“It’s your fault she’s dead!” he cried out, his strong hands closing around her tightly, making it hard to breathe. She tried to fight him, but it was futile. He was so big and heavy, even her hardest punches made no difference. “If you hadn’t come here…” He descended into growls, and put Faith in mind of a ferocious bear.
“Permission to shoot?” someone barked.
“No!” someone else hollered. “Too crowded!”
People were clawing at Ellis, trying to pull him off, but it seemed like he had some kind of super human strength. He was clinging on to Faith’s neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. For a moment, Faith thought it was the end. Her vision went black. Then everything stopped.
After what felt like a long time, but was literally less than a second, Faith came back to reality, to find Ellis on the floor, clutching his eyes. Nathan stood over him, his fingers outstretched in victory, while the Sheriff and the Deputy rushed back in to stuff his wrists into cuffs.
“Good job,” the Sheriff said to Nathan.
“I learned it in aikido,” Nathan said. “When they’re great huge guys, you’ve gotta go for the vulnerable parts. And the eyes are one of the worst.”
Faith took a deep breath out, watching Ellis be led away to the cells. “Wow,” was all she could say. “Wow.”
*****
Faith had never felt so free in her life. She sat in her Grandma Bessie’s old rocking chair on the veranda of Slice of Paradise, catching her breath from rushing around so much. She’d been up on her feet all morning, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Nathan came whirling through the door and collapsed on a chair next to her. “This whole waiter thing is a lot harder work than landscaping,” he said. “I never thought I’d say that.”
Every single seat in the tearoom was full, both outside in the veranda, which was now beautifully finished and painted, and inside the tearoom, where the curtains fluttered on the breeze and a steady stream of happy chattering flowed.
Grandma Bessie was just about walking again, and hobbled out from inside, grabbing on the doorframe. Nathan leapt to his feet to help her into his seat.
“Oh, don’t fuss, boy,” she said. “What’s your name again?” She didn’t give him enough time to open his mouth before she continued, “Well, I’ll just call you handsome young gardener.”
“His name’s Nathan,” Faith said with a smile. “But you could also call him life saver.”
“Oh, he’s the one that got that horrid Ellis off, is he?” Grandma Bessie said, nodding with approval. “Well done, boy. Anyway, the name handsome young gardener reminds us of better times. So that will do nicely.” She nodded at him approvingly as she sat down in the chair. “You’ve done a wonderful job with the plants, I must say. We’re in quite a beautiful place now, aren’t we?”
Faith was so glad to hear Grandma Bessie happy. Usually it was difficult to squeeze any sort of praise out of her, but that morning she’d commented positively on Faith’s lovely rose-pink summer dress, how light and fresh everything looked with the new paint work, and Laura’s baking. She and Faith had been up until crazy hours, then back again at crazy hours of the morning, making quite a spread.
Just at that moment, Laura came out with a tray, loaded with a tasting sample of everything they’d baked. “Come on, Miss Bessie. You just have to try my baking. Honestly, I’m not as hopeless as you thought.”
“She’s awesome,” Faith said.
“I’ll be the judge of that, thank you,” Grandma Bessie said. “Now, Laura, lay them down on the table and tell me what you’ve got.”
“Okay, let’s do this,” Laura said, making Faith giggle. “Okay, we’ve got blackcurrant compote with baked buttery brioche on top.”
“Made from scratch, thank you very much,” Faith interjected.
Laura placed that down on the table, then continued. “And manuka honey cheesecake with raspberries.”
Nathan was leaning against the railings, with a casual smile. “That’s my favorite, Miss Bessie. You’d better keep your eyes on that or it’ll be gone before you know it.”
But Grandma Bessie was studying the desserts carefully, too involved to listen to his jokes.
“A peach puff pastry tart with almonds,” Laura continued. “A summer pavlova with strawberries and blueberries. And of course, the cakes. Raspberry layer cake, chocolate orange cupcakes, chocolate and caramel éclair cupcakes, and my personal favorite, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes.”
“Well,” Grandma Bessie said seriously, picking up a tiny cake fork, “you’ve certainly been busy.”
Something about the way she said it made Faith burst into giggles, and then Laura followed suit, then Nathan, until they were all laughing, and Grandma Bessie was looking up, bemused. “What on earth is so funny?” That only made them laugh all the more, until Grandma Bessie got annoyed and they all stopped.
“Laura,” Grandma Bessie said, looking up at her.
Laura’s face was open, hoping for approval.
“Ten out of ten, girl,” Grandma Bessie said. “Good job.” She then looked over at Faith. “You mustn’t be a bad teacher, Faith.”
“I try, Grandma.”
*****
That evening, Nathan, Faith and Laura sat on the cream carpet in Faith’s apartment, eating leftovers until they couldn’t stand to so much as look at another cake again. Nimbus was curled up by Faith’s feet, and Cirrus prowled around Nathan, pretending not to be sleepy. Nathan would play little games with him, striking a high five and holding his paws and doing little dances.
They’d thrown the balcony doors open, and the sunset streamed in, painting the room in a warm glow of oranges and pinks and yellows.
So, Faith thought to herself. I really did it. We really did it.
The fundraiser had been a great success. Everyone was talking about how wonderful Slice of Paradise was, and giving Grandma Bessie their best wishes. Since Bessie was a very proud woman, Faith had waited until everyone had left, then had taken her into a quiet corner of the garden. “Grandma, we’ve raised two thousands dollars today,” she’d said. “And I want you to take all of it, toward your operation.”
“Nonsense,” Grandma Bessie had said.
But it hadn’t taken long for Faith to persuade her, and soon Grandma Bessie was calling her “you sweet girl” and giving her a kiss on the cheek, pretending there weren’t tears in her eyes.
Faith knew she would hold that memory in her mind for a long time. And as she sat in her little apartment with Cirrus and Nimbus and Laura and Nathan, she knew she was in exactly the right place.
The End
*****
Thank you for reading our story! We hope you liked it! If so, Book 2, The Cheesecake Fake, is available for Pre-Order ON AMAZON.
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Also, if you did enjoy this story enough to go get Book 2, please consider LEAVING A REVIEW for this book while you’re at Amazon! It would be such a huge help to us in getting this series off the ground! And a long review is not necessary! Simply a star-rating (hopefully 5 stars!) and a sentence or two is plenty! We would be so appreciative and we thank you in advance!
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Lastly, if you would like to receive updates on future “Slice of Paradise” books PLUS behind-the-scenes info, special offers & a FREE BOOK in the series called The Cream Pie Alibi, please SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAILING LIST! (Please note: this is a mailing list for the “Slice of Paradise” series ONLY, not for any of Nancy McGovern’s or Cyra Bruce’s solo projects. There is more information about each of the authors, including more about their other work & how to contact them, on the last pages of this book.)
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Continue for your delicious recipe…
A RECIPE FOR YOU!
Individual Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Yield: 12 tarts
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Equipment: 12 mini muffin pans
Ingredients:
16oz pack dessert pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
4oz softened butter
4oz fine sugar (caster sugar, if available)
3½oz ground almonds
1tsp almond extract
1 egg, beaten lightly
2oz self-rising flour
Cherry or raspberry jam
6oz icing sugar
12 cherries
Baking beans
Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2) Roll out the pastry and cut into rounds, then line the mini muffin pans. Line with parchment paper, and fill with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and beans.
3) Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl, until creamy. Then add the almond extract, ground almonds, the self-rising flour and the egg. Beat together.
4) Place 1tsp of jam in each pastry case. Then pour the almond mixture on top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
5) Remove the tarts from the oven and leave them to cool. To finish off the tarts, mix icing sugar with 1tbsp of warm water. Spread the icing over the top of each Bakewell Tart, then top with a cherry. Leave to set before eating.
6) Enjoy!
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Meet the authors…
Nancy McGovern
I'm a mother, wife, homemaker, pet lover, teacher, student, reader, writer, drinker of tea & wine (depending on the time of day) and sleep-deprived dreamer. While originally from Northern New Jersey, I now live in Syracuse, New York with my husband, Doug (a veterinarian & writer of science fiction), our three children and too many furred & feathered friends to list!
My Email:
[email protected]
My Books:
http://www.Amazon.com/Author/NancyMcG
My Facebook:
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My Twitter:
@AuthorNancyMcG
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http://eepurl.com/bTH4Jb
*** NOTE: This is NOT the mailing list for this series! This is my own newsletter! And, when you subscribe, I’ll not only send you updates & special offers on my future solo books, but you’ll also receive a FREE Cozy Mystery (from my “A Murder In Milburn” series) as a Thank You for joining me!
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“Slice of Paradise” Newsletter:
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*** Because Cyra & I are writing this series together, we have a series-specific mailing list that we will both be heading up! And when you sign up, you’ll also get a FREE BOOK from this series called The Cream Pie Alibi! If you enjoyed this book, you’ll love that one, as well!
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Meet Cyra Bruce…
Cyra Bruce
I’m a 30-something young woman with an old soul – I love staying in and baking on a Saturday night, growing flowers, little old southern houses, lacy tablecloths, taking afternoon tea on the porch and, of course, writing cozy mysteries! I live in a little stone cottage on the Caribbean island of St Lucia with my husband, a St Lucian, who I met and married in my native England. We decided to move to this little island paradise to grow our own food and live more simply, and I am grateful to live a much more peaceful life than the characters in my books!
While I have been writing for myself and others all my life, “Slice of Paradise Cozy Mysteries” is the first work I’ve published under my own name. If you would like to know more about both the books and me, please SUBSCRIBE to the series mailing list! You’ll get a FREE story called The Cream Pie Alibi that cannot be found anywhere else PLUS special discounts & fun stuff…like contests! We’ll have so much fun!
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Rights & Disclaimer
This is entirely a work of fiction. All people, places and events contained have been completely fabricated by the authors. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are completely coincidental.
A Cherry Sinister Murder Copyright © 2017 Nancy McGovern & Cyra Bruce
All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any manner or used in any way without advanced written permission by the authors.
A Cherry Sinister Murder: A Culinary Cozy Mystery (Slice of Paradise Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Page 14