Now she needed to edit the session.
But first, she had a cake to bake.
* * *
Two hours later, with the podcast recorded and the kitchen cleaned up from her baking session, the timer dinged, signaling to Hope that her two-layers of marble cake were ready to come out of the oven. She savored the moment of opening the oven door and inhaling the heavenly scent of fresh-baked cake.
She wasn’t the only one in the house intoxicated by the fragrance. Bigelow had come trotting in with his nose held high.
She eyed her dog. He’d never turn down food, but she wasn’t about to offer him any of the cake. Leaving the layers to cool, she went for the container of his homemade treats. She gave him one and he chomped and swallowed. A quick lick to his lips and he was ready for another one.
“Okay. One more. But that’s it.” She handed over another peanut butter cookie and then fastened the lid and returned it to its spot on the countertop. The front doorbell rang, and she passed by Bigelow, patting him on the head.
At the front door, she peeped out the side window and then smiled.
She opened the door to her very much welcome visitor.
“Hi, Amy.”
“Hey, Hope. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course. Come on in.” By the time Hope closed the door, Bigelow had joined them and was relishing the attention from their guest. “Let me take your coat.”
“It’s okay. I can’t stay long. I know you must be busy.” Amy unzipped her parka.
Hope nodded. She wasn’t going to argue. She had to frost the cake, photograph it, and then take it over to Iva’s house. A little peace offering, she hoped.
“Do I smell cake?”
“You do. It just came out of the oven. Come on.” She led Amy into the kitchen. “It’s a marble cake. Don’t mind the mess.” She was referring to the photography equipment set up around the table and the various serving pieces laid out for her to choose from after she frosted the cake.
Amy stopped at the island and looked at the two cooling cake pans. “The smell is intoxicating.”
Hope retrieved a plate from an upper cabinet and turned out the first cake layer and rested it on the cooling rack. “It’s taking all my strength not to dive into them.” She turned out the second cake layer. “What brings you by?”
“I came to apologize for my behavior the other day. I was awful to you.” Amy’s gaze flicked downward, and her shoulders slumped.
Hope reached out and touched Amy’s arm. “If it was my mother, I probably would have behaved the same way.”
“No. You wouldn’t have. I blew up and said things I’m so very sorry for.”
“I accept your apology. How’s your mom doing?”
Amy shrugged. “Right now, she’s so upset about Donna. I can’t believe Gail killed her. Or Devon and her mother. I thought we knew Gail.”
“It seems like we don’t really know people the way we think we do.”
“I guess you’re right.” Amy glanced at her watch. “I’d better get going. Thank you for accepting my apology.”
“I’m glad we’re past the incident.” Hope hugged Amy and then walked her to the door. “Be careful driving.” A new round of snow had begun falling and the forecast wasn’t good. The B-word was still being used. Again. Another blizzard was on the horizon. It looked as if her weekend getaway with Ethan wasn’t going to happen.
A woof drew her attention toward the kitchen. Knowing her dog as well as she did, she wasn’t surprised to find him seated beside the island with his snout in the air, sniffing the cake. But it was Princess who drew her interest. The cat slinked by with a tube of Hope’s berry-flavored lip balm and trotted up the staircase.
“No. It couldn’t be.” Or, could it? Hope followed the fluffy feline up the stairs and down the hall to the bathroom. The door was ajar, and Princess slipped into the room. Hope pushed the door open and entered. Princess looked up at Hope, her eyes wide open, and inched slowly back with the tube of lip balm still in her mouth. “What are you doing, sweetie?” Hope kept her voice soft, and she peered around the door and found her bracelet and mascara.
Those two items were piled on top of a green washcloth and a pair of socks Hope had thought she’d misplaced a month ago. The little fur ball must have raided the laundry basket.
“You gotta be kidding me.” Hope looked back at her cat. “You really are the thief. Iva was right.” She expelled an aggravated breath. “You know what this means, don’t you? I have to apologize to her. Good thing I baked the cake.” She walked around to the other side of the door and retrieved her missing belongings and then took the lip balm tube out of Princess’ mouth. “You can’t keep stealing things.” Princess blinked twice and then strolled out of the bathroom.
Clearly, the cat was having none of the lecture. Hope stood with her belongings cradled in her hands. She had to give it to the cat for finding a good hiding spot. Hope rarely came into the room because it was in dire need of a remodel. The tile floor was grimy and chipped. And then there was the tub and sink. Both were ancient, and the toilet looked unstable. The room definitely needed a makeover and she had big plans for it. All she needed was a big budget.
She carried her items out of the bathroom and dropped them off in her bedroom before returning to the kitchen to frost and photograph the cake.
* * *
Hope braved the wind on the front porch of Iva’s rental house. She’d recently moved so she could have her mother stay with her. On the other side of the door, she heard footsteps approaching, and then the door opened.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.” Iva took a drag of her cigarette.
Not much of a greeting, but because it was Iva, Hope hadn’t expected much more.
“I came to apologize to you.” Hopefully, Iva would be as forgiving as Hope was earlier with Amy. “And I brought you a cake!” Hope lifted the cake box up higher and smiled.
“Cake, huh? You think you can make up for accusing me of stealing with a cake?”
Iva had no intention of making this easy for Hope. “It’s a marble cake with chocolate frosting. I remember you saying it’s your favorite cake.”
Iva rolled her eyes. “All right, come on in.”
Thank goodness. It was freezing out there. Hope dashed inside and followed Iva to the small but functional kitchen. Rental bland with no pops of color, it was all white, with well-used appliances.
“Set it on the table.” Iva busied herself with gathering the plates, forks, and a cake knife. “There’s coffee if you want some. Help yourself.” She took a final drag of her cigarette and discarded it in an ashtray on the countertop.
Hope poured a cup of coffee and pulled out a milk carton from the refrigerator. “I’m sorry I suspected that you stole my bracelet and mascara.” She sat at the table.
“Mascara? I’d never steal mascara from someone. That’s unsanitary.” Iva opened the box and pulled out the cake.
Good to know Iva had boundaries.
Iva cut two generous slices. “My mother will enjoy a slice of this later when she wakes up from her nap.” She set a plate in front of Hope and then closed the lid of the box after sitting down with her plate. She took a forkful and chewed. “This is delicious.”
“Thank you.” Hope ate her bite and concurred with Iva’s assessment. The cake was moist, and the flavors of the two layers and the frosting mingled together, creating a very happy moment for her taste buds.
“I’m guessing you found the missing items.”
Hope swallowed her second bite of the cake. Now it was time to fess up about who the real thief was and brace for Iva’s I-told-you-so speech.
“I did. It was Princess.” She dipped her head and ate another piece of cake.
“Aha! I told you so! Cats are sneaky little creatures. Where’d you find her loot?”
“The upstairs hall bathroom.”
“Sneaky and smart. She knows you don’t go in there.” Iva ate another bite of cake. “I accep
t your apology.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I understand why you thought it may have been me. There was a time in my life when I wasn’t the most honest person. But I’m trying not to be that person anymore.”
“I know you are.”
“It’s going to take time for me to rebuild trust with everyone.”
“Rebuilding trust doesn’t come quick, but I think it’s worth it. I need to work on being less judgmental.”
“We all got something we need to improve, don’t we? I thought by now I’d have my whole life figured out.”
“We did have big plans back in high school, didn’t we?”
“We did. But I guess it’s not too late to try to make them happen. I mean, it’s the least we can do for Devon.”
Iva’s sentiment struck Hope hard. Devon had wanted to see justice done for her mother. She’d ended up giving her life for that justice.
“You’re right. Look, we have our rocky history, but I’d like to be a part of your big plans. Will you come back to work for me?”
Iva took another forkful of cake and chewed it slowly. After she swallowed, she nodded. “Yeah, I’ll come back.”
“Wait, there’s one more thing.”
Iva tilted her head. “Really? After you accused me of stealing?”
“Do you know a snowplow guy I can hire? A blizzard is coming.”
Iva burst out laughing. “I know a guy. But don’t go and accuse him of murder.”
Hope joined Iva and laughed. “I promise I won’t. I’m done with this amateur sleuthing thing.”
Chapter Twenty
Five days later and the weather forecast hadn’t changed. It only became more distressing. The state had a big bull’s-eye on it and a blizzard was indeed heading for Jefferson.
“You love a brisk walk, don’t you?” Hope chuckled as she kept up with Bigelow. He was focused on his walk and greeting the few people who passed them on Main Street. Each one of them smiled at Hope and then acknowledged Bigelow, and he ate up the attention. Because she had him with her, a stop into The Coffee Clique wasn’t in the cards. While the owners may have overlooked his species, she knew it was against health regulations, and it only took one disgruntled customer to cause all sorts of problems. It was for the best, really. She didn’t need a cinnamon bun. Her deal with Mama Mia Pasta meant she had to develop six recipes using their various pastas. Later in the day, she’d be making a Triple Cheese Lasagna for dinner, and there were plenty of calories in even the smallest serving.
“Good morning, Hope!” Angela came to a halt on her way up the shoveled walkway to the library’s main entrance. She bent over to pat Bigelow on the head. “He looks so dapper in his red plaid jacket. I can’t believe another blizzard is coming our way. Is this winter ever going to end?”
Hope shared the sentiment. Snowflakes had begun falling as Hope and Bigelow set out on their walk. They were both bundled up in their coats, so she continued with their planned outing.
The blizzard meant Ethan couldn’t get away for their trip to Vermont. To say she was disappointed would be a major understatement. She’d planned her wardrobe, borrowing ski clothes from Claire, and looked forward to drinking hot cocoa by the lodge’s fireplace. She was looking forward not only to a long weekend of being alone with Ethan, but also to a few days of being disconnected from the rest of the world. No phone, no social media, no comments, no murderers.
It’d been almost a week since she was held at knife-point by Gail in the library. Hope glanced at the stately brick building. So many wonderful things had happened in there over her lifetime; she’d discovered new authors, faraway places, and her love for reading. And she’d almost been killed in there too.
“I’m still getting so much positive feedback on the blogging class. Is there any chance you’re open to doing another one?” Angela looked hopeful.
Hope’s immediate reply was going to be a firm “no.” But she wasn’t sure if the answer was coming from the fact of nearly being killed by a student or if she wanted to pursue creating an online course. The downside to producing the course would be the financial investment and the time it would take creating all the modules. The upside was that once she created the course, she wouldn’t have to go out to the library or somewhere else to teach the course. That meant more time for herself and a nice passive income stream. Two things bloggers loved.
“I’ll think about it. We’d better get going back home before the snow starts coming down harder.” Hope tugged on Bigelow’s leash, and Angela said her goodbyes to both of them. Hope picked up her pace and encouraged her pup to do the same. The snowflakes were bigger and coming down more fiercely. It was definitely a day to hunker down inside and cook.
When Hope and Bigelow returned home, she got to work on the lasagna. By the time Claire and the kids arrived, the main dish was in the oven cooking and the worse of the storm hadn’t arrived yet. That gave Logan and Hannah time to play outside until supper was ready.
Hope pulled the mudroom door closed behind her as she stepped outside. She folded her arms across her chest and rubbed her arms. She should have layered up before venturing outside to get the kids. Hannah screamed and ducked when her brother threw a round of snowballs at her. Logan laughed loudly as he kept the snowballs flying.
She smiled at the sight of them fully engaged in a good, old-fashioned snowball fight. Maretta had backed down from her proposal to ban the activity, and Hope was certain kids across Jefferson were celebrating their victory today. Logan had gotten over a hundred signatures on his petition, which he’d walked into Town Hall and presented to Maretta. Hope wished she could have been there for the moment; according to Claire, it was a priceless moment. Maretta’s demeanor was respectful, and she even thanked Logan for his activism. What Hope would have given to be a fly on the wall when Maretta returned to her office.
With all the publicity on the arrests of Gail and Ernie, Maretta had more important matters to tend to than pursuing a ban on snowball throwing. Good grief, what had she been thinking?
“Hey, you two! Dinner is almost ready!” She’d taken the three-cheese lasagna out of the oven and set it on a trivet to rest, while Claire tossed a salad and sliced the freshly baked loaf of bread Hope had made.
The kids stopped playing and brushed off the snow from their jackets as Drew drove into the driveway. He’d borrowed Hope’s Explorer to pick up Sally and Jane, who were coming for an early supper before the roads were inevitably closed. The car doors opened, and the Merrifield sisters-in-laws stepped out, both wearing snow boots and their warmest coats. Drew dashed around the vehicle and guided them toward the house.
The driveway and path had been cleared by Hope’s new plow guy, Iva’s brother. With more than a foot of snow forecast, he’d definitely be back several more times before tomorrow morning.
“Isn’t it lovely? The snow on the tree branches and endless stretches of snow-covered fields.” Jane passed Hope and entered the house with Sally behind her.
“She wasn’t the one trudging out to feed our rooster this morning,” Sally quipped as she entered the house.
Hope pressed her lips together. She felt Sally’s pain about feeding the flock. She had ventured out in the dark, cold morning to feed her own chickens.
Helga griped as usual, while Poppy had flown up onto the workbench, where Hope had mixed together the supplements for their water. Poppy stayed long enough for Hope to stroke her feathers. She was pretty sure Poppy would enjoy living inside the house. Though Princess would have a big problem with that.
“The roads are clear for now.” Drew held the door open for the kids and Hope. “Good thing we’re eating early. Who knows what it’ll be like later?”
Hope and Claire set out the food on the table. Hope’s phone rang, and it was Ethan.
“Hey, are you coming? I made a three-cheese lasagna,” she said, hoping to tempt him.
“Sorry, I can’t. Look, about our weekend . . .”
“Don’t worry ab
out it. They said we could reschedule because of the weather. We’ll just go another weekend.” She sighed, leaning against the refrigerator.
“Are you sure?”
“I am. Drew will be driving Sally and Jane home, so I’ll have him drop off some lasagna for you.”
“I heard my name. What am I doing?” Drew asked from the table.
“It’s amazing how his hearing can be so good at some times, while at others, not so much.” Hope laughed. “Call me later.”
“Will do. Love you.”
“Love you too.” She disconnected the call.
“Aww,” the whole table said in unison.
“Ha ha. Very funny.” Hope walked to the table and sat. She wanted to be irritated at them for eavesdropping, but their silly grins had her laughing instead. She reached for the salad bowl and added a heaping mound to her plate.
“This lasagna is delicious.” Jane set down her fork. “We must get the recipe, right, Sally?”
“Of course. You’ve outdone yourself.” Sally took another bite of her pasta dish.
“It’ll be published soon.” Hope worked the lasagna pan to cut a wedge and carefully transferred it to her plate.
“Speaking of published. I heard your podcast. It was very moving. Good job.” Sally patted Hope’s hand.
“Devon would have approved,” Jane said.
“Thank you,” Hope said. She broke off a piece of lasagna with her fork. As they ate their meal, they talked about anything but murder and the weather. Finally, rounds of laughter filled the room, as well as sibling bickering between Hannah and Logan. But there was a collective “oohing” when Hope presented a plate of whimsically decorated sugar cookies for dessert.
Claire carried the coffeepot to the table and set it on the trivet. “You’re pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”
Hope looked at her sister, puzzled by the statement. “What are you talking about?”
The Corpse Who Knew Too Much Page 26