading some of the equipment. I wasn't expecting you to finish up the electrical work until tomorrow.”
Shaun stepped inside. He made a low noise in the back of his throat, then scratched his head as he glanced down at the floor. “Right,” he said. “About that...”
“Is something the matter?” Betty asked, not liking the sound of his voice. She knew Shaun was a straight-forward individual who was generally happy and upbeat.
“I'm afraid there is. It has to do with the wiring in the building here.”
“And...” Betty drawled, adding a bit more Texas twang than was probably needed.
“I got a call from John Able down at the county courthouse late yesterday afternoon. He said your permits are all in order, but the wiring will have to be updated before you can open.”
“I don't understand,” Betty said, looking surprised. “All of the paperwork was done months ago. I was under the impression everything was in order. Why are they just now getting around to saying that the building's not up to code?”
“It's the government, Betty. You know how that goes.”
Betty shook her head. “Well, the first thing to do is not panic. There's got to be a solution in this somewhere.” She sighed and tried looking at the brighter side of things like she always did when life wasn't going her way. “At least in comparison, the rest of the week should go well.”
The shop's front door opened again and Brianna stepped in. “Oh good, you're here,” she said, addressing her mother.
“Of course, I am. There's still a lot of work to be done.” Betty remarked. “By the way, why aren't you getting ready for class at the community college?”
“Oh, didn't I tell you?,” Brianna said brightly, her smile a mile wide. “I dropped out. I'm going to be working here with you instead.”
There was a brief moment of silence when all that could be heard were the cars puttering down Main Street. Camden grabbed a chair and placed it behind Betty as her knees started to flex and give. He and the rest of the men soon found activities that kept them out of the front of the shop and away from the conversation that was about to ensue.
Chapter 2
The morning sun bore down on the citizens of Yellow Rose like a laborer driving a nail through a 2 x 4. Though b
arely nine o'clock, the temperature was already close to ninety degrees with the forecaster on the local radio station predicting a hundred by early afternoon. May had turned out to be a scorcher.
Betty adjusted the air vents in her Ford Explorer so they blew directly on her. For some reason, the air didn't feel as cold as usual to her. She made a mental note to have one of the mechanics at Billy's All-N-1 Lube check the coolant level next time she went in for an oil change.
“What is that girl thinking?” she said aloud, referring to Brianna. “She's only a year away from graduation. She knows how important a good education is. She knows.” Betty and her late husband had never sat down and talked about what their daughters would do after high school. They'd always assumed that they would get their degrees. Bobbi had taken classes at the University of Texas, an hour north in Austin, and was finishing up her training as a physical therapist when she met and later married her husband, Gary. They lived and worked in the Live Music Capital of the World but frequently drove down on weekends and days off to visit.
Betty did her best to push thoughts of Brianna from her mind until later. She would sit down and try again later to talk some sense into her daughter. She'd wanted to talk more at the store but the wiring issue took priority for now. Plus, Brianna wasn't really listening to her, anyhow.
She pulled into the county courthouse parking lot and, finding no shaded spaces available, parked as close as she could to the building. She got her purse and a folder full of papers and headed up the concrete steps. The building was two stories tall and made of limestone. She pushed open one of the heavy metal and glass doors and stepped into cooler temperatures.
She checked the directory and found where John Able worked, which was Room 222 there on the first floor. She headed for his office, nodding 'hello' at those she met along the way. Her shoes made a soft rhythmic clicking against the marbled floor.
She found the room and walked in. “I'm here to see John Able,” she told the woman behind the counter.
The clerk was seated on a well-worn stool and used a computer that looked like it was manufactured shortly after DOS went obsolete. “Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked, looking up.
“No. But he's expecting me. I think. It's a long story,” Betty said as she breathed in deeply and gathered her thoughts. “Could you tell him Betty Hitchens is here, please?”
The clerk finished her data processing and said, “Wait here. I'll see if he's in.” A moment later she returned. “Follow me,” she said.
Betty pushed past a pair of small chest-high swinging doors and around the corner. The clerk motioned Betty into a room, then returned to her station. John Able, seated behind his desk, rose and greeted her. Betty sat in one of two plastic chairs opposite him.
“I take it you talked with Shaun,” he began, taking his seat again.
“Yes. I think I've got the gist of what's going on. The wiring in the building where my bakery will be is old and outdated.” John nodded. “Here are the permits that have been filed and the other paperwork that's been filled out and approved.” Betty laid the paperwork across John's desk. “The two things I need to know are, why is this just coming up now, and what needs to happen next?”
John cleared his throat. “First, let me say I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience. We've had some recent personnel changes and several of the departments have gotten behind on their duties as a result.”
“Life happens,” Betty said, failing in her effort to sound sympathetic.
“Exactly,” John said. “As to your second question, the only thing to be done is to have new wiring put in.”
“How long do you think that will take? I'm scheduled to open next week.”
“That's something you'll have to discuss with the person or company you hire to have the work done.”
“I don't own the building. Hank Blevins does.”
“Then getting hold of him would probably be your next step, I would think.”
The pair talked for another few minutes. Betty eventually stood, thanked John, gathered her paperwork, and headed outside. As she got into her vehicle pondering what she should do next, she heard the familiar chirp from her phone and looked at the screen. She read the message, which was from Brianna. Betty headed for home trying to decide what to say to her landlord when she contacted him later in the day.
Chapter 3
Brianna had texted her mother that she'd gone to the house for lunch. The twenty-one-year-old had continued living at home after graduating from high school, which had helped hold down expenses while she attended Carrollton Creek Community College. Her mother worried that she was missing out on gaining additional independence and receiving the full college experience like her sister Bobbi. Secretly, though, Betty enjoyed the extra company and was glad to have her around.
The pair had talked intermittently throughout their light noonday lunch of rice and vegetables. Betty generally had her big meal of the day in the evening and Brianna was inching toward a vegan diet – a move hindered by her love of barbecue.
They finished eating as the stove's timer went off. Betty opened the oven door and pulled out a muffin tin containing twelve banana cupcakes. She carefully placed two of them on separate plates, which she then put on the the kitchen table.
“So,” Betty began, pulling off a chunk of cake and keeping her voice even. “You said earlier that you decided to drop out of school. Can you tell me some more about that?”
“Not much to tell, actually. After exams next week, I'm done. I'm thinking about getting my license and becoming a stylist.”
Betty breathed a little easier. Earlier, Brianna had made it sound like she was walking away from a whole semester's worth of classes.
“Okay. Why the sudden change? When you started at Carrollton three years ago you were intent on becoming a pharmacy technician. Becoming a stylist is a pretty drastic change, don't you think? Especially after three years of studying in the health field.”
Brianna fidgeted in her chair. Betty was trying to get a fix on her daughter's body language since that usually told her more about what was going on in her girls' minds than the words they used. But today she was having a hard time getting a handle on things.
“People change their minds all the time, Mama. Even you. You were engaged to that man in Dallas for over a year before Daddy came along. Then six weeks later, bam, the two of you were married. And that turned out well, right?”
Betty's face reddened. The story was true. She had changed her mind once when she was younger. And it had turned out for the best.
“That was different,” she said, popping another piece of cake into her mouth and chasing it with a large gulp of iced tea.
Brianna looked puzzled. “How so, Mama?”
Betty's mind churned. “I can't put it into words right now, but it just is.” She'd wanted to say, Because I said so, that's why – but Brianna was too old to accept that at this point in her life.
“You said you needed at least one more employee to get things started at the store. Fred and George will do great with the customers and deliveries, but they can't assist you with the baking and cake assembly like I can.”
Which was true. Fred and George, brothers who attended the same college as Brianna and had agreed to work part-time, were bright and got along well with others. Yet they lacked cooking and kitchen experience. Brianna, on the other hand, had helped her mother with baking for a long time.
“Besides, they probably couldn't put up with your fussiness in getting the cakes just right. Bobbi and me are the only two who know how to deal with your stubbornness,” Brianna teased.
“I'm not stubborn,” Betty said, thinking. “I'm tenacious.”
“What's the difference?” Brianna asked.
“Tenacious sounds better.”
Brianna laughed. “You're so stubborn you can't even admit you're stubborn.”
Betty massaged her temples. “Okay, for now let's say you can help out for the summer. We
'll figure out your work hours later.”
“And pay?” Brianna said hopefully.
“You get free room and board already, young lady. You expect more?” Betty said, exasperated. “Fine, I''ll think it over and we'll discuss that later as well.”
Betty finished the last of her cupcake and fought off the temptation for another. She tended to overeat when she was stressed. And today her stress level was growing by the minute. A sharp electronic chirp broke the momentary silence.
Brianna pulled out her cell phone and stared at it. “Gotta run. My ride's here. I'll be back sometime this evening.”
Still deep in thought, Betty nodded. “Okay. Have fun studying for your exams,” she said, thinking her daughter was off to the school library with one of her friends.
Brianna paused ever so briefly, smiled at her mother, then went to her room and gathered several items before disappearing outside. Betty began putting things away when a thought hit her – Brianna didn't have any textbooks with her when she left.