by Fiona Grace
“Don’t you understand what this means?” she said.
“Ow!” Ali exclaimed, trying to free herself.
But Delaney wasn’t letting go. “This is a big deal. Like a crazy big deal. I’ve been listening to Randy Recommends since I was a kid. He’s a Willow Bay institution. People hang off his every word. Whenever he recommends things, they blow up. One year he recommended moccasins and I swear everyone in town bought a pair.”
Bemused, Ali’s eyes darted over her shoulder to Teddy and Nate. They both looked as equally perplexed as Ali herself was feeling.
Delaney tightened her already bone-crushing grip on Ali’s hands, making Ali wince. “Thousands of people tune in to his show every week!” she bellowed, punctuating each word like she was talking to a room full of morons. “Thousands!
Slowly, it began to dawn on Ali what Delaney was telling her. Randy the radio host had a lot of sway in the town. Getting a shout out from him on his show wasn’t just a bit of free advertising, it was an endorsement. Pete might not have been able to save her reputation, but Randy could!
Ali fixed her eyes on Delaney. “Did you say th—thousands?”
Delaney’s blue eyes sparkled. “Yes! And they’ll all be coming by your store tomorrow to try your lemon and coconut cupcakes!”
She looked just about ready to explode. But it was all too much for Ali to take in. Five minutes ago, she was drowning her sorrows in rum she’d never get to flambé and feeding all the berries for the turnovers to a stray dog! Now Delaney was telling her there was still a chance to save the bakery? And that in order to do so, she’d have to pull off some impossible feat of marathon cupcake baking?
“But Delaney,” Ali said, shaking her head. “I don’t even sell cupcakes.”
Delaney grinned from ear to ear. “You do now!”
Her friend grabbed Ali’s crumpled apron from the counter and chucked it at her. Despite her spinning mind, Ali managed to catch the little tornado. She stared at it helplessly.
“Chop chop,” Delaney declared. “There’s no time to waste.”
“B—but I don’t have a cupcake menu,” Ali stammered. “A price plan. I haven’t tested flavors. I don’t know how to display them.”
“None of that matters,” Delaney said. “Just do whatever it is you did before to get Randy’s endorsement.”
Ali grew exasperated. Delaney wasn’t getting it. Ali couldn’t just whip up a thousand cupcakes overnight. Now she was really starting to panic at the enormity of the task ahead of her. And what would come of it anyway? She wasn’t a cupcake store. One crazy day selling cupcakes wasn’t going to be enough to save the store if she couldn’t follow it up with more.
“I don’t sell cupcakes!” Ali cried.
Finally, Delaney stopped. As Ali’s yell reverberated around the store, Nate looked awkwardly at the ground. Scruff quirked his head to the side and let out a confused noise.
Teddy, having finally snapped out of his state, hurried over to Ali’s side.
“It’s okay,” he soothed her.
“I just made that batch as comfort food,” she told him. “Because it reminded me of Dad.”
Teddy let a beat pass. “I know,” he said softly. “And do you know what? Dad would be crazy proud if he could be here to see you. This was your dream. The one you told only him about. And you have a chance to make it happen.”
His words were comforting, but Ali still resisted.
“Seaside Sweets is meant to be a patisserie,” she said in a meek voice. “That’s what I trained for. That’s what all those years at culinary school were for. I didn’t spend a year working with Milo Baptiste to make cupcakes.”
She felt a little ashamed to admit it. She knew it made her sound snooty.
Teddy raised an eyebrow. “Are those Mom’s words, or yours?”
His statement struck her. Her father had said almost exactly the same thing when challenging her plan to go to culinary school. When she’d been that high schooler, profiteroles and macarons hadn’t even been in her vocabulary. When she’d first dreamed up this idea, it had been all about cake.
Just then, Nate approached, looking cautious, like Ali was a bear he didn’t want to poke. “If people want cupcakes, Ali, there’s nothing wrong with giving them cupcakes.”
“He’s right,” Delaney added. “The people of Willow Bay want comfort food too. You’ve given people plenty of chances to buy your fancy French pastries if they wanted them.”
It was harsh but true. No one wanted her gourmet, high-end, “Victorian French” desserts. They wanted simple, fuss-free cupcakes. As loath as Ali was to admit it, Miriyam had been right all along.
Nate was right, too, about giving the people what they wanted. Teddy was right about Ali’s dream being polluted by her mom’s opinions. They were all right. All three of them.
As Ali looked from one face to the next, she felt overwhelmed by the support and encouragement they were giving her. If this was her one chance at saving her dream life in Willow Bay, and getting to live out her days with these good people by her side, then she was going to grab hold of it and not let go.
A fire erupted inside of her. She was going to save the store. That would be her new niche. The simple pleasures. It was a good way to approach life, in general.
“Okay,” she muttered, giving in. “Okay. I’m doing it. I’m making cupcakes.”
Everyone began to cheer and holler. Scruff started running around in circles, barking away happily in response to their sudden ebullience. Every nerve in Ali’s body was jangling with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.
There was just one problem. How the heck was she going to pull this off?
Ali stopped jumping. “How am I going to make thousands of cupcakes by tomorrow?”
A grin appeared on Delaney’s face. She grabbed three more aprons, chucking one at Nate and another at Teddy, before looping the third one over her head and tying it securely at her waist. “We’ll help. So, Chef, what first?”
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Ali woke herself with her own loud snore. Her head darted up. She pushed her messy blonde hair out of her eyes to discover she was alone, lying on the floor of her bakery’s kitchen. Daylight was beaming in through the glass fire exit door.
Groggy-headed and confused, she pushed herself to sitting, and glanced around to see piles upon piles of dirty dishes and bowls and utensils; washing up from the night before.
It all came back to her in a flood of emotion, and she leapt up to her feet.
It was the morning after the night of Randy Recommends! It was cupcake time!
Ali sprang to action, every limb and joint seeming to protest at her terrible sleeping position last night, as she whizzed from the storage fridge in the kitchen to the display fridge in the store, carrying armfuls of cupcakes with her on each trip. She could barely remember how exactly she’d come to fall asleep on her kitchen floor, beyond a vague recollection of thanking her friends for all their help in preparing the cupcakes and then sitting down to rest her aching legs, just for a moment. She’d evidently dozed off. That was to be expected, really, when you completed the marathon of all cupcake-making marathons.
Ali wished she had time to shower, but she didn’t. All she could do was sweep her hair to the side and rebraid it more neatly. As she did, she spotted something she hadn’t seen in all her rushing haste. There was a neat white cardboard box, just like the type she’d stockpiled to put takeout pastries in, sitting on the counter. It was wrapped in a large shimmering red bow.
Ali approached it curiously. Had Teddy left a gift behind for her? Or Delaney? It was the sort of sweet thing she could imagine one of them doing, but when they got the chance she had no idea.
Maybe it’s from Nate! she thought excitedly, rushing to the counter. A gesture of romantic intent!
She fumbled with fatigued fingers to untie the bow and pull open the flaps of the box. Inside were six beautifully presented, scrumptious-looking cannoli. Handmade, by th
e looks of it.
There was a note attached. Curious, Ali unfolded it and read.
I trust you can keep our secret. Free pizza for life.
Ali folded Fat Tony’s note away. It was a combination of a gift, a threat, and a thank-you. Ali wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. She had no intention of cozying up to the local mobsters, though it would be a good idea to keep them as allies.
Too tempted not to, Ali quickly fished out a cannoli from the box and bit into its crisp shell. The creamy ricotta inside was sweet and delectable, and flavored with a hint of salted caramel. The sugar rush was just what Ali needed to help her overcome her grogginess from her poor night’s sleep—or lack of sleep—on the kitchen floor.
Then she remembered where she was and what she needed to do. It was time to open the store and find out just how much influence Randy’s radio show really had. Ali prayed it didn’t all turn out to be a huge mistake on Delaney’s part. It would be a very sore way to go, with a whole kitchen full of cupcakes…
Ali held her breath as she tiptoed inside the store. The doors and windows were covered by blinds, so there was no way of knowing yet if anyone had bothered to show up. As she crept toward the door, she felt like a kid on Christmas morning peering down the stairs to see how many presents there were under the tree. She was struck by a sudden strong memory of a gift she’d received one Christmas. A mini pink baking oven from her father.
She paused, remembering Teddy’s words yesterday, about how her father would be crazy proud of her. Then she thought of her mother, and of how much she wanted to prove to her that her dreams weren’t silly, that she could forge her own path in life.
She crept over to the window, almost too nervous to pull on the blind cord.
Yesterday you helped the mob and solved a murder, she told herself. You can do this!
In one flourishing gesture, she tugged on the blind cord and the blinds flew up.
Ali gasped. There was a crowd of people waiting outside her store. Old folks with their grandkids. Moms and dads with toddlers in tow. Couples standing hand in hand, and groups of teenagers in huddles.
Ali was astonished. They couldn’t really all be here for her cupcakes, could they?
As she stared out the window, opened-mouthed, she spotted Marco and Emilio working the queue, handing out flyers and food samples for their rival pizzerias.
A giggle of excitement escaped Ali’s throat. This was the exact way she’d dreamed it would be that first day when she’d stood here with Delaney, wearing the fake pearls Teddy had sent her in the mail.
As she twisted the lock, Ali glanced over at the pier. The Ferris wheel was turning at its tip, its lights flashing. She thought of her father.
She spotted a little silhouette on the railings. It was Django, the macaque, scurrying along, attempting to lure tourists into Lavinia Leigh’s caravan.
A smile spread across Ali’s lips. Lavinia had been right all along. Willow Bay was where she belonged. And she was going to make it.
She patted down her hair one last time and neatened her apron. Then she threw open the shop doors and the hungry hordes came flooding inside.
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON
(A Beachfront Bakery Cozy Mystery —Book 2)
"Very entertaining. I highly recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that appreciates a very well written mystery, with some twists and an intelligent plot. You will not be disappointed. Excellent way to spend a cold weekend!"
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (regarding Murder in the Manor)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON is book #2 in a charming and hilarious new cozy mystery series by #1 bestselling author Fiona Grace, whose bestselling Murder in the Manor (A Lacey Doyle Cozy Mystery) has nearly 200 five star reviews.
Allison Sweet, 34, a sous chef in Los Angeles, has had it up to here with demeaning customers, her demanding boss, and her failed love life. After a shocking incident, she realizes the time has come to start life fresh and follow her lifelong dream of moving to a small town and opening a bakery of her own.
A rude tourist dies after eating his way up and down the boardwalk, and all eyes fall on Allison, as the police blame her new macarons. The macarons have a secret ingredient that is so delicious it has customers lining up and down the boardwalk—but they are not, she knows, the cause of death.
Allison, forced to clear her name and salvage her customers, has no choice but to retrace the victim’s foodie trek up and down the boardwalk, and to figure out what he ate—or who he insulted—that could have gotten him killed.
With her beloved dog at her side, it is a race against time to crack the mystery and solve the crime before she loses her bakery—and her budding romance—for good.
A hilarious cozy mystery series, packed with twists, turns, romance, travel, food and unexpected adventure, the BEACHFRONT BAKERY series will keep you laughing and turning pages late into the night as you fall in love with an endearing new character who will capture your heart.
Books #3 (A PERILOUS CAKE POP), #4 (A DEADLY DANISH), #5 (A TREACHEROUS TART), and book #6 (A CALAMITOUS COOKIE) are also available!
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON
(A Beachfront Bakery Cozy Mystery —Book 2)
Fiona Grace
Debut author Fiona Grace is author of the LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY series, comprising nine books (and counting); of the TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY series, comprising five books (and counting); of the DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books (and counting); and of the BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY series, comprising six books (and counting).
Fiona would love to hear from you, so please visit www.fionagraceauthor.com to receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.
BOOKS BY FIONA GRACE
LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY
MURDER IN THE MANOR (Book#1)
DEATH AND A DOG (Book #2)
CRIME IN THE CAFE (Book #3)
VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4)
KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5)
PERISHED BY A PAINTING (Book #6)
SILENCED BY A SPELL (Book #7)
FRAMED BY A FORGERY (Book #8)
CATASTROPHE IN A CLOISTER (Book #9)
TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY
AGED FOR MURDER (Book #1)
AGED FOR DEATH (Book #2)
AGED FOR MAYHEM (Book #3)
AGED FOR SEDUCTION (Book #4)
AGED FOR VENGEANCE (Book #5)
AGED FOR ACRIMONY (Book #6)
DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF MURDER (Book #1)
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF CRIME (Book #2)
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF DEATH (Book #3)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A KILLER CUPCAKE (Book #1)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON (Book #2)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A PERILOUS CAKE POP (Book #3)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A DEADLY DANISH (Book #4)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A TREACHEROUS TART (Book #5)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A CALAMITOUS COOKIE (Book #6)