by Carol Durand
“I can’t wait until all of this is over and we can go back to living our normal lives,” Missy said, reaching for his hand as he stood to go.
“That makes two of us,” Beckett agreed, leaning down to kiss her. “But then again, when is life ever normal?”
Chapter 17
Missy called Echo twice the next day, just to chat, and was a bit concerned when her friend didn’t answer the phone, so she planned to walk over to Sweet Love once her shop was closed for the day. Heading across the street around 3:30, she was surprised to find Echo’s helper, a high school gal named Donna, standing outside in front of the ice cream shop.
“Hi Donna,” Missy smiled. “What are you doing out here in the heat?”
“I showed up for my shift a few minutes ago, but Miss Willis isn’t here yet. She must be running late or something,” the teenager mused, scrolling through text messages on her phone.
“Hmm…that’s odd. Echo is usually here well in advance of opening time,” Missy frowned, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. She tried Echo’s number again, still no answer. Her next call was an urgent one to Chas Beckett. Walking around the side of the shop to have some privacy, she dialed his number.
“Chas!” she exclaimed when he answered. “I’ve been trying to reach Echo all day, and she’s not answering her phone, and now she’s not here to open Sweet Love, I think something may be terribly, terribly wrong,” she spoke urgently into the receiver, trying to keep her voice down.
“Echo is safe, but it’s a long story that I don’t have time to go into right now,” Beckett said, sounding distracted. “I’ll call you tonight to explain. You can go ahead and send Donna home, the shop won’t be opening today.”
**
Missy hugged her pale and shaken friend when she appeared on her doorstep, looking bedraggled and tired.
“Echo, oh my goodness, I’ve been so worried about you, please come in.” She led the somewhat dazed woman to the couch, and once she was seated, tenderhearted Toffee came over and gently laid her head on the distressed woman’s knee, peering up at her with sad brown eyes. The dog’s kindness was her undoing, and Echo burst into tears, reaching down to bury her face in Toffee’s fur as she cried, her arms around the dog’s neck.
Missy sat down beside her and put her arm around Echo’s shaking shoulders, letting her cry into Toffee’s silken fur, having done exactly that on several occasions lately. When her sobs eased a bit and she sat up, wiping her face, Missy gave her a huge hug.
“I’m going to make you some tea and warm up a Mango Madness Muffin for you, you look like you could use a snack,” she observed kindly, handing Echo a tissue.
“I don’t want to be any trouble,” her friend replied weakly.
“Oh honey, you’re in the South now, this is what we do,” Missy smiled.
Echo stroked Toffee’s silky ears. The sensitive animal stayed by her side, seeming to know the simple comfort that she was providing. Missy puttered around in the kitchen, coming back moments later with a warm, fluffy muffin and a hot cup of tea, placing them on the coffee table in front of her friend.
“Darlin, what happened to you?” she asked, brushing a tangle of auburn curls away from Echo’s face.
“Oh, Missy, it was awful,” she bit her lip. “So…I told you how excited I was that I had a date with Ian Barker,” she began. Missy’s stomach lurched at the sound of his name, now that she knew that he had most likely murdered not only his aunt, but Echo’s creepy ex-boyfriend as well.
“Yes, I remember,” Missy said, careful to not let her revulsion show.
“Well, he picked me up for a lunch date and he was, I don’t know, agitated. So I asked him what was wrong, and he started yelling about how he had found out that one of my ex-boyfriends was in town and how I should’ve told him and then he started talking crazy, saying how he had not only taken care of it, but how he had enjoyed it. I got really scared and told him that I wanted to go home, but he refused to turn around, saying that I was his now, and that I had to do whatever he told me to do. He drove really fast and recklessly and I didn’t know what was going to happen. Oh Missy, it was so scary, I didn’t know what to do.”
“Oh my goodness, Echo, I’m so sorry! Where did he take you?” Missy was horrified.
“He drove to his aunt’s house and parked in the back, where no one could see us from the street. When he stopped the car, I opened the door and tried to run, but the heel of one of my sandals caught on a root and I fell. Ian grabbed me from behind, twisting my arms behind my back so that I couldn’t get away, and when I screamed, he clamped his hand over my mouth and nose so that I couldn’t hardly breathe. There was an open door that led to the basement, and he dragged me down the stairs into this dark, smelly place, and made me sit in a chair. He tied my legs to the chair legs, tied my hands behind me and put a nasty rag in my mouth so that I couldn’t scream. It was awful, Missy, I thought I was going to die and no one would ever find me. Ian paced around like a mad man, ranting about how he was finally going to have the life he wanted. He talked about…” a small sob escaped her, and she had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. Missy reached for her hand, and Echo clung to her friend like a lifeline.
She recovered enough to continue, tears streaming down her face. “He bragged about killing his aunt, and said that now he owned everything he wanted, a house, some land, and me. He talked about buying a boat and sailing around the world and told me that if I didn’t behave myself, he’d throw me to the sharks.”
“Oh my goodness, Echo, that must have been terrifying for you,” Missy said sadly, as her friend sipped her tea.
“Well, thankfully, right after that, I heard sirens and a loudspeaker and in a matter of minutes, the police had surrounded the house and were blocking the basement door so that Ian couldn’t escape. He got really angry when he figured out that he was trapped, so he tipped my chair over and I hit my head really hard. I couldn’t really see what happened after that, but the next thing I knew, this really nice detective, Gilbert Johnson, was untying me and helping me outside. I saw Ian in handcuffs being stuffed into the back of a patrol car, and I was so relieved that I nearly fainted.”
“I can’t even imagine how awful that must’ve been for you,” Missy shook her head. “Do you want to stay here for a while? I could make us some dinner and we could watch a movie or something,” she offered.
“Thanks for asking, but what I really want to do, now that I know I’m safe, is go home and take a nice long bath, have a glass of wine and sleep for as long as possible.”
“I totally understand, but if you need anything at all, or even if you just have a nightmare and want someone to talk to, you call me, okay?” Missy insisted with love.
Echo nodded. “I will. Thank you for being my friend, Missy, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Anytime,” she replied, embracing her friend.
“Can I get this Mango Madness to go?” she gestured to her uneaten muffin.
“You know it!” Missy picked up the muffin and headed to the kitchen for a baggie to put it in. She handed Echo the muffin and walked her to the door, confident now that everything would be okay.
Chapter 18
The walls were up in the newly built Missy’s Muffins and More, the appliances were being installed in a week, and all that would be left to do was painting the whimsical lime green and pink colors of the interior, placing the furnishings in the seating area and stocking the kitchen. Construction had been completed well ahead of schedule, and it looked like Missy would be up and running again just in time for her Ghoulishly Good Ghost cakes that were light, fluffy and tended to disappear. They were a favorite among the kids of LaChance, who came into the store for them specifically, every October.
“The progress looks great,” Missy was pleased to hear the deep voice of Chas Beckett at her elbow. She turned, happily surprised and gave the handsome detective a big hug.
“I’m so excited, Chas,” she exclaime
d. “I’ll be able to have it up and running again before the holiday season starts.”
“That’s great news,” he smiled at her excitement. “What are your thoughts about maybe taking a vacation after the holidays?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I’m long overdue for a vacation. My trip to Vegas for the cupcake competition was supposed to be a bit of a vacation, but that didn’t work out too well,” she grimaced, remembering. “Why do you ask, trying to get rid of me for a while?” she teased.
“Hardly,” he responded, brushing a kiss across her brow. “I just know how hard you’ve been working and the…unusual set of circumstances that you’ve had to deal with, and figured that it might be about time for a break. You could relax, unwind, and have some personal time for a change.”
“That does sound lovely,” she admitted. “It’ll just depend upon whether or not I can get enough new people hired and have them trained well enough to feel comfortable entrusting my shops to their tender care.”
“How’s Echo doing these days?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Much, much better,” Missy grinned, thinking of her friend. “She’s so much more relaxed and carefree. Now that her secret is out, she doesn’t have to be careful about what she says and how she behaves, she can just be herself.”
“That’s good to hear,” Chas nodded. “Personally, I’m glad that the whole mess is over so that we can go back to being ourselves. I could stand right here in the middle of the sidewalk and kiss you if I wanted to.”
“Do you?” Missy asked playfully.
“Do I what?” he teased back.
“Want to,” she looked up at him with a gleam in her eye.
“What do you think?” he asked, inclining his head and pressing his lips to hers ever so gently.
Missy smiled against his mouth, kissing him back and glad from her head to her toes that life had returned to normal. She was more than ready to explore a relationship with this amazing man and move forward into a new chapter of her life, but first, she might just take that much-needed vacation.
Epilogue
Detective Chas Beckett strode into his office, a smile playing about the corners of his mouth after a nice lunch with Missy and an even nicer kiss to send him on his way. There was something about her sweetness that made him forget all about the daily rigor of investigating usually petty crime in the easygoing town of LaChance, Louisiana. He was very much looking forward to hatching a plan to take her away for a while, allowing her to find the rest and relaxation that she needed, under the warm Caribbean sun. The thought made him smile, and carried him through the rest of his mundane day. His life had certainly changed since he met feisty, warm-hearted petite blonde who had captured his interest, and he couldn’t wait to see where the path led from here.
A letter from the Author
To each and every one of my Amazing readers: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me what you think by leaving a review!
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Stay Curious,
Carol Durand